SHAYTAAN SIBERIAN HUSKIES      

               Happy are those that dream dreams and are ready to 

              pay the price to make them come true - Leon J. Suenes

Christmas Day Run

                              Had an entertaining Christmas Day. As always with us it started out with a drama (Oh for the quiet life but maybe we are our own worst enemies). We have been training slow (5 - 6mph) on the ATV since September and although everyone said not to be concerned because the dogs will be able to increase speed dramatically when we get on the sled, there was always that niggling doubt at the back of my mind. As a Christmas treat for the dogs (!??!) I decided to break out the rig (remember, the one with dodgy brakes that Louise told you about) for the traditional Christmas morning run. Knowing this could be slightly foolhardy I ran the dogs for 23 miles and 25 miles using the ATV on the 23rd and 24th in an effort to tire the dogs a bit. Sure enough when we watered and harnessed on Xmas morn there was not much canine enthusiasm; Medea in particular was very tired - this proved significant. I decided that instead of doing the planned 18 miles I would half the distance and I also came very close to reintroducing Hektor and running an 8 as opposed to the planned 7 (Hektor has missed the last few runs as he has a growth in his throat from where he was caught in the trap and we thought it was restricting his breathing - he was nonetheless fresh and raring to go) - fortunately as it turned out we decided another days rest for him would be good. 

                             Anyway having experimented with formations and lead dogs of the last few runs I decided to return to my most trusted formation with Poppy and Medea at lead and Fya and Keelut at wheel and the other three interspersed in between. Got to the start, all was going well, dogs quiet, not too keen to get out of the van. Hooked them up and they exploded into life (drawing as it turned out heated comments from a local who didn't appreciate listening to our dogs sing carols at 0800 on Christmas morning). We all blasted away from the start except for Medea at lead, the one who I had based all my assumptions on that the dogs were tired, she was tired and letting her tugline sag, the other 6 most certainly weren't tired. Cal at Point passed Paris at Swing (have I got that the right way round?) who was slowing because he was tucked in behind the dawdling Medea. Medea sensing Cal's presence immediately picked up pace, the tightening gangline flipped Cal who was subsequently dragged for a bit but did manage to get to his feet - facing the wrong way with his harness up over his head but held firmly in place, i.e. being strangled by, the gangline. By this time we had gone about 1/8 mile, the remaining dogs were going mental, the brakes had failed completely, there was nothing to snub to (nor in fact would I have been able to snub) so I did all that was left to do, I shrieked for Louise and threw myself into the bushes flipping the rig on its side and proceeded to use my body as a brake, or at least a means of slowing the dogs slightly. 

                       Eventually Louise caught up and managed to free Cal then struggled with the dogs long enough for me to untangle myself from the bushes etc. You can imagine what the dogs were like by now so the only thing to do was proceed, eyes shut tight, heart in mouth, life flashing before my eyes. After 4 miles I was still struggling to get Medea to keep her lines tight so, and here comes mistake number 1000, I decided to snub up and swap Fya and Medea round. Snubbed up, did the exchange no problem, was walking back up the lines to get on the rig and the dogs took this as the signal to start going mental again. Just managed to undo the snub as we careered off into oblivion with me trying to gather up the snubline only to look down and see it partly wrapped around the right rear axel. So here I am, middle of nowhere, about 5 miles of wilderness and wildlife between us and the van, most powerful dogs we have ever had the misfortune of running, no brakes, no usable snub line, the possibility of the snub actually jamming up the wheels, Oh yes and fresh horse tracks in the trail - meeting that would be something to look forward to. The rest of the run was actually uneventful although the dogs did run for more or less the entire 9 miles and we never did see the horse just a squirrel that came very close to being chased up a tree cartoon fashion. We had hoped to drop in a couple of pups for the last 1/4 mile for their first run (the same pups who had earlier coated the van in diarrhoea on the way to the trails) unfortunately lack of ability to stop the team meant that I just flew past Louise and the pups, screaming my way back to the van. Moral of the story is threefold:

a)     We have created a monster (and I include breeders of our dogs in that too:))

b)     When experienced people tell me that speed will come, our training methodology is sound and that the lightweight rig is not the tool for 7+ dogs - believe them

c)     When Louise tells me something is a really stupid and dangerous idea she might just be right. My Christmas gift to her - admitting that for once I was wrong :)

Oh how we laughed afterwards - well Louise did anyway, apparently the sight of me on my side, holding onto the rig and being dragged through the undergrowth was highly amusing. For my part I am nursing a very sore ankle, bruised shin and damaged pride.   

Rob