February 1.
January is gone. And we do not
yet have a luge run for a driveway. All
is right with the world.
So.
Today is Rachel Scdoris’ birthday.
Recognize the name? Actually, I
had to do a bit of homework on this one, but it yielded an interesting
story. Rachel is a dog musher from the
US. And what is very interesting about
Rachel - in 2006 she completed the 1,000 mile Iditarod Dog Sled race across
Alaska. Which is a huge
accomplishment. But what makes it even
more huge – Rachel was the first LEGALLY BLIND person to finish the race!
Since then she has also competed in the Paralympic World Championships in tandem cycling. Today she and her husband run Sled Dog Tours
in Oregon.
My human went dog sledding in British
Columbia, Canada 5 years ago. While she
was initially a bit taken aback with the fact that the dogs live outdoors – in
small, wooden houses – she quickly
realized that they are well cared for – and they LOVE pulling a sled.
The tour company that my human visited
had a very good reputation and the dogs were checked regularly by a veterinarian. The owner was a man with more than 30 years
experience working with dogs and racing.
The sledding experience was one my
human will NEVER forget. No – she didn’t
actually operate the sled – she just sat and went for the ride. And what a ride it was! It was actually a rather rainy, icy day – and
boy did that sled go. Or it certainly
FELT like it was going crazy fast.
Here’s a short clip from that ride!
Although there have been teams of purebred
Siberian huskies used in racing, most of the dogs seem to be a mix of several
fast, medium sized breeds. But no PONs
as far as I can tell. Paxton COULD pull
a sled – but I doubt it could win any race.
He’d be too busy stopping to eat snow.
And a team of PONs…well they would no doubt go where THEY wanted to go. And they would have to be wearing special
snowsuits to keep the snowballs of their coats.
And all the other sled dogs would laugh at them. While we DO have the speed and the brains to outmaneuver
our competition, I’m just not thinking it would work. Yes – I think I’ll stick to being a spoiled
house dog. But I DO admire those who
compete in the sport – human and canine in a TRUE partnership.
Now. Excuse me while I sneak into the DFZ and
curl up by the fireplace….
Happy birthday Rachel!
©
Linda Wozniak
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