The 2017 winter season has come to an end, the yearlings had an awesome first season of serious training and racing and after a month of shorter runs and a busy tour schedule, are ready to hit the trail for some longer miles! Unfortunately they’ll have to wait until this coming September for the start of fall training and prep for their first 1000 mile race begins! For now we are enjoying sunny days and hoping for the relentless winds that have arrived this week to subside. Soon we will head to Skagway to begin our summer job on the Denver Glacier with Alaska Icefield Expeditions, Inc. taking guests from all around the world on scenic mushing tours where the pups and I will get to enjoy lots of sunshine and ocean views.
Overall I couldn’t be happier with how the team performed in their first season of racing, we logged a lot of hard miles for a young team and finished with eleven out of twelve dogs in one of the toughest 300 mile races in the state, all crossing the finish line with wagging tails and great appetites. We had to set aside our goal of running the Kobuk 440 this season after Sidekick, one of the boys from the Leatherman litter, had a major medical emergency requiring extensive surgery (and a lot of money!). Fortunately he has made a full recovery and is already running with his teammates again. The Kobuk will be there for us in future years.
On a more exciting note, I have purchased land and a small cabin for Dark Horse Racing Kennel to have a permanent home! We’ll be making the big move from our 2017 residency at Black Spruce Dog Sledding directly across the street where our new home is located. I’m super excited about this and so are the dogs, even if they don’t know it yet. A big thank you to Alaska Icefield Expeditions for their continued support, Jeff and KattiJo Deeter for providing me with a spot to house my kennel this winter, and all of my friends and family who have made this possible.
Also, check us out online at our new website www.darkhorsesleddogs.com to follow the team, learn how to sponsor the kennel or support your favorite DHRK athlete, or just to learn a little bit more about the kennel. Keep checking in for short individual bios on each of the athletes as we continue to develop the page, there is more content to come!
