WINDS OF CHANGE: 2009 IDITAROD PROMPTS NEW REQUIREMENTS TO BETTER PREPARE ROOKIES
Since its inception in 1973, the Iditarod has undergone nothing short of a complete metamorphosis in terms of the time it takes to get to Nome, the style of dog run, the type of gear used to get there, and the skills of the competitors making the attempts. Gone are…
So you want to breed your own winning sled dog team?
Luck of the draw is inherent in the genetics of canine reproduction.There are millions of possible combinations from the non- fixed portion of the approximately 19,000 genes (Ostrander and Wayne 2005) in the canine genome. It seems a daunting task to reliably breed sled dogs that can compete at an…
Brent Sass back with his second Quest victory in crowded field
At his first rest stop of the 2019 Yukon Quest in Carmacks, defending champ Allen Moore was feeling pretty good about his first tactical decision to run the ninety miles without a stop. Was that too much for the defending champion team? “I don’t think so or I probably wouldn’t…
Pete Kaiser wins 2019 Iditarod
Wind-driven snow blowing through Front Street and the late hour did not keep throngs of Iditarod fans from coming to the finish line in Nome as Bethel’s Pete Kaiser, 31, became the 2019 Iditarod champion at 3:39 a.m. on March 13. To the drums of the Nome St. Lawrence Island…
Famous Feet: Babe of Ramey Smyth’s kennel
In this edition, Mushing Magazine features a legendary dog who has passed on already. It is Babe, Ramey Smyth’s famous leader that won the Golden Harness Award in 2008 and lead Smyth to a second place finish in the Iditarod in 2011 when she was 12-years-old. Here is Babe in…