My favorite thing about being a musher is spending lots of time with my sled dogs. For me, running them on the trails with my rig or sled and racing them is only half of it. At home I play lots of games with them so that it feels like we are one big pack. Khita likes to be walked in our field so she can hunt grasshoppers and mice. Sky and Cooper love to go hiking with me in the White Mountains. Squirrel stands up on her back legs and hugs me. Billy is my big wheel dog. His other favorite thing to do besides pulling with the team is to come running into the house and sit with me on the couch. Beth is my leader. In the backyard she and I play with a giant rubber horse ball that has a handle on it. When she was 10 weeks old, she took it from my horse’s paddock and she never gave it back. She runs laps at full speed around my yard with the huge ball in her mouth. She loves to be chased by me while she is carrying it around. If she had her way she would want to keep playing this game all day and night. I don’t know if it is just the way she is or if it is because of all the time we spend playing together, but Beth is exactly the same way when she’s leading my team. She is always ready to go, never quits, and if she had her way out on the trails I think she would keep running for me forever.13 year old, Jacy Connell lives in East Derry, New Hampshire, along with his parents (Stephen and Pam), 6 sled dogs, and his horse – an Arabian/Paint mare. Jacy started mushing with 1 dog when he was 5 years old and started racing in NESDC’s 1-dog Jr. class when he was 7. He moved into the 3-dog Jr. events at the age of 10 and is currently preparing his team to enter the NESDC 4-dog Sportsman events for 2008.When he’s not mushing or caring for his animals Jacy is either riding his dirtbike, helping with the building of a 21’ wooden sailboat (the “Raven”), hiking in New Hampshire’s White Mountains or drawing. His favorite drawing subject matter is wooden sailboat design.
