Article On Casper Races

Article On Casper Races
Feb 29th 2008
wolfmoonsleddog
Southeast
Location: Northwest GA
Time - 10:02pm
Temperature: 47 degrees F
Conditions: Cloudy, rainy
Forecast: Showers tonight, sunny tomorrow. Lows in the 30s. A chance of rain or snow showers on Tuesday!

I know this is waaay after the fact but below is an article on the 2008 Casper Mountain Sled Dog Races from the Casper Star Tribune:

From: http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2008/02/10/news/casper/c2e2c82bdbe05a38872573eb0004dc31.txt

Canine teams race for charity on Casper Mountain

Kerry Huller, Star-Tribune Tara Lynn of Gillette attaches a god to Danny Corcoran’s sled before he races the eight-dog, 10 mile sprint at the Canines for Charity race at Beartrap Meadow on Casper Mountain.

By MEGAN LEE
Star-Tribune staff writer

Sunday, February 10, 2008 9:05 PM MST


Dogs were everywhere — which is to be expected at a dog sled race. But the noise of the howling, growling, barking, yelping and whimpering was overwhelming.

Tails wagged and tongues dripped. Some dogs nearly flipped over, straining against the ropes tying them to trailers and trucks. Owners scratched perky ears and whispered soothing words to calm their excited prize-winning pups.

On Beartrap Meadow atop Casper Mountain Saturday, mushers, dogs and winter sports enthusiasts gathered to raise money through Canines for Charity, an annual event hosted and sponsored by Timbermist Tracks Kennels.

Mushers pay entrance fees and friends and family sponsor sled teams. Money raised goes to the Arc of Natrona County, a non-profit organization in Casper that provides services and programs for people with developmental disabilities.

Mushers mingled in the parking lot, munching on doughnuts and cookies.

Abbey Brennick stood next to her family’s dog trailer, awaiting her turn in the six-mile, six-dog race. A thin, tan Husky jumped up, his paws on her shoulders and then around her waist, begging for another chin rub, another chance to lick her face.

Brennick has been racing dog teams since kindergarten.

Abbey’s dad, an experienced musher, helps 15-year-old Brennick and her little brother train the dogs at their Sturgis, S.D. home.

“When there’s no snow, we train with a 4-wheeler, and once we get snow, we train with a sled,” Abbey Brennick explained. “We do a lot of elevation training, up and down hills. We try to train them for the race we’re doing. Usually we run them for about eight miles in the campground behind our house.”

Near the start line, a multi-dog trailer with name tags — Icy, Enya, Tar, Sophie, and Harker — held dogs who weren’t out on the trail. A pure white Husky with blue eyes lounged in the sun.

Sled team trainer Jo Teal stood near the trailer with a 1-year-old puppy, Star, barely containable on a leash. Star seemed ecstatic — the crowd, the sleds, the hot cocoa — on this racing day.

“It’s a good introduction to the crowd and the harness and the excitement,” Teal said. “We start them off at about a mile or two and let them build up muscle strength.”

Some trainers at the kennel take eight or ten dogs out at a time.

Teal said six dogs are enough to deal with. A couple of years ago, she was thrown from her 6-dog sled and knocked unconscious on ice.

“They can dump you just as fast, and then you end up walking the rest of the trail,” Teal said. “The don’t stop. They don’t know ‘whoa.’ They just think it’s ‘go,’ so the only time they’ll stop is if they get tangled up.”

If it were up to them, Teal said, the dogs would run day and night and only stop for food.

“They’re always chompin’ at the bit. They’re always excited. They absolutely love it.”

A team of six dogs lined up on the track behind Teal, jumping and twisting and yelping, tangling with each other and nipping at the handlers who were holding them from taking off before the whistle.

And suddenly, they were gone. The musher had given her dogs a command and the handlers stepped out of the way. Within seconds, the flurry of somersaulting canines turned into a tight team — a machine of muscle, determination, and paw power.

Contact reporter Megan Lee at (307) 266-0589 or megan.lee@trib.com

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