November 15, 2010 – Training in Progress…
Well, we are finally updating our blog, sorry for the very long hiatus! After the Yukon Quest 2010, this past February we took a break from most everything!
The Yukon Quest was a big success for our kennel. Bart and his team finished 17th out of a field of 24 teams that started. The team did great and looked even stronger at the finish than at the start!
Upon returning back home, Bart ran the same team in a local 200 mile race (Torch River Run) and blew the competition out of the water…snow actually! Marc Driessen, our handler, also ran this race with our yearling team, who had not so many miles of training behind them (the dogs I mean). They did great to finish in a respectable time and with the red lantern.
Our snow did not stay long after, so we only got the chance to gather friends and family for one “Tea Party” in the bush…a wiener roast, tea, cookies and lots of good laughs!
We sold most of our older main team of dogs, cutting our kennel size down from 50 to about 35 dogs… a more manageable size for us to maintain.
The summer was cool and very wet. The dogs did not enjoy standing in the muck, so we did a lot of work digging trenches to drain the water and tried to keep the dogs as comfortable as possible. We also built our “socializing, playpen” so now the dogs can romp around, get to know each other better, and have a change of pace during the summer months.
We are now back, full of energy and excited for the upcoming racing season…
Fall training started in mid September, once things were finally starting to dry out a bit. We have mostly very young dogs, so this will be a building year. They are all very eager and have great potential, so this will be a fun winter!
Currently, we have about 3” of snow on the ground, but mild temperatures yet, so we are waiting for things to freeze up, more snow, and then time on the sleds can begin….we can hardly wait!!
Stefaan will be doing most of the racing this season, which may include up to 4, 200 – 300 mile races. I, Tanja, am planning to race the 8-dog Canadian Challenge. Bart is helping out lots again this season, but taking a year off from racing.
We also welcome another helping hand, Joël Potier, for this season. Who may race the Torch River Run with my yearling team.
Good luck Tanja in the Challenge and keep us posted about Stefaan’s races!!
grtz
bert