Ian’s 2024-2025 Race Season

Posted on 06/23/2025 by ashleekiser

As I sit here by an air conditioning vent trying to escape the 90 degree heat, I think back to the hot days in years past. 15 years ago I would have been jumping a course at Westwind with Elise and Kristine. We were careful to keep our horses supplied with electrolyte water and rub them down with a cooling rinse in between rounds, but we barely carried a water bottle a piece for ourselves. We wore tall boots and black helmets, with no thought of how hot we were. 8 years ago, with Ian now part of the mix, we spent our weekends going down the Hiwassee or Nantahala rivers. Ian would ride in the front of the funyak with Mogwai and laugh at each splash, then jump out to swim in the flat sections. Now Ian is a big 13 year old and has friends to go off with to do his own thing. Today he is on the lake with friends from his learning center, while I sit home in the air conditioning with his 7 huskies who fight to be in front of the fans. My, times have certainly changed in my life!

This new season of life finds me as the parent of a teenager who lives for the winter rather than the summer. Horse show people are the opposite. I faithfully worked my horse through the cold and and mud of winter to have a fit jumper come spring and summer. I lived for the jumper portion of East Tennessee Hunter Jumper Association shows. I hauled Reggie all over East Tennessee to jump all the things. I drove home with a sunburned face and arms, aching feet, and swollen calves from staying crammed in tight tall boots. And it was glorious. But now summer is for hiking dogs in creeks, so the water can keep their feet pads cool, and jogging (I HATE running, even at a jog) canicross to help keep a little fitness on the dogs. Ian gets up with the sun to take his dogs for jogs and put their pulling harnesses on for drag work. I never thought I would be so glad for winter to come!

As I look back on my publication history, I realize that I haven’t posted anything since Ian’s first race of the season, back in November! I’ve got to say, life has been busy since Ian started mushing. So while I hide from the heat, with huskies gathered around my feet, let me summarize Ian’s season for you.

  1. November 30-December 1, 2024: Ohio Trailbreaker’s Sled Dog Club Dryland Challenge in Lodi, Ohio

I summarized this race in my last post: https://appreciatetheadventure.com/

2. January 4-5, 2025: Georgia Urban Mushing’s Allatoona Sled Dog Dryland Challenge in Ackworth, Georgia.

This was a great race for Ian. His beloved Falcon raced in wheel for him! Falcon is Ian’s special boy who Shantel selected for Ian before she’d even met Ian. Shantel and Bonnie helped get the gears in motion to put Falcon on a plane and fly him from Anchorage to Tennessee. You can read about the process here. Falcon’s purpose was to teach Ian’s Siberians how to run in harness. The old man did a great job teaching Ian how to drive dogs and training baby Shallot how to be a lead dog. He was always intended to be a recreational dog to run at home for Ian. But then Ian started looking at racing, and the junior rig class allowed for 3 dogs, so Ian decided he wanted to see if Falcon would be willing to run in wheel to help the girls out. And Falcon said yes!

We drove down to Allatoona early on January 3rd to set up camp with Ian’s dog trailer (ahem, my horse trailer converted to hold huskies and humans) and check out the trail. Typically Ian has no issues with running a trail he’s never seen before. Carly listens to his commands so well that Ian doesn’t get nervous about running a course blind. He would’ve done well in jumpers if he had continued with horses. Oh well… But since the course was open Friday afternoon, we had the chance to walk all the dogs, even the non-racing Balto and Jenna, and give everyone a nice long evening to settle in and sleep well.

Ian had to be up early Saturday morning for the mushers’ meeting. Brinn sometimes attends the meetings, but largely, Ian goes to these meetings on his own. He’s the musher. Brinn and I are merely his handlers at races, so it’s up to Ian to find out what his requirements are for the weekend. He pays attention well, and carefully considers everything the race officials share with the mushers. Anna, the director of this race, made the decision for juniors to run the full trail rather than a shorter version, AND she had juniors run right after the comparable adult class. So junior 3 dog rig ran right after the adult 4 dog rig class. This was FANTASTIC as it meant Ian’s dogs got to race before 9:00 am instead of having to wait through 6 dog rig, 4 dog rig, 2 dog scooter, 1 dog scooter, 2 dog bike, 1 dog bike, and adult canicross. The dogs are used to running early in the morning at home to get ahead of rising temperatures (Tennessee’s winters can still be warm) so they were pumped and ready to go by 8:30. We walked the dogs individually to the chute with the help of Nana who took Carly, while Ian wheeled his rig on up. Once there were only 2 more teams ahead of Ian, we clipped everyone to their tugs and necklines. When it was time, we walked the dogs on into the chute and helped Ian to line them out. I worried if Falcon felt up to running the two miles, but when Carly started screaming, Falcon started jumping and trying to tug us forward. His brain was on running! When the timer started the countdown, Falcon screamed and was ready to GO! We turned the dogs loose and I held my breath, worried that Falcon would change his mind. But all three of Ian’s dogs charged out of the chute and loped on down the trail. Sawyer soon caught Ian and lapped him with speedy hounds, but that’s okay. Sawyer is a great kid who drives dogs well, and does a great job handling passing. Soon after Ian and his 3 wonderful huskies came around the last turn and headed for the finish chute. Falcon ran an entire course for Ian that wasn’t one of his home trails. If only this dog could understand how much gratitude I had as he finished well.

Ian spent the rest of the day helping handle dogs for mushers he knows, and playing with friends he has made on the circuit. He always looks forward to seeing Val, and they typically go out together to potty walk dogs. Ian charged hard all evening, and came to bed exhausted. His parents completely failed him, as we later realized he had eaten nothing with protein for the entire day. I’m pretty sure the only food he ate was a basket of fries from the food truck. Ian carries his own money and debit card at races, so he usually eats a hot dog or two, and guzzles water or gatorade all day. But we didn’t check in on him and cook anything at the trailer. We camped in a large gravel parking lot, with gravel dust in plenty. Around 11:00 PM, Ian woke up asking for pepto and sinus medication. His belly was upset and he couldn’t breath. We found some medication in the dog’s first aid kit, and he crawled up into the gooseneck area of the trailer. It was already crammed full with Balto, Jenna, Carly, Brinn, and me. Once Ian climbed up, Shallot pitched a fit to join us. Then poor Falcon got lonely and howled about being left in a crate. I moved his bed to the floor of the gooseneck area so he could be close by. I climbed back up to get into my area of the bed, and found that Carly and Shallot had taken it over. And they were not about to move. I convinced Jenna to move down just enough for me to squeeze in by the window while Ian lounged in between his girls and Brinn.

The next morning, Ian woke up feeling even worse. Brinn and I potty walked all of the dogs and harnessed them for Ian, who sat on the side of the trailer nursing a ginger ale. When it came time to head to the chute, Ian stepped into the woods to throw up. I offered to load the dogs in the trailer to go home straight away, but he insisted he wanted to run. We got him into the chute, and Ron joined us to help hold the dogs. Ron owns Shallot’s brother, Pirate, so that makes us dog-in-laws. Ron gave Falcon a great back massage to get him ready to run. The timer counted down. Falcon and Carly screamed and jumped. Shallot ignored them both as she always stares down the trail and waits to hear “one” so she can RUN. The count down ran down to one, then the dogs were charging out of the chute…and Ian just stood on the rig. He didn’t crouch low to eliminate wind resistance, nor did he kick through the softer areas to help his dogs. He merely held on for the entire two miles. Those three dogs slowed down and gave Ian the easiest possible ride they could. He came in slowly to the finish chute with dogs trotting instead of loping. I hugged all three of those dogs after they came out the other side of the chute. They were the best baby sitters and nursemaids they could’ve possibly been. Ian walked his rig back to the trailer as we handlers unclipped tugs and walked his dogs back. As soon as we arrived at the trailer, Ian asked if we could pack up and go home. He was completely beat and just wanted to find a Walgreens. This was the first time he’s ever asked to skip awards. While Ian finished Allatoona feeling pretty rough, it was a great weekend for his dogs, and he enjoyed himself despite feeling unwell.

3. January 18-19, 2025: Capitolina Dryland Challenge in Rome, Georgia.

Capitolina was supposed to take place the weekend directly after Allatoona, but it snowed! You would think that snow would make a dog race better, but dryland equipment runs on wheels. Wheels slide through slick surfaces when you hit brakes. And Georgia doesn’t handle snow well on the roads. Salt trucks and plows were out, but roads still stayed slick. And don’t forget that we’re still in the Appalachian Mountain chain with lots of steep climbs and descents that are compounded by snow. So Mackenzie ended up having to push her race back by a week. Unfortunately the weather delay caused some people to not be able to attend, so the rig classes ended up being small, and Ian was the only junior in 3 wheeled rig, but what a fun race this was! Classes started right after daylight, and since Ian was the 3rd or 4th team to go out, he was completely finished with dogs loaded before 9:00 am.

Capitolina was a three hour drive from Cookeville. We debated on taking the trailer and camping, but honestly I didn’t feel like setting up the generator to run a heater through the night. It was a cold weekend! Ultimately I decided to take my car with Ian’s rig tied down on the back. We were able to drive down and back both days so all five of us (Ian, Falcon, Shallot, Carly, and me) were able to sleep in our own beds. This seemed to be a great strategy for the dogs and Ian, but a little stressful for me since I had to drive down the Cumberland Plateau through snow and sleet. We picked Nana up in Chattanooga then finished the drive. Ian is a great car sleeper, and so is Shallot. Carly kept me company while Ian snoozed, and Falcon screamed from the back of my car for the first hour of the drive. He’s not a calm traveler.

At the race, Falcon was all business until we got in the chute. Ian thought it was funny to ask his dogs if they were ready to go. But he said it with the same tone that he says “ready” before saying “okay!” All three of his dogs jump in the air and tried to lunge forward. Ian laughed, but I may have given him a look after I hauled Falcon back while Nana and Jessica hauled the girls back. But then the count down started and the team got to go for real. This was a tough race for spectators because Ian immediately dashed from the chute into the forest. Then he stayed in the forest for the 2.3 miles, coming out only at the very end to run through the chute. I wouldn’t have seen any of it if another musher who was out on trail help hadn’t sent me videos of Ian. Thank you, Anna!

Ian came out of the woods completely covered in mud. Falcon caught quite a bit of mud too. Carly and Shallot definitely faired better being in front. We packed Ian’s equipment and dogs up after a good drink, and pulled out. 30 minutes up the road Ian asked to stop for breakfast so we found a Cracker Barrel and pigged out. The dogs are a bit finicky about eating when we travel, but they were pretty happy to suck down the bacon and scrambled eggs we ordered for them.

On day two, Nana decided to sleep a bit later than 5:00 am, but Alanna came out to watch Ian race. She was able to fill in as handler to help get Ian to the chute. She drove Ian’s rig while Ian handled both of his girls, then Alanna held the neckline of the girls in the chute while I kept a hold of impatient Falcon. Ian and his dogs dashed off to the still muddy trail and had a great time making turns through the mud and running across wet bridges. Ian finished with a slow time, about 25 and a half minutes for the two days. This put him about 6 minutes behind the first place team in 4-dog-rig, but Ian’s a cautious driver and he finished with happy healthy dogs who didn’t slide down or crash.

After finishing, Ian was asked to provide trail help, so Alanna and I took care of his dogs for the day. We considered watching other mushers, but it was cold! So we sat in the car in between potty walks and our efforts to get the dogs to eat some breakfast. Eventually it started snowing! When all racers finished, we joined the group for awards (Mackenzie did a great job with nice awards!) while it snowed some more, then we were ready to head out. Ian was hungry (no surprise) so we stopped for an early dinner at Waffle House with Alanna and had a lovely time before hitting the road to head home. The snow stayed with us the entire time we climbed the plateau. I followed my usual protocol and followed a salt truck up the mountain, but at the county line he turned around. Boo! After that it was just me driving on the white roads while Ian and dogs slept. Despite the snow, it was a fantastic weekend and Ian had a ball at Mackenzie’s race, especially since he stayed healthy the entire weekend.

4. March 8-9, 2025: Jersey Devil Dryland Challenge in Browns Mills, New Jersey.

My brother lives in Newark, Delaware. New Jersey seems entirely too far away to drive for a dryland race, but when I looked at the distance from the race to my brother’s house, I found that it was only an hour between the two! We were long overdue on visiting Preston, so after checking with Nana, we decided to take her offer to drive up in her truck to visit Preston and take Ian to a race. Since we were traveling with dogs in the cab of the truck, on a 12 hour drive, Ian decided to leave Falcon at home and just run the girls. You’re allowed to run 2 dogs in a 3 dog class. We left early on Friday morning and arrived to Preston’s house late afternoon. Ian took the girls for a short rig run around Preston’s field to stretch their legs, then we settled in for an evening of doing nothing but hanging with Preston and eating dinner.

The next morning we woke up early and snuck out of the house to not wake up Preston. Ian wouldn’t race until later in the day, but he had to be present for the drivers’ meeting at 8:00 am. We made the first part of the drive with no issue, then found ourselves going off the main road and following sandy bumpy paths through nothing but forest. We wondered if we were even near the right location, but eventually the forest opened up a little and we came up on dog trailers and faces we recognized. Ian checked in for his meeting, we potty walked the girls, then settled in to hang out for the day. This race shortened the course for juniors and ran juniors at the end of the day, so it was a long wait. But we did get the opportunity to volunteer for trail help and learn a little bit more about what all goes into running a race.

This race was an important one for Ian because for the first time, he was dog shopping on his own. He made the decision to fully retire Falcon at the end of this season, and he needed to line up a new wheel dog for next season. He got to meet 2 eurohounds to consider adding them to his team. After watching these dogs race, and an agonizing day of deciding what would be the best fit for his needs, Ian had a long phone conversation with Shantel, and ultimately decided that he wants to stay with huskies since he’s trying to transition to mid-distance in the next year or two. Ian decided to tell Emily himself that while he very much liked her dogs, he was going to decline from buying either of them. That was really tough for the kid.

The trail was great. But it was very sandy. Ian said his rig tires kept sinking in the sand, which created a lot of resistance for the girls to pull, so they had a hard workout. It got up to 50 degrees, and some dogs were having trouble with the heat. Ian took both of his dogs to the creek to dip their paws in the water before running, and let them go in as far as they wanted in the water after his run. He’s a smart kid and neither of the girls had any issues despite the soft footing.

On day 2, Preston got up to go with us since we didn’t have to leave as early. Once we turned off the main road and entered the forest, he realized where we were at and said “this is the Pine Barrens!” I didn’t realize the significance of this location. But Preston, an avid fan of the Sopranos, instantly started telling us about an episode where Paulie and Chris were lost in the Pine Barrens all night. I hadn’t watched much of the show, but later that evening we watched the episode and I understood Preston’s enthusiasm a bit better.

The girls ran well on day 2, despite being slow, and Ian finished first since he was the only junior. The hosting club ran a raffle for several items, and Ian got lots of tickets to enter since he went out for trail help in almost every class except junior rig. He ended up winning a nylon 30 foot leash he’d had his eye on all weekend. After awards, we piled into Nana’s truck and headed back to Preston’s house to hang out for the rest of the day. The girls were worn out and happy to lay around for the rest of the day. This ended up being a really fun race since it’s the first time Preston got to see Ian race, and we got to spend time with some great people.

5. April 5-6, 2025: MUSH Fort Custer Spring Dryland in Augusta, Michigan

Fort Custer is one of Ian’s favorite places. It’s a state park near Battle Creek, Michigan. There’s water AND electricity at each campsite, a bath house with hot showers, and some of the best people in the mushing community. The Mid Union Sled Haulers host this unsanctioned race every fall and every spring. This year we had to leave two days earlier to make this 10 hour drive because we had to drive all the way to Gaylord, Michigan, which is almost at the top of the lower peninsula. You might ask why we would drive so far out of our way? Because Ian found his new dogs! Shantel suggested Ian consider Colt, a 4 year old Alaskan at Coyote Run Kennels. Colt had already run mid-distance races and was a young, strong dog. He checked all the boxes, and also had a short coat, making him a great candidate for Tennessee. Ian called Larry, Colt’s owner to discuss Colt. Ian had a long list of questions Shantel had coached Ian to ask. Ian asked Larry ALL these questions. Ian decided he needed to think about it, and he called Larry back a day later to confirm that he did want to buy Colt. Larry suggested another dog in case Ian wanted to buy 2 dogs. Uzi wasn’t officially for sale at that time, but Larry thought she might be a good fit for Ian. Since Ian is hoping to run 4-dog-rig this fall, he kind of needed a second dog, so Uzi turned out to be a great option for Ian. She’s got a little bit more hair than Colt, but nothing like Balto and Jenna!

After driving to Gaylord, Larry and Joann took Ian to meet his new dogs, then he took all of his dogs on a short rig run to stretch their legs. He even took Colt and Uzi out for a short runs to get to know them. We had planned to camp in the trailer that night, but the Fortiers very kindly invited us into their home for dinner (the best smash burgers I’ve ever had) and warm beds. We woke up well rested the next morning and loaded two extra dogs into the trailer and headed south to Fort Custer. Alanna and Nana soon joined us at the campground, then a couple of hours later they took Brinn and Ian with them to a local place to have dinner with several other mushers. I volunteered to stay behind and keep an eye on all these dogs.

Saturday’s run went fine for Ian. Juniors can only run two dogs, so Ian took Shallot and Carly. They had a slow run. Ian’s getting a lot taller and heavier, and they’re slowing down when pulling his larger frame. Later that evening, he took advantage of the open trail so he could take his new kids out. Living in Tennessee, we never know when summer is going to move in and end Ian’s training runs for the year. So Sunday morning, Ian found Annie, the race marshal, to ask if he could take a DQ but be allowed to still run so he could take Uzi out with Carly to get an extra training run in. I’m glad he did this, as it was a great chance to get extra trail work in on a trail away from home. Uzi was a little confused about having wheels behind her, but after having run around Fort Custer for two great laps, she started to realize that it’s just an oddly shaped sled and she still gets to do her favorite thing, which is RUN! Colt went into canicross both days with Ian so he could get some trail time as Ian figured him out and vice versa. Ian hates canicross. HATES it. He wasn’t thrilled I signed him up for it, but Colt enjoyed strolling around the trail since Ian takes the scenic speed. Ian developed plantar fasciitis a couple of years ago, and he’s having a devil of a time getting over it. As soon as he starts running very much, the inflammation flares back up. So he tries to save his running for rig races, and has no motivation for canix. And that’s okay.

It was a busy race season. We spent a lot of days getting up before dawn so we could be at the trails by daylight so Ian could run his dogs in colder temps. We would also go out in the evenings just before dark to get more running in. I’m not sure Ian could have done all this if he were still in a traditional school setting. Sometimes he had to complete his school work on Saturdays and Sundays, and he didn’t get a spring break or fall break. School started in June for Ian, so that he could get ahead on academics before mushing season started for him.

We met so many wonderful people this season. Ian encountered new struggles with shopping for his next dogs. This was the first time we let him make the decision himself. I think he chose pretty well. Nana traveled to every race Ian competed in, and Bonnie and Jim even came to Lodi! Ian got to see Val several times, as she quickly became his best friend on the race circuit. It was a long year of running dogs, but now that we have 7 stir crazy huskies inside the house, I find that I’m very eager to return to cold temps!

Posted in Friends, Homeschool, Ian, Mushing, Sled Dogs, travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lodi, Ohio

Posted on 01/26/2025 by ashleekiser

Back in November, we traveled north to Lodi, Ohio to take Ian to a dryland mushing race running his very own dogs for the first time. We’d finally managed to put together the right combination of dogs for Ian to run independently. This race consistently takes place over Thanksgiving weekend, which happens to be one of Brinn’s busiest weekends in the taxidermy shop. So it looked like Ian and I would be driving by ourselves for this race. Then his Nana decided that she planned to attend this race as well. She was not interested in camping in the cold with us, so she decided she would drive for all 5 of us (herself, Ian, Carly, Shallot and me) in her brand new truck and we would stay in a hotel close by…with hot showers and electricity. Nana for the win!!!

Last season, Ian borrowed Josh’s graciously loaned dogs to race in Alabama at a dryland race only 4 hours from our house. Ian missed all the fall races due to a broken arm, and we missed the spring races due to a variety of reasons .We’d flown to Anchorage for a week with Shantel and to see the Iditarod. We were also dealing with a major home construction project that took a nasty turn with a dishonest mason who stole a considerable chunk of our deposit. And ultimately Ian was down a lead dog. Additionally, I’d just begun a series of painful steroid nerve blocks to treat my trigeminal neuralgia. We had a lot going on 2023/2024!

Fall of 2024 brought Carly into our lives and she had Shallot running spectacularly. The Ohio Trailbreakers listed the junior rig class as 2 dog, so Ian made the decision to run the 2 girls and leave Falcon at home. This would be Shallot’s first race running on a gang line (we don’t count canicross) and Ian wanted her to have a positive experience. While Falcon was running enthusiastically at home, we hadn’t had an opportunity to test him at a race yet. Carly knew the trail at Lodi and had won there before.

We had an uneventful drive north, found the race site, and settled in at our hotel for some needed rest. The girls ate well for dinner and slept well through the night. The next morning, Ian went in the bathroom to get dressed in his many layers… then he wasn’t able to leave the bathroom! The door was stuck! Nana used to run her father’s tool and die shop which made door locks. She understands the mechanisms well, and she deduced that while the knob turned freely, the bolt was not catching. We fetched the morning manager, but his only solution was to call for a deputy who ended up having to kick the door in! Ian was finally freed and we barely made it to the race site in time for him to attend the drivers’ meeting.

After acquiring his musher’s bag and his bib for the day, Ian was whisked away. Chris and Dave allowed Ian to ride out to the course with Dave so Ian could learn how to participate as trail help. Nana and I stayed in the truck most of the day with the girls to stay out of the cold wind. Ian showed up occasionally in between classes as he came in to visit the concession stand and walk his girls. Chelsea, Carly’s trainer and former owner was attending this race, so Carly was happy to see Chelsea’s daughter, who helped Ian with walking her often.

Then it was finally time for juniors to run so Ian unloaded his rig and harnessed up the girls. Nana got her first lesson in handling at the chute along with Bonnie. Ian was delighted that Bonnie and Jim drove all the way to Ohio to see him race. They started him on this journey, and they’ve been there for a lot of his big moments. It seemed quite fitting that Bonnie handled for Ian’s first go at racing his own dogs while Jim timed the run.

Carly screamed and screamed in the chute, as that’s her personality. Shallot ignored her and focused on the trail ahead. Chelsea took video from the back of the chute and I tried (poorly) to get video of Ian and the girls as the came out of the chute. In no time at all they were off and out of sight! It’s a bit stressful sending Ian off on the trail. We set him up, then watch him leave and worry about him until he returns again at the very end. Very competent volunteers are staged around the race course as trail help, so I know Ian has very capable hands in case he has an issue, but I still worry. I so badly wanted Ian to finish a race driving his own dogs. I didn’t want him to have to return home with DNF attached to his name in the race results.

Ian is quite resourceful, and I should never doubt him, or his girls. The ladies brought him to the finish in 5 minutes and 46.07 seconds! We took the good ladies back to our warm room and they both ate well for dinner. Sled dogs don’t always eat when they’re away from home, so it’s quite heartening to have girls who enthusiastically lick their bowls clean.

Sunday began with less drama than Saturday and no deputies were needed. Ian chose to spend time playing with the other juniors when he found out he wasn’t needed for trail help. He’s built his own community within the dog sport world, and he’s building a whole network of friends. I still have a whole circle of friends from the horseshow world even though I haven’t been active in showing for almost 15 years now, so I’m thrilled that Ian is able to start forming his own band of cronies in his chosen sport. I think he loves seeing his buddies from all over the eastern US as much as he loves running his dogs in new places.

Ian enjoyed day two of running even more than day one. He knew the trail better, and the temps were even colder. Snow blew in and swirled around us while he was on course. The ground was good and hard so tires passed over easily and didn’t require the girls to pull harder. The girls dropped more than 30 seconds off of their Saturday time and finished Sunday with a time of 5 minutes and 9.56 seconds! Ian came in second to a wonderful junior musher from Michigan who drives a fast team of dogs really well. Ian’s running in good company at ISDRA races. Second out of two is okay when first place is really darn good.

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiS7HHBbMPg&t=5s

Posted in Family, Friends, Ian, Mushing, Sled Dogs, travel | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ian’s Ragtag Motley Crew

Posted on 01/12/2025 by ashleekiser

I’ve not done a great job updating all of you about Ian’s new dogs. The last two I properly introduced were Falcon and Pilgrim, but it wasn’t much later that I shared about the untimely loss of Pilgrim. Since we lost Pilgrim, Ian has added two more huskies to his kennel: Shallot and Carly.

Lunobes You Shallot Pass is a 2022 running line Siberian Husky from Stephanie’s kennel, Lunobe. Stephanie planned this litter carefully and ended up with some amazing puppies that are now exceling in racing. Shallot was Stephanie’s favorite of the litter, and she thought long and hard who to place Shallot with. Stephanie knew about Ian before we knew about Shallot. When I spoke with Stephanie the first time, my initial question was to ask if Shallot could be a lead dog. Stephanie confidently answered that yes, Shallot had what it would take to be a leader.

Shallot came home with us May 2023, and had all summer to bond with Ian and the rest of his dogs. She is quite an opinionated little husky and doesn’t mind to tell us exactly what she thinks. By fall, she was ready to start harness breaking. Initially Shallot went on the line beside Jenna, following behind Falcon and Balto. Jenna is our calm lady who stays chill all the time. She’s never, ever, going to run a race, but she’s great to teach pups to be calm and friendly. This was important with Shallot when she moved in because she was on the shy side and not in love with the idea of being a pet. While Shallot didn’t want to waste any time on cuddling, she was all about running! Shallot didn’t spend many four-wheeler sessions behind Falcon before we swapped her spot with Balto so she could run in front. Our little lady LOVED leading!

Shallot kept improving, and by December Ian was running the dogs with the rig, letting Shallot lead the way with Falcon. Her gee and haw weren’t solid, but her go and whoa were flawless. Shallot has the best work ethic and is always enthusiastic to go. The only problem was that Falcon was slowing down. He’d already told us that he didn’t want to race, and now he was beginning to show signs that maybe he didn’t want to run at all anymore. Ian tried to let Balto run lead with Shallot, but Balto just doesn’t have the focus that Falcon does. Shallot wasn’t ready to make all the decisions on her own. She needed more help learning how to be head honcho, and it looked like Falcon may not be up for finishing Shallot’s training.

Around this time, I developed a nerve condition in my face, and started seeing a neurologist for the pain that had developed. For a time, we had to rule out some scary conditions. I came through all the testing with the good news that I didn’t have the ugly C word, or MS, but until we had ruled those diseases out, I was afraid to do any dog shopping. For several months, I didn’t know what my future was going to look like. Soon after receiving my clear MRI, I saw a Facebook post for an Alaskan husky that might be a good fit. I forwarded the post to Shantel to ask for her thoughts. She had set some pretty specific criteria for Ian’s next dog: 4-5 years old, Alaskan, lead dog training, previous experience in dryland mushing, and similar size to Shallot. Carly happened to check all of these boxes! Shantel encouraged us to go meet Carly, so we scheduled a day with her owner, Chelsea.

Chelsea runs 4 dog dryland, and had switched to running hounds. She decided to find special homes for her Alaskans, but was adamant that those had to be active homes that would run the dogs, while also bringing them inside to live as members of their families. That was us! Ian and I left with Shallot at 2 am to head to Illinois to meet Chelsea and Carly. I didn’t actually tell Ian we were going to potentially pick up a new dog until we were almost to Chelsea’s house. For Ian and Shallot, it was love at first sight! Carly needed a few weeks to think about how she felt about us.

Carly was the perfect fit for our family. Chelsea is not only a mushing trainer, but also trains obedience. She did a remarkable job with Carly’s training. Carly has solid recall, heels beautifully, and has perfect manners. But Carly’s mushing training was something else. Chelsea installed auto pilot buttons in this dog. If Ian whispers gee, Carly instantly turns right. If she hears a haw, she jumps onto a left trail. If Ian says nothing, she turns her head back to confirm that Ian is okay. Clearly if you need someone to start a dog, Chelsea is the trainer!

With Carly to run beside Shallot, Shallot’s running skills improved rapidly. She began to respond more quickly to gee and haw. Ian began to condition Shallot for an upcoming race in Ohio. He would be running 2 dog junior rig, so he needed to get Shallot as fit as Carly. We began going to Cummins Falls State Park every time the weather was cool enough to run dogs.

Before Carly moved home with us to TN, we were worried about Falcon and concerned that he might be approaching full retirement. He became increasingly hitchy on cool mornings, and he just didn’t want to go when we pulled out harnesses. He was seeing the chiropractor weekly and struggling to hold his adjustment. Joint supplements weren’t keeping up and our very good boy wasn’t feeling well. Dr. Mainord, Falcon’s chiropractor, sent us to Integrative Animal Solutions to rent a medical laser for Falcon’s hitchy back end. The owner, Tracy, quickly became a key player in Falcon’s health. She generously decided to sponsor Ian’s racing team and offered him laser rentals at a significant discount. She also offered some valuable nutrition counseling that helped us revise Falcon’s meal plan. Then we had Falcon see her holistic vet for an acupuncture treatment. This vet stressed to Ian that Falcon has to keep running so that he will keep using his joints to prevent them from freezing up. She showed us where Falcon has lost a lot of the muscle tone around his hips, and insisted that building this muscle back up will be important for Falcon’s continued comfort. Because Falcon was an extreme athlete for so many years, she explained that going for a leashed walk every morning and evening would not be sufficient exercise to keep the accumulating pudge off of Falcon. So Falcon went back to gentle work, and we hoped that he would begin to enjoy it again.

Then Carly moved in, and Falcon was smitten. We ran Falcon beside Carly the first few times Ian took her out so that Ian could adjust to Carly while running a dog he was familiar with. Falcon loped off well every time Ian pulled the snub line. When Ian began running the girls by themselves to get Shallot conditioned for her upcoming race, he started running Balto and Falcon together to work on their fitness as Ian would be moving up to 3 dog rig after the Ohio race. With Carly and Shallot working so well together in lead, after a few weeks Ian decided to put Falcon on the line in wheel to see how he did. The transformation in his attitude was instantaneous. Falcon was back to jumping up and down on the line and screaming!

I told Shantel that I could not believe how differently Falcon was behaving, and how excited he’d becoming about running. She laughed at me, and said that running lead is hard on dogs. She wasn’t a bit surprised that Falcon was content to move to wheel, and explained how lead dogs have to constantly pay attention to their musher, the trail, the other dogs, and more. In wheel, Falcon could focus on running, and let the girls make most of the choices for him. Falcon started packing muscle back on his loins, and his gait became more even. Our boy started wagging his tail after runs!

I truly thought in May that Falcon was fully retired, and would continue to deteriorate, but with the addition of Carly, he came alive again. Tracy and Dr. Mainord helped transform Falcon’s physical health, and Carly improved Falcon’s mindset. It looked like Falcon might actually want to race and Ian would have a 3 dog team! So here is the oddball mushing team Ian has assembled to race this season:

Left lead –Carly: white, 5 year old female Alaskan husky, trained by Chelsea. 38 pounds

Right lead –Shallot: agouti, 2 year old female Siberian husky, trained by Ian. 37.5 pounds

Wheel –Falcon: sable, 11 year old male Alaskan husky, trained by Dean and handlers. 70 pounds

Back up wheel –Balto: sable, 6 year old Siberian husky, trained by Ian. 85 pounds

Emotional support friend –Jenna: wolf grey 4 year old basset hound trapped inside a Siberian husky body. 65 pound.

It’s quite the eclectic group of dogs that Ian has accumulated. He has the excited baby, the solid campaigner, and the old man. We remain indebted to Dean, Shantel, Bonnie, Stephanie, and Chelsea for choosing Ian for these good dogs!

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Ian’s Industrial Art

Posted on 12/26/2024 by ashleekiser

There are five original industrial arts:

  • Woodworking, carpentry, and joinery
  • Masonry, stonecraft, and pottery
  • Upholstery and needlecraft
  • Metallurgy and smithing
  • Glass making

Ian’s following an unconventional path for his education, and I’m glad for it. In addition to the heavy emphasis on science and music, he’s also learning one of the original industrial arts. He chose needlecraft and has been enjoying every minute of it!

My grandmother can sew incredibly well, so well that her industrial art crossed over into a fine art. Not only were her products functional and useful, but they were also beautiful. Her combinations of colors into blocks for chosen quilt patterns are absolutely stunning. Some of her quilts tell a story; some of them demonstrate treasured memories; all of them show a beautiful visual image. This quilt, for example, is a Bear in the Woods quilt. The trees, obviously, are the forest. The corner blocks are bear paws!

Ian attended a sewing camp at his learning center, Peachtree, over the summer. For four days, he learned the basics of running a sewing machine and creating simple projects. At the end of camp, he asked to sign up to take the full course for the academic school year. He began the class in August, so now he is halfway through the curriculum. Sadly, Ian is the only boy in the class. Sewing is one of those skills that somewhere along the way has been relegated to “women’s work.” Despite being the only male student in his class, Ian has asked to continue with his fiber arts studies, and he plans to enroll in Sewing II fall 2025.

For Christmas this year, Ian had two requests: dog gear and a sewing machine. His Idaho grandparents took care of the dog gear request, so Nana gifted him with the sewing machine. I never thought I’d see a twelve year old boy be so excited to get an appliance for Christmas, but he woke up today, December 26th and asked to go to Hobby Lobby for thread. So we started our day with a quick bikejour session for his 5 dogs, then we took off to Hobby Lobby with his pocket full of Christmas cash from Aunt Connie and Ms. Alanna. After a lengthy argument about why he doesn’t need to buy 15 yards of fabric, Ian finally selected the threads he needed. I also learned that Ian officially knows the layout of the store better than I do!

So this evening, tired doggies with bellies stuffed full of beef are laying all over the living room while Ian is holed up in his gear/school room. I’m not sure what he’s working on, or what all of his equipment is called, but he’s diligently cutting fabric with an item that looks like a pizza cutter, on a gridded board that magically doesn’t get cut by the pizza cutter. Then he feeds fabric through his new sewing machine which he managed to set up by himself.

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The Gift Thief

Posted on 12/25/2024 by ashleekiser

“No gift can ever replace the value of being there in person.”

This is a beautiful sentiment, but Balto would like to call horse feathers on this claim.

To say that Balto is a little spoiled would be a gross understatement. Balto thinks he is Ian’s brother and that Ian’s grandparents are Balto’s grandparents. Balto also thinks that he’s the favorite grandchild. This dog gets ridiculously excited when he sees a grandparent pull in, and he demands all the ensuing attention.

Clearly holidays like Christmas will resonate strongly with a husky/person like Balto. His first Christmas is one that we will always remember vividly. Brinn and I woke Ian up early the morning of Christmas 2019 so we could watch him enjoy Christmas with all the wonder and enthusiasm that a seven year old possesses. We also pulled down stockings for Mogwai, Chaco, and Balto as we always include the dogs in every holiday. They happily gnawed on their pig ears and dutifully played with their new toys. Their Christmas Eve gifts from Nana were still strewn about the floor.

Later that morning, Grandpapa came up to spend Christmas day with us. A delighted Balto walked back and forth with Grandpapa from his explorer to the living room, “helping” Grandpapa carry in every festive package with all the shiny ribbons and bows. Balto sat politely, watching Ian open all of his presents, actively observing every movement and taking inventory of the growing pile of toys. When Ian finally tore the paper off his last gift and stood up, Balto looked up at his Grandpapa with delight that it was finally his turn! Except Grandpapa didn’t have a gift for Balto, because who wraps a gift for a 9 month old Siberian puppy? Balto’s entire face fell. I mean, absolute devastation! I wouldn’t have believed a dog could express such emotion with these kind of facial features if I weren’t there to witness it myself. This little dog was absolutely crushed. And it broke his Grandpapa’s heart to see it.

Mind you, Balto had already received a plush chicken from Nana, and plenty of other gifts from Ian that morning. But Balto truly thought that he was a grandchild on equal standing with Ian, and as such, eligible for the same treatment.

After Balto’s disappointment, he turned to a life of crime. Any wrapped gift fell victim to Balto’s thieving ways. When he saw a wrapped gift, he felt fully entitled to unwrap it. We bought Grandma Cross a lovely quilt kit of fabrics for a project she’d been wanting to sew for quite some time. The quilt shop I bought it from wrapped it so beautifully for Mother’s Day. Then Brinn came into the living room the Friday before Mother’s Day and found that Balto had unwrapped the box and scattered fabric everywhere!

Unfortunately Balto’s misdemeanors did not end with Grandma’s quilt. He became a porch pirate and started stealing deliveries before we could bring them inside! He never destroyed the contents, but the boxes and any wrappings became confetti. This conduct disorder persisted until Christmas rolled around again, and Grandpapa walked in with shiny gift packages labeled with Balto’s name. The reign of terror finally ended once Balto received equal treatment from his Grandpapa. Now Grandpapa comes prepared with small gifts for Balto every time he visits.

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Dryland Mushing

Posted on 06/29/2024 by ashleekiser

A few Christmases ago, Abby gifted me with a shirt stating: “I was normal two huskies ago.” At the time we laughed and thought it referred to Balto and Jenna. We had no idea how prophetic the shirt actually was as now we’re managing a house of four huskies! Well played, Abby; well played.

I haven’t really shared much here about how mushing is going for Ian. During the running season, we get so busy with helping Ian, that I don’t really think about journaling it when we get home. To be honest, I’m tired and usually a little sore. Handling huskies has turned out to be a high impact activity that I wasn’t quite ready for. I thought I was ready. I can manage 1,000 pound horses, after all! Oh how wrong I was. Pound for pound, horses are the easier beasts for sure.

When dogs are excited and ready to run, they are ready to run right then. The mushing community debates amongst themselves if mushing dogs should be taught to stand quietly, or if it’s better to let the dogs psych themselves up for the run. I don’t know enough to weigh in with my opinion yet, but I really enjoy seeing Falcon’s enthusiasm when he knows he’s about to go for a run. Once he’s on the gang line, he jumps up and down in the air. Even Balto gets excited now and barks and pulls, ready to go! Baby Shallot is learning, and by the end of this last season she was starting to find her voice. She prefers to “woo” rather than bark. I can’t wait to see her gain more confidence this fall and show us her enthusiasm. She loves to run more than any of Ian’s other dogs.

To keep the dogs from running before Ian is ready, he uses a snub line to hold them in place. This line works great, but first we have to get them to the line. This is where I have the most trouble. During Ian’s first season of mushing, I fell down almost every single day. I turned Falcon loose in the state forest back before he responded to recall commands. I mashed his paws. I tripped over the gang line, dog paws, and my own feet on the regular. Ian frequently had to jump off his rig to show me the correct way to hold a dog, clip on a neck line, attach a tug, or get out of the way. He took to mushing, and all the associated tasks, like a fish to water, while I was like a bull in a China shop. Eventually Ian and Falcon have trained me up to not make quite as many mistakes. But those first few months were a little rough. Daily I asked Bonnie, Shantel, Cruz, and even Kim for advice as I kept making errors. Brinn was definitely more competent than me, but he was usually driving ahead of Ian. For that first season, Ian mostly ran on maintained roads in Standing Stone State Forrest. Hunters, hikers, horses, and ATV riders all used these roads (though they weren’t often out on the single digit days like us) and we wanted to have a vehicle in between Ian and any potential head on traffic.

This past season, Ian started running more dirt trails on the other side of Standing Stone, and he has also started running the Meadow Trail at Cummins Falls State Park. There is no motorized traffic on these trails, so Ian has become the fastest moving traffic! Now Brinn hikes in ahead of Ian so that he’s in place to offer trail help at tricky turns, and also to hold up hikers so they’re not having to dodge dogs running down the trail.

Ian is becoming even more proficient at readying his own dogs by himself now. He appreciates some help unloading dogs and clipping them to the trailer, but after he sets his snub line, he’s pretty adept at getting them to the gang line by himself. He’ll ask me to hold Falcon and Shallot apart once their neck line goes on, then I have to make sure I’m out of the way because Ian gets ready pretty quickly. Once he pulls the pin, the whole team is GONE!

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Summer Break?

Posted on 06/28/2024 by ashleekiser

Our annual cycle used to follow very predictable seasons. In the fall we attended corn mazes and bonfires on weekends while Tabitha and I took the horses out for evening trail rides after work. Over the winter we ventured out for hikes or an occasional ski trip and enjoyed cocoa in the evening beside the wood stove. Spring brought rain and lots of local kayaking. Then summer would roll around again and bring our most fun. From May through September, we spent almost every weekend camping at the Ocoee, Nantahala, or Hiwassee. During the hot days we splashed through rapids and in the evenings we roasted hobo meals in the coals of our campfires with a big group of friends.

This was the ritual we followed through all four seasons of the first 10 years of Ian’s life. And then he finally wore us down and the sled dogs moved in.

Now we have a different annual clock. Fall is all about getting the dogs back into shape. The weight pull season also starts in fall. Winter is for Ian to run his dogs at our local start parks with his rig and travel to Alaska to mush with his Auntie Shantie. Spring concludes the weight pull season and let’s Ian run the dogs for a few more weeks. We expected all of these changes when Ian took on the persona of a dryland musher, but didn’t expect that summer would have our biggest changes. Now the hot season revolves around taking dogs for walks early in the mornings and late in the evenings throughout the worst of the heat. Days off from work are used to take the dogs hiking up creek beds so they can stay cool while getting their zoomies out. It’s a bit harder to slip away for whole weekends of riding whitewater with four dogs in tow.

While I miss seeing all of our paddling buddies, and I definitely miss the cold Nantahala water on 95 degree days, I am learning to enjoy this new rhythm of our lives. Summer has always been such a rush of preparing, packing, leaving town, returning home to unpack and do laundry while working through the week, just to rush off again at 4:30 on Friday. We’re all finding some much needed rest in our more relaxed schedule. And most of all, we need this slower paced summer so that Ian can accomplish his goal of 3 school grades in two year.

Ian’s typical week includes lots of dog chores, music practice, and his self paced school work. Mondays and Fridays are for accomplishing his school work at home. Tuesdays and Thursdays include reading/writing/spelling tutoring with Lindsey. Wednesday is for violin and mandolin lessons with Mrs. Howell. This week, Ian attended sewing camp each morning at Peachtree Learning Center, with all his other tasks being pushed to the afternoon. Next month, he will attend a week of theater camp. On top of the camps, tutoring, and music, Ian completes a math lesson each day through Teaching Textbooks and a science lesson each day through Exploration Education.

Another advantage of our slower summer is that we’re better able to keep up with the garden. The weeds don’t get away from Brinn quite as quickly and the dogs enjoy lounging around the garden while we pick green beans and stake up tomato plants. Falcon particularly enjoys time spent in the garden. Do you remember the lion, Jasmine, from Second Hand Lions? She moved into the corn patch and decided it was her American jungle. Falcon has decided that the space between green bean rows is his jungle. We joke that he is our Second Hand Husky. He loves to stretch out on the cool dirt in the shade and peep his nose out of his green bean canopy to spy on the rest of us. Jenna likes to run through the loose dirt of the garden and sling it behind her as she digs her toes in. Balto and Shallot have developed quite a taste for blackberries lately, so they follow me down the fence line every evening and demand their share of my haul.

Ian is growing mini pumpkins again this summer, and hopes that they do well enough to sell during his fall fundraiser. He also spends a lot of time in his small swimming pool. Gone are the days of season passes to Dollywood, so he’s had to find a new way to cool off. Three of his four dogs think that they also need to cool off daily in the pool.

It’s a different kind of summer, for sure, but when do we ever do anything conventionally? I guess I’ll be making blackberry jam tomorrow if Balto and Shallot leave me enough berries.

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The Soundtrack to Ian’s Life

Posted on 06/21/2024 by ashleekiser

I come from a rich musical background. My brother plays guitar, my mom is first chair percussionist in every band she’s ever joined, and my dad is a bluegrass picker who occasionally plays guitar with mandolin as his primary instrument. Aunt Connie plays piano, flute, and guitar, and my cousin Aaron also plays guitar. Clearly we value music considerably, and I expect Ian to follow the rest of the family in picking up an instrument. I had planned on having him join band in 5th grade, and learn how to play a wind instrument like I did. But Ian is intent on blazing his own path and he found a different way to start music.

At the beginning of third grade, Ian came home from school one day with a flyer about the String Project at my university. He asked if he could start taking violin lessons and join the beginner orchestra. Out of all the musical knowledge in my family, none of us knows anything about violin. But in true Ian fashion, he wanted something different than all the rest of us. String Project was a great way for Ian to dip his toes into learning the violin. The program is grant funded, which allows the university to offer the program for a steal of a deal! Each Monday during the university’s regular fall and spring semesters, the groups would meet for an hour in a small group lesson (usually 3 to 4 kids per group) and then for an hour as a large ensemble. The program would present their work early in December and again in early May with a big concert showing the progress of each group.

String Project gave Ian the opportunity to experience a lot of the same things band kids learn in school. The master teacher, Ms. Mia Hagarty, works with the beginner students on reading music, stage presence (including bowing and carrying the instrument), memorizing scales, and playing fun tunes! The small group lessons are taught by university students majoring in music. This gives them an opportunity to earn a small pay check while gaining valuable teaching experience. Ms. Hagarty gives String Project students the opportunity to attend TTU faculty concerts, as well as participate in master classes with composers like Tracy Silverman and perform with TTU’s student orchestra.

After Ian completed two years in the String Project, we were beginning our conversation about making the move to homeschool. String Project would fit in great with our homeschool goals, but then we learned about another options for Ian: Peachtree Learning Center. Some of my college friends who had been homeschooled had taken classes at Peachtree in the late 90s, and affectionately referred to it as “Friday School.” Then I heard of Peachtree again around 2010 or 2011 when the boys from Mustard Seed Ranch took some art courses there. I assumed that this meant Peachtree was an art center, so I didn’t initially consider it when we began our research of local homeschool resources. But Peachtree’s name floated across my radar again last May, and I scheduled a meeting to stop by and speak with their staff. Ian and I visited during my lunch hour, and had the opportunity to speak with Ms. Brianne about all that Peachtree has to offer, and boy was I wrong! Peachtree Learning offers academic enrichment courses in about every subject you can think of (math, sciences, reading, writing, geography, apologetics, art history, engineering…) along with a variety of fine arts including theater, music, dance, painting, and even sewing! What caught my notice was the specific music classes available. Not only did Peachtree offer private instruction in violin and piano, but there was also a mandolin instructor on the faculty! And that instructor also taught a bluegrass ensemble course.

Ian was excited about the opportunity to learn the same music that his Grandpapa plays, and also excited at the thought of learning a second instrument. We filled out the application for Ian to become a student at Peachtree Learning Center, and eagerly awaited to hear from Ian’s new teacher, Mrs. Sarah Merritt-Howell, to see if Ian could be allowed to enter the bluegrass course.

Mrs. Howell soon reached out to us to talk about Ian’s options for playing. She agreed to allow Ian to join the bluegrass group, but suggested that Ian take private fiddle lessons with her in order to supplement the learning curve he would need to make up for to be able to play with the more advanced students in the class. She also agreed to take Ian on as a mandolin student! We had no idea at that time what a boon we had landed. Soon we would learn that music at Peachtree is on a whole other level. Mrs. Howell herself is of remarkable talent. Not only does she have a way of connecting with each student personally to bring out their best, she also has her own stunning talent while playing. She has performed all over the country, including at the Grand Ole Opry! It’s hard to describe the talent of her students. They range from tiny kindergartners through high school seniors, and they just bowl you over with their abilities. Their concerts and recitals leave you speechless.

After a busy summer of tutoring, August arrived and brought Ian a year of more music than he’d ever experienced. Mondays would include Bluegrass at 1:30, then String Project at 4:00. Tuesday was a private Mandolin lesson, and Thursday private fiddle. We also needed to get instruments ready! Ian was set to borrow my dad’s A style Horner made in the late 70’s, but Grandpapa decided he wanted to do some work on it to make it more playable for Ian. He’d raised the action considerably on it back in his gigging days, as he had to compete with the banjo for volume. He needed to lower the action and add new tuners, and was concerned that his work would take too long as he’d ordered quite a few new parts for the instrument, so he decided to gift Ian with an Eastman MD305 A style mandolin to start his learning career. This great student-level instrument has a nice sound and a radiused fret board which we’ve learned can be very friendly to arthritic fingers of older players. Along with this brand new instrument, he set Ian up with a Blue Chip pick, a tuner, a strap, and plenty of extra strings.

Once lessons began, Ian had a lot of information to learn very quickly. Not only was he required to continue learning his scales, now he also had to learn pentatonic scales and the circle of fifths. Violin required long bows and fiddle wanted short bowing. Lessons were intense and required lots of note taking with homework assigned. After a few weeks, Ian told me how much he enjoyed working with Mrs. Sarah. I asked him if he likes her so much because she’s an easy teacher. He answered earnestly, “Oh no, mama, Mrs. Sarah’s the hardest teacher I’ve ever had!” Mandolin lessons started with the basics including holding the instrument, how to hold a pick, how to correctly strum the strings, and eventually some very simple songs.

Ian threw himself into all of his music classes, and tried hard to hang in there to learn all the new sheet music handed out each week while memorizing major scales and pentatonic scales, but then misfortune struck in the middle of the fall semester. Days before we were set to leave for a training trip to mush for a whole week in Michigan, Ian stepped off the back of the tailgate and fell out of the truck, fracturing his left wrist. His first cast went all the way up to his bicep, leaving him unable to run dogs or play music. Ian spent the next several weeks in a variety of casts and braces, knocking him out of any playing until January. Ms. Hagarty cautioned Ian that returning to playing would be difficult for a little while as his left hand had been immobile for a few months. We all nodded along with her warning, but none of us truly understood what she was trying to convey to us. Then when Ian returned to classes, he quickly grew frustrated that his left hand didn’t always move the way he expected it to. It also grew tired quickly, and he’d lost all of the callouses on his fingers. It was a little rocky starting back, and he had several discouraged moments with violin. But mandolin was coming along and he started learning a few chords, which helped him to feel like he was really making more intentional sounds instead of just noise.

A few weeks after Ian started to regain strength in his left hand, Mrs. Howell asked if Ian could back up his fiddle lessons to focus on more classical violin training and give him a stronger foundation for his playing skills. She also gave him the option to begin playing mandolin in the bluegrass ensemble. At this point, Grandpapa had finished working on the Horner, and Ian was delighted to be able to bring it with him to play in the bluegrass class. The songs were fast and intimidating, but the other mandolin picker in the group, an impressively talented young lady, graciously helped Ian during class with chord changes and timing. Arkansas Traveler soon became one of his favorite songs to play.

In April, we took Ian to his first concert. Since Nickel Creek had such a strong influence on Mrs. Howell, we decided they would be a good option for Ian’s first show, so we loaded up and went to the Tennessee Theater with Grandpapa. Ian sat spellbound hearing the sounds that four musicians on stage could produce from their instruments. He has since increased his practice time on the mandolin. He still practices his violin, but never for as long as he practices mandolin. Frequently, he’ll pick up the Horner and walk around the house or out in the yard picking snatches of Bear Creek Hop.

As Ian’s first year of homeschool drew to an end, we needed to start making some plans for his upcoming school year, including what music classes he would take. Mrs. Howell recommended a music theory and ear training class, along with letting him continue in the bluegrass ensemble. Inevitably, Ian made some decisions on his own, and asked if he could drop orchestra for the coming year. He still wants to keep playing violin/fiddle, and will continue his lessons, but he’s no longer interested in working towards concerts with the large group. We’ve agreed to let him drop String Project since he’s still very enthusiastic about continuing to learn and improve, so we’ll swap SP out for taking Music Theory at Peach Tree come August.

Ian is incredibly fortunate that our community own offers so many educational opportunities for young musicians. Many students are limited to the band programs offered in their elementary school, or they have to drive to larger cities to seek out instruction. Our small town has a population of less than 40,000 people, yet there is so much talent packed into the performers and instructors in this place! I’m very glad that Ian has these opportunities to make his own choices for musical training so he can carve out his own place in our family’s musical community.

According to Lisha Tiwari: “Investing in your child’s music education is an investment in their future that extends far beyond musical proficiency. The cognitive, emotional, social, and creative skills fostered through music education are transferable to countless aspects of life. By supporting your child’s musical journey, you provide them with a well-rounded education that prepares them for academic success, personal growth, and professional excellence. Let music be the soundtrack to their development and watch as they flourish into confident, expressive, and innovative individuals ready to conquer the world.”

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Tennessee Mushing Academy

Posted on 06/17/2024 by ashleekiser

Last spring, as Ian completed his requirements for 4th grade, we knew we would soon have to make some major decisions about the future of his education. Our county begins middle school in 5th grade, rather than 6th grade, and we were not feeling settled with continuing in public school. Additionally, more opportunities were presenting themselves for mushing, which would require more school absences than the Putnam County Board of Education permits. The obvious solution to this dilemma would be to homeschool, but how could that be possible when I work full time?

We began the process of exploring all options available to us, and we learned so much about the amazing community we live in. There are some wonderful private school options in our area, but they would not solve the attendance issue we were looking at. A hybrid school that met for in person classes two days a week presented a closer fit, but we would still be dealing with a lot of absences in the winter. My West Tennessee best friend shared her experiences of homeschooling while working full time, and helped me begin to have hope that maybe I could actually make this goal happen. During my research, I read about moms who struggle with homeschooling because their extended families don’t see the value in such an education. My family had the opposite reaction and they enthusiastically endorsed my plan and offered to help in every way to ensure academic success for Ian. To be honest, I don’t think that any of this could have come together without the help of both of my parents who prioritize Ian’s learning significantly.

The first step in our homeschool journey was to select an umbrella program to enroll Ian so that he would be able to continue building a transcript and later be eligible for a high school diploma and college entry. The next step was to select curriculum. And I agonized over this step. I poured through all the catalogs a coworker (and former homeschool mom) brought to me, and struggled to find the Goldilocks fit that would be “just right” for Ian. The West TN bestie came through again and picked me up as she drove past Cookeville on her way to Pigeon Forge to attend the annual homeschool convention. I was able to peruse the wares of hundreds of vendors selling homeschool curriculum. My favorite booth had very little set up in the way of signage, but there was a small battery powered car attached to a string driving in circles around a weighted center post. When I stopped, the kind lady asked if I had any questions she could help me with. My first words were: “I need to know what this is.” Exploration Education was the first homeschool material that I purchased for Ian and he has loved this physical science course more than any of his other subjects this year.

My day with Kathryn helped me select math and science, but I still struggled to find a language arts and social studies curriculum that I felt would suit Ian’s current needs. He tried Night Zookeeper but felt that it was too “young” for him, and I had some reservations about Khan Academy. Many of the curriculums I’d looked at in Pigeon Forge were heavy on worksheets, a teaching style that hadn’t been working for Ian in public school. Then I stumbled across the Good and the Beautiful. The author of this program employees a Charlotte Mason approach, which means that she believes in combining learning. Multiple subjects are intertwined together for a comprehensive learning experience. Each unit is set up to learn about the culture and geography of a different country. All of the reading and grammar lessons focus on those countries. The images for each unit display art from those countries. Each unit also included a reading lesson on preparing a grocery list, then the student follows a recipe to make a food native to that country! TGATB provides a free download for each level of the language arts courses, so I was able to review the entire course before committing to buy it. Finally I had the rest of Ian’s curriculum purchased!

Now that we had decided on curriculum, I had to figure out how all this learning was going to take place. I began looking at my schedule, trying to decide how to best use evenings and weekends for Ian’s school hours, then he made a very small request: “Could you just be my mom instead of my teacher?”

My dad stepped in to save the day at this point. He told me to find tutors for Ian. He was ready to provide the financial support needed to allow for a truly individualized learning program where Ian could thrive. So I reached out to the Dean of the College of Education at my university with what I thought was a crazy request. I explained to Dr. Baker that we were going to try to “home” school Ian by hiring tutors to teach him his coursework, and asked if she could provide any advice on college students who might be interested in helping Ian. Dr. Baker immediately responded that she had the perfect student in mind, and by the end of the week had confirmed that the young lady was available and willing to help Ian.

4th grade ended on May 26 and by June 5th Ian was ready to start 5th grade. We had met with Rebekah and developed a plan for her to tutor Ian three days a week in language arts and social studies. His math was a self paced online program, and Ian figured out his science course in about 10 minutes and determined that he could work through it on his own just fine using the online materials to listen to the audio lecture while following along in his lab book. Now we had to determine our calendar for the school year. This is when Ian hit me with another request that caught me off guard. He wanted to skip a grade.

Immediately following the pandemic, our governor decided that the annual state exams (TCAP) would determine if 3rd graders would be promoted to 4th grade, or retained in 3rd grade. Ian’s testing period coincided with Balto having back to back obstruction surgeries, and Brinn having emergency surgery due to a post-operative infection. Needless to say, Ian bombed the testing period. The school was not at all supportive towards our request to retest and didn’t offer us any other options. Ian was forced to repeat the entire year. I did not realize how upsetting the entire process of repeating 3rd grade was for Ian, so I felt like a terrible mother when he asked me if he could get back to the grade level he should have been. So Ian and I made a deal: 3 grade levels in 2 years. This was going to mean year round schooling for two years.

Here we are, a year later and Ian’s thriving in his customized educational plan. We’ve found some exciting new opportunities for music that he’s enjoyed, and he has exceeded his goals of working ahead to complete 3 grade levels in 2 years. Ian finished 5th grade math in January and started right into 6th grade math! School looks a lot different these days. Mornings start with dog chores instead of rushing out the door to make it to his desk before the 8:00 am bell. Some days Ian is out running dogs until 10:00. Sometimes he pauses his studies to go spend an hour swimming or fishing. In January, Ian finished math and grammar from the backseat of the truck while we drove to Alabama for a mushing race. Snow outside and slippery roads no longer mean a missed day of school, but an invitation from Auntie Shauntie in the middle of the semester means a 2 week break from school to go run dogs in Alaska.

Today marks day 12 of Ian’s second year as a full time homeschooler. He spent the afternoon working with Lindsey, his new tutor, on diagraming sentences and learning about the geography of South America. Tomorrow Ian will spend the afternoon with Mrs. Howell, his unbelievably talented music teacher. Next week he’ll attend a week of sewing lessons.

It takes a village to raise and educate a child. With the help from my parents, close friends, and an amazing community across our town, Ian has the village he needs to help him learn in the environment best suited for his educational needs. And his team of spoiled huskies are awfully glad that they get to spend more time with their favorite kid as he now attends Tennessee Mushing Academy.

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Back to the North!

Posted on 03/06/2024 by ashleekiser

Two years ago, Bonnie connected us to Shantel via Julie in the hunt for Ian’s first lead dog. Shantel knew of a dog from a kennel she had previously handled for, and she thought he might be a good fit for a little boy. At the time, I thought she was choosing a dog for Ian. I didn’t realize that actually, Shantel was choosing Ian as her junior musher.

Once Falcon and Pilgrim moved in, Shantel offered to host Ian if he ever wanted to come to Alaska to learn to mush in the snow. We filed this offer away in the back of our heads as an incredibly polite offer that we probably wouldn’t follow up on. But Shantel reminded us regularly that she would love to work with Ian, so we began to think that maybe it wouldn’t be so crazy to travel 4,000 miles for mushing lessons. Bonnie had already ensured that we’d begun earning air miles with an Alaska Airlines credit card, and we had enough miles saved at this point. Tennessee state employees get a hefty discount on rental cars, and Shantel offered to house us for a week. It was kind of looking like we could swing a trip on a shoe string budget!

So we began planning and I booked our flights…then Shantel noticed that we were flying out the morning of the ceremonial start for the Iditarod. She insisted that we can’t miss the Iditarod. I consulted with Ian, who gave me a resounding, “meh” of indifference, but everyone insisted that Ian needs to experience the beginning of Iditarod. So I revised our flights and then we began planning in earnest. A lovely coworker agreed to house sit, and our good friend and breeder of Shallot invited Shallot to come stay with her. All our responsibilities were squared away for our absence.

First we had months and months to wait, then only weeks, and finally we were down to just days left before leaving. A day before we left, I checked Facebook memories, and saw that a year ago to the day, Shantel had received a card from Ian with a note that he couldn’t wait to go see her next year! Somehow it all came together, and just a year and two days after she opened that card, we were in Alaska!

We had 8 solid days in Alaska and 2 full days of travel. I look forward to sharing the details with you soon!

Day 1: Sunday, February 25 — tour Sled Dog Systems, tour Battle Dawgs, meet Rick Casillo, and learn to snow shoe!

Day 2: Monday, February 26 — Ian learns to drive on snow with Shantel

Day 3, Tuesday, February 27 — Ian learns to drive tag sled

Day 4, Wednesday, February 28 — WIND, touristy day in Talkeetna

Day 5, Thursday, February 29 — Ian drives dogs solo!

Day 6, Friday, March 1 — Skiing at Hatcher’s Pass

Day 7, Saturday, March 2 — Iditarod Ceremonial Start

Day 8, Sunday, March 3 — Iditarod official start in Willow

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