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