Gerry Willomitzer's
Blackjack Racing Kennel
Newsletter - October 23, 2004
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Hi everyone,
I drove up to Fairbanks for the big annual dog
mushing symposium on October 8.
With the road now being quite good was able to get there in well under 10 hours without
breaking the law too often. I haven't been out of Whitehorse for a while, so it was
exciting to go.
The symposium had a number of interesting speakers and topics. The two main topics that interested me was dog care, covered by two excellent presentations by Wes Rau, a veterinary physical therapist, and long distance strategy, discussed by 2004 Iditarod Champion Mitch Seavey, Zack Steer (2nd 2004 Yukon Quest), Ken Aderson and Jessie Royer (Iditarod racers). Wes' presentations demonstrated the neck-shoulder-back exam and how to safely treat injuries.
Interesting was also a discussion between Mitch Seavey, 3 time Iditarod Champ Jeff King and Wes Rau about gangline and harness systems. King favours a modified skijoring harness and running without necklines, while Seavey uses ganglines with single trees and spreaders in the harnesses, similar to the old freight harnesses. Both claim their dogs pull straighter this way, which contributes to injury free runnning. Especially this discussion gave me quite a bit of food for thought for the drive back, and now I am tinkering around with a new gangline system of my own. Not that I am reinventing the wheel. I am currently trying Seavey's set-up. My test results remain secret for now. See me at the races if you want to know more!
For the two nights in the big city of Fairbanks I shared a room at the Captain Bartlett Inn with Quest veteran Ed Hopkins, who will also be runnning the 2005 Quest. (I still owe you money, Ed!) The evenings were filled with the Yukon Quest birthday party and the ADMA's auction night.
In addition to some high profile speakers some mushing greats were present throughout the event: George Attla (10 time sprint world champion over three decades), Rick Swenson (5-time Iditarod Champion) and Hans Gatt (3-time Yukon Quest Champ).
The trip back was uneventful, and the dogs were happy to see me back after a three day break in training.