Even though we didn't get to as many races as we hoped this season due to cancelled races, we really enjoyed the 3 races we did compete in. We can only hope next year we get blasted with snow and can run everything on our schedule. We are already excited for next season and are still doing some spring ATV runs. At the end of this season it was becoming clear that Skor is starting to slow down (he turns 9 in June). It's always hard to see a incredible leader that you have trusted for so long getting ready to retire in a few years. The good thing though is that we have some great upcoming young dogs! Paxson has stepped up as the number one race leader for next season, and he is closely followed by Sirius, Snitch and Wired. Wired is only a yearling but we are sure she will be a force in lead for years to come. Swift & Molly are still great reliable leaders. Obi & Qui have been in lead a few times as well, so we will see what they do up front more next season.
A few changes in the kennel - Odie is headed home to NorthWapiti kennels in Alberta, Canada at the end of the month. At the age of 10.5 yrs he raced with us in every race this winter. He really is an amazing dog for his age and even on the spring runs he is still going strong. We can only hope his kids and grandkids in our yard have as long and wonderful careers as he did! It was awesome to get to know him since we have so many dogs related to him. We decided to let Gator go to a recreational mushing home. She is doing wonderful in her new home in PA. Thanks Elaine Bartholomew for giving her an excellent home! We still have 4 pups from our summer litters - Harry & Powder from Odie/Rainy are staying their full yearling year in harness. If those two run anything like their older half siblings Sirius & Snitch they will be amazing additions to the team. Spree & Breaker from Skor/Gator are also growing up nicely. Spree is the star right now and is just beautiful! We hope they follow in their daddy's footsteps! We also made the incredibly hard decision to place Rainy with Maggie Wey of Brayhill Siberians in Maine. Rainy is an amazing producer and has many incredible traits that she passed on in her kids. She has struggled a little with the speed of our teams the past few years and we want her to have a long career in running. She's an excellent leader and we really think she will be an invaluable dog to Maggie and helping give her young team some experience. We also hope in the future she has an amazing litter for Maggie, her kids are just awesome!
Dogs lives and careers are short, so we believe in letting them go to where they can get the most out of their lives, where they can excel to be shining stars. It's amazing how fast the years go by, we can't believe Lincoln is already 8! Feels like yesterday he was just a 2 yr old on the team. All for now!
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