Working
Inca attended her
first rally at only 5 months old when we took her to spectate at the
SHCGB Yateley Rally. She was just old enough to compete at the start
of the 2004/2005 season but I wanted to run her in a few recreationals
first. We ran in our first competative rally at Wellington (AMWA) in
March 2005 and have not looked back since. After trying out several
rigs, we decided to order one from Vince Trent (Steel Dog) and have been very impressed
with it. In our first season I ran Inca on her own, however at the start
of our second season I teamed Inca up with Finn and ran them as a 2-dog
team in freighting classes. We have a permit to train near where we
live and own a scooter from Belize
bikes specifically to train on. We have now just completed our 6th working season
and have been running Amano with the Mals in ABSA's Open class whenever
possible. Amano ran in his first event at Thruxton in October 2007 with
both Inca and Finn and performed brilliantly. Zeph had a couple
of training runs on the rig with both Finn and Amano before he was able to compete and seemed to take to it well so when he was old enough to compete we teamed him up with Finn. He has now just finished his second working season.
Click on the links below to take you to the relevant season:
| © Nick Ridley Photography |
The above photograph
was taken at the AMWA backpacking weekend at Salisbury (August 2005).
It was Finn's first time on a rig.
Working Results:
2004/2005
Season
| Club |
Rally |
Date |
Class |
Distance (miles) |
| AMWA |
Wellington |
20/03/05 |
M1 |
3.0 |
Huge congratulations
to Inca for completing her first rally!
2005/2006
Season
| Club |
Rally |
Date |
Class |
Distance (miles) |
Time |
Average MPH |
Position |
| AMWA |
Wellington |
23/10/05 |
M2 |
3.0 |
21:50 |
8.24 |
9th |
| ABSA |
Ringwood |
18/12/05 |
EF |
2.9 |
23:25 |
7.43 |
9th |
| SHCGB |
Aviemore |
Day One 21/01/06 |
D2 |
4.3 |
32:42 |
7.90 |
First Day |
| SHCGB |
Aviemore |
Day Two 21/01/06 |
D2 |
4.3 |
31:51 |
8.10 |
10th |
| ABSA |
Ashley Heath |
11/02/06 |
DF |
3.3 |
21.55 |
9.03 |
3rd |
| BSHRA |
Rendlesham |
18/02/06 |
DM |
2.8 |
17:55 |
9.37 |
3rd |
| ABSA |
Yateley Heath |
19/02/06 |
DF |
3.1 |
19:09 |
10.03 |
4th |
| AMWA |
Buttersteep |
19/03/06 |
M2 |
3.2 |
19:49 |
9.69 |
5th |
We had a fantastic
season! Together we achieved the following results:
AMCUK Runner up Rookie
musher of the Year
AMCUK Working Malamute
of the Year (Dogs) - Finn came 9th
AMCUK Working Malamute
of the Year (Bitches) - Inca came 14th
We also came 7th
overall in the ABSA Championship (DF)
All this from only
7 rallies - I am very proud of the two of them!
| |
|
|
| Aviemore 2006 © Double M Photography |
|
Yateley Heath 2006 © K. Lawford |
2006/2007 Season
| Club |
Rally |
Date |
Class |
Distance (miles) |
Time |
Average MPH |
Position |
| AMWA |
Thetford |
28/10/06 |
M2 |
2.9 |
21:11 |
8.24 |
9th |
| ABSA |
Thruxton |
29/10/06 |
DF |
3.0 |
23:46 |
7.67 |
5th |
| ABSA |
Wyre Forest |
05/11/06 |
DF |
2.5 |
19:06 |
7.85 |
6th |
| SHCGB |
Shanley Challenge - Swinley
(Night) |
10/11/06 |
D2 |
2.3 |
16:18 |
8.53 |
1st Day |
| SHCGB |
Shanley Challenge - Swinley
(Night) |
11/11/06 |
D2 |
2.7 |
21:25 |
7.62 |
2nd Day |
| SHCGB |
Shanley Challenge - Buttersteep |
12/11/06 |
D2 |
3.2 |
23:48 |
8.14 |
5th |
| ABSA |
New Forest |
18/11/06 |
DF |
3.1 |
20:50 |
9.07 |
1st Day |
| ABSA |
New Forest |
19/11/06 |
DF |
3.1 |
21:13 |
8.8 |
2nd |
| ABSA |
Sherwood Pines |
02/12/06 |
DF |
3.0 |
19:44 |
9.26 |
1st Day |
| ABSA |
Sherwood Pines |
13/12/06 |
DF |
3.0 |
19:56 |
9.20 |
6th |
| ABSA |
Ringwood Forest |
17/12/06 |
DF |
4.0 |
29:59 |
8.11 |
1st |
| ABSA |
Forest of Dean |
13/01/07 |
DF |
2.75 |
18:56 |
8.89 |
2nd |
|
ABSA |
Ashley Heath (Night) |
10/02/07 |
DF |
3.3 |
25:12 |
|
4th |
| ABSA |
Yateley Heath |
18/02/07 |
DF |
3.0 |
24:20 |
7.44 |
5th |
For
the last two rallies of the 2006/2007 season we added another member
to our team. Ranger belongs to friends of ours who wanted to get him
used to working in harness and so we put him in with ours to show
him the ropes. Ranger will be running in the one dog classes this
season and we wish him the best of luck. Below is a picture of myself
running the three of them, taken by D. Sawyer at Yateley 2007.
© D. Sawyer - Sawyer Photography
In
the above photo I had just asked them to take a left turn - Inca is
my lead dog and thankfully she was listening!
NEWS
FLASH!
During
the 2006/2007 season we achieved the following results:
AMCUK
Working Malamute of the Year (Dogs) - Finn came 5th
AMCUK
Working Malamute of the Year (Bitches) - Inca came 5th
(to
view the full results, please go to the AMCUK site - WMOYA
page)
We
also came runner up overall in the ABSA Championship (DF)
We
were extremely proud of what they managed to achieve!
Amano
has now been added to ABSA's NPSD register which enables him to enter
ABSA events. The photograph below shows Amano's first time on a rig
at the AMWA weekend on Salisbury Plain (2006):
| |
|
|
| AMWA, Salisbury Plain 2006 © P. Terry |
|
AMWA, Salisbury Plain 2006 © P. Terry |
2007/2008
Season
| Club |
Rally |
Date |
Class |
Distance (miles) |
Time |
Average MPH |
Position |
| ABSA |
Thruxton |
07/10/07 |
DO |
3.0 |
20:14 |
8.90 |
3rd |
AMWA |
Thetford
(Day One) |
27/10/07 |
M2 |
2.9 |
20:26 |
8.59 |
17th |
AMWA |
Thetford
(Day Two) |
28/10/07 |
M1 |
2.4 |
20:11 |
7.16 |
5th |
ABSA |
Wyre
Forest |
04/11/07 |
DO |
2.5 |
15:30 |
9.80 |
3rd |
Amano
ran his first rally at Thruxton (ABSA). Due to the fact we are running
Amano, we cannot take part in Working Mal of the year (as Malamutes
running in mixed teams don't qualify).
Due
to illness and injury we were out for the remainder of the 2007/2008
season.
2008/2009
Season
| Club |
Rally |
Date |
Class |
Distance (miles) |
Time |
Average MPH |
Position |
| ABSA |
Wyre Forest |
02/11/08 |
DO |
2.4 |
15:52 |
9.28 |
2nd |
AMWA |
Buttersteep |
09/11/08 |
S1 |
1 |
4:40 |
13.64 |
4th |
ABSA |
New
Forest (Day One) |
15/11/08 |
DO |
2.2 |
14:17 |
9.32 |
1st
Day |
ABSA |
New
Forest (Day Two) |
16/11/08 |
DO |
2.2 |
13:34 |
9.90 |
2nd |
ABSA |
Ringwood
Forest |
14/12/08 |
DO |
2.9 |
17:31 |
10.05
|
4th |
ABSA |
Forest
of Dean (Day One) |
17/01/09 |
DF |
2.65 |
17:28 |
9.20 |
1st
Day |
ABSA |
Forest
of Dean (Day Two) |
17/01/09 |
DF |
2.65 |
18:38 |
8.65 |
4th |
ABSA |
Forest
of Dean (Day One) |
18/01/09 |
DO |
2.65 |
17:41 |
9.13 |
1st
Day |
ABSA |
Forest
of Dean (Day Two) |
18/01/09 |
DO |
2.65 |
24:46 |
6.50 |
4th |
ABSA |
Ashley
Heath |
07/02/09 |
DF |
3.3 |
20:24 |
9.78 |
4th |
ABSA |
Ashley
Heath |
07/02/09 |
DO |
3.3 |
21:42 |
9.24 |
5th |
ABSA |
Yateley Heath |
17/02/09 |
DF |
3.0 |
22:03 |
8.17 |
6th |
SHCGB |
Shanley Challenge (Day One) |
27/02/09 |
D2 |
3.2 |
22:12 |
8.68 |
1st Day |
SHCGB |
Shanley Challenge (Day Two) |
28/02/09 |
D2 |
3.0 |
23:35 |
7.70 |
2nd Day |
SHCGB |
Shanley Challenge (Day Three) |
01/03/09 |
D2 |
3.0 |
21:50 |
8.37 |
6th |
ABSA |
Pinks Peaks |
15/03/09 |
DF |
3.0 |
26:24 |
6.86 |
5th |
ABSA |
Pink Peaks |
15/03/09 |
DO |
2.6 |
20:15 |
7.74 |
3rd |
AMWA |
Buttersteep |
22/03/09 |
M2 |
2.85 |
20:39 |
8.39 |
10th |
Some
organisations now put on Scooter classes (S1). Finn and I ran in our
first Scooter class at AMWA's Buttersteep event coming 4th out of
13 competitiors - well done Finn!
Amano and Finn competing at the New Forest Rally, Nov 2008
© P. Terry
Our 5th season is now over and the dogs have all done really well. Finn and Zeph came joint 14th overall in the WMOYA awards which is very good considering I could only count a handful of rallies that qualified (rallies where I have run with Amano in the team do not count, so I had to discard all our results from the first half of the season).
In August 2009 both Inca and Finn received their WTD titles from AMCA - we are very proud of both of them.
2009/2010 Season
Club |
Rally |
Date |
Class |
Distance (miles) |
Time |
Average MPH |
Position |
AMWA |
Buttersteep |
11/10/09 |
M2 |
2.9 |
22:31 |
7.80 |
16th |
SHCGB |
Delamere |
31/10/09 |
D2 |
3.4 |
25:53 |
7.99 |
6th |
ABSA |
Wyre Forest |
01/11/09 |
DF |
2.54 |
20.06 |
7.18 |
7th |
ABSA |
Loseley Park |
08/11/09 |
DF |
2.8 |
21:53 |
7.61 |
7th |
ABSA |
Loseley Park |
08/11/09 |
DO |
2.8 |
19:20 |
8.69 |
2nd |
ABSA |
New Forest |
22/11/09 |
DF |
3.4 |
24:10 |
8.46 |
5th |
ABSA |
New Forest |
22/11/09 |
DO |
2.0 |
10:15 |
11.82 |
4th |
ABSA |
Sherwood Forest |
05/12/09 |
DF |
2.7 |
18:14 |
8.93 |
Day One |
ABSA |
Sherwood Forest |
05/12/09 |
DO |
2.7 |
17:34 |
9.34 |
3rd |
ABSA |
Sherwood Forest |
06/12/09 |
DF |
2.7 |
18:51 |
8.75 |
6th |
ABSA |
Ringwood |
13/12/09 |
DF |
4.0 |
28:27 |
8.49 |
4th |
ABSA |
Ringwood |
13/12/09 |
DO |
2.9 |
19:18 |
9.07 |
3rd |
ABSA |
Forest of Dean |
16/01/10 |
DF |
2.65 |
20:47 |
7.77 |
6th |
ABSA |
Forest of Dean |
16/01/10 |
DO |
2.65 |
19:10 |
8.32 |
3rd |
ABSA |
Ashley Heath |
06/02/10 |
DF |
3.2 |
22:21 |
8.64 |
6th |
ABSA |
Ashley Heath |
06/02/10 |
DO |
3.2 |
21:30 |
9.01 |
3rd |
ABSA |
Yateley Heath |
21/02/10 |
DF |
3.0 |
23:41 |
7.69 |
9th |
ABSA |
Yateley Heath |
21/02/10 |
DO |
3.0 |
23:28 |
7.73 |
3rd |
I ran two teams this season, Finn and Zeph in the Mal classes and Inca and Amano in the Open classes. All worked really well and I am very pleased with them. Finn and Zeph came 6th overall in the ABSA DF Championship and joint 10th in the AMCUK Working Mal of the year awards.
Zeph also earned his WTD title through his trekking activities over the course of the season. Well done Zeph!
For an
excellent guide on starting out please read an 'Introduction
to working and competing with your dogs in harness'.
