This month we are happy to introduce our Member Tora Seaton. Toria is one of our northern members and is a lovely lady who is a valued member of our club. Her ethics and kind nature is one we should all aspire to achieve :)

Name: Toria Seaton
Member since: Early 2016
No of Dogs: 3

Dog(s) name(s), sex, age(s) and breed(s):
Sanka 5, springer spaniel
Woodi 4, cocker spaniel
Kanga 14 months, springer spaniel

Occupation: Training manager in health and social care

Lives in: Lincolnshire

Dog sports participated in: Canicross & Bikejor

Question 1: How did you start in the sport? -
I was running with my shepherd on a lead and saw online about Canicross, so went to Eland Lodge to watch a race.

Question 2: Which was the first dog/dogs you raced? -
First race was  a novice 3k with Sanka and it took us just under 45 minutes

Question 3: How did you come to own your dog(s)?-
Sanka was a rescue puppy at 5 months old, rescued from a working dog shed where she was eating poo as the dogs were neglected. She hadn't been handled at all and took a long time to let us hold her.

Woodi, we got as our German shepherd at the time was finding Sankas "play times" too busy, so we felt Sanka could do with a little brother. I went on line and found him down in Cornwall. The lady who owns Woodi's mum was horrified by what he does,and said he would hate it.?? I beg to differ.

Kanga, I decided that now I was doing more with Canicross n bikejor that I needed another dog. I told my partner I was going to look at a caravan ?? and when he asked me to send pictures so he could give his in put, I sent him 2 pictures of spaniel pups and he chose her. Kanga,comes from a working gun dog line and the lady who owns her mum is fascinated by what Kanga does and asks for regular pictures.

Question 4: Interesting fact about your dogs -
I call my dogs boxtrolls as they collect useless items and treasure them : socks, shoes, hats, pants, tea towels, teddies.

All of them are named after Disney characters 

Question 5: Interesting fact about yourself -
I suffer with severe anxiety, and surprisingly enough to running and biking the dogs helps by burning off the adrenaline. Best cure ever ?? (**Emma note: awesome to hear how much working with your dogs helps people in positive ways x)

Question 6: Biggest achievement in a race?-
beating 2 huskies and a shepherd with the cocker spaniel at a bikejor race,when we were laughed at on the start line because he was so small.  (**Emma note: annoying to hear this occurred BUT so proud of our member for showing such strength and spirit x)
    
Question 7: Dogs favourite treats?- - Home made liver cake

Question 8: Favourite Song?-
Your song - Elton John
Dirty- Christina Aguilera
I like it -Gerry n the Pacemakers

Question 9: Favourite Film
Hot fuzz - I love Simon peg

Question 10: Favourite cake
Chocolate

Thanks to Toria for telling us more about her and her pack - another awesome member we are proud of :)


 

During the start of the new year a few members took part in the BSA Ringwood event. The weather was cold and dry, which is always a bonus! The Ringwood trails are a bit up and down with 2 not very pleasant hills, one right on the finish! This didn't stop the determination of the mushers though and spirits were high.

The BSA events are so well run and such a fun group of events that we look forward to taking part in them.

Hannah Giles and Mary Fortser could only race on the Saturday this time. Hannah running Oki in the bikejor clocking up a respectable time of 15:43 which for a young dog in his first season is a great time, Hannah finished with a huge smile on her face! In Saturdays results that left them in 12th place.
Mary ran the gorgeous Aggie in canicross, finishing in a time of 28:18, Aggie decided that puddle diving was of course part of the fun and both came belting up the final hill finishing with laughs. The Saturday results left her in 9th place.

Petra Broadbelt was taking part in the 4 dog open rig class. Deciding however to drop Psy the boys gave Petra a great run on the first day with a time of 18:17 and a placing of 4th. On the second day the ground was softer after some overnight rain, the course is sandy and Petra had noticed that Bean had been pulling to the left as wheel dog, so she swapped the team around putting Bean up front and Diesel at the back, this change in team position obviously worked because her second day run time was 16:49, pushing her up to 3rd :)

Finally Emma Giles ran the woos in the DR2F class - the woos put in a good performance on day one, with a reasonably fast time of 23:37, typical mal pace there and standard! Now Emma knows her woos and the second day is always a bit slower because they are totally bamboozled by having to run the same course again! Kavik did his normal amble at the beginning and only decided that he would run after the first 1k ! Second day time recorded of 25:15 - leaving the team in 3rd place overall.

As always Roy dashed around being Mushers Mucker for everyone, ensuring starts were well managed and the team had fun.

We spent the weekend with some potential new members whom we look forward to welcoming to the club soon!

​So all in all another fab weekend of racing. Roll on the next event!

Gary attended the AMCUK Rally at the weekend, this club are now offering Open classes, which is new and great, so I am sensing more people will be enjoying them soon. Gary wrote a great write up so i am basically copying this below :)  Sounds as always as if the conection between gary and his team is second to none. Well done :) #proudnatbs

​Just back from the AMCUK Grizedale rally. Well that was certainly an eventful weekend! The event itself was great, trails were challenging (4.5 miles of fast downhills, some with tight turns, and harsh up hills) but nice and wide and clearly marked. Organisers and everyone who entered were lovely.
A fair few mushers didn't fare so well on the trail, especially in the fast turns with a couple of broken rigs and one or two mushers going over the handlebars!
Saturday in 4 dog open Loki, Kaala, Khaleesi and Sasha had a pretty good run that found us in 3rd place. Khaleesi also proved she has mastered the "Alaskan Poo" 😃. 2 dog open however was a terrible run, made worse by the fact Tia struggled to finish but Ludo was such a good boy and listened to his slow command so I could basically walk Tia in. Later in the day when she'd had a rest, she had developed a limp so I scratched 2 dog on day two.
Day two of four dog, I went out feeling really positive and hoping for a faster time. Then disaster struck, very early in the race Loki stopped and refused to run (during a downhill of all places!). Loki would never refuse to run unless something was wrong. I somehow managed to get to the marshal point where I decided to pull out of the race. However, after discussing the safest ways to get the team back in, I chose to drop Loki off with the Marshal and finish with 3 dogs. Kaala got her team home safely but the second she crossed the finish line, she stopped dead which was when I realised she'd led the team home with a cut paw.
Horrible weekend for results but so proud of our dogs. Loki was a good boy with the marshal and in the truck when it collected the marshals. Kaala was awesome taking the team home out in front on her own, and with a minor injury herself. Ludo was such a good boy getting Tia back safely by listening and responding to their least favourite command!
Nice end to the weekend though when the organisers did something pretty much unheard of at rallies. 2 dog open class only had 3 entries but as I didn't race the second day, you wouldn't normally get the 3rd place prize but in this instance, they awarded it to me. Def going to race AMCUK again, unfortunately I can't make their Greystoke rally 😩

GWe had some members attend the UCSC Sherwood event the weekend of 10th December. 
Toria and Tracy attended both days and thoroughly enjoyed the well run event. Its always great up in Sherwood. As always the girls had a riot!

The next event they attended was the New Years event in Thetford. Also at this event were gary and Lucy.This event is always well attended and great fun. Seeing in the New Year with friends is always a huge bonus. The dogs and humans had a wonderful time.

Gary wrote on his Fb page "Tired of racing open class against hounds as our dogs are all rescues and not papered, I decided to start racing 6-8 dog as there would be less hound teams. Tactical move worked ridiculously well over the weekend at the UCSC Eastern Open as I was the only 6 dog Open class that turned up, which is just as well after this mornings nightmare of a run!"

Results from Sherwood have disappeared so below are the Thetford results :)

Results

DR4-6 Open -
Gary Oke - 1st place

DR3-4 Open -
Lucy Teal - 7th place

DB1 F-
Toria Seaton - 7th place
Tracy Evans - 8th place

1 Dog Canicross M Open-
Gary Oke - 7th place (only 1 run)

1 Dog Canicross Open F-
Tracy Evans - 5th place
Lucy Teal - 6th place

2 Dog Canicross F Open-
Toria Seaton - 3rd place

A wonderful write up form our very own Izzy - sit back and enjoy :)
​
If you are sitting comfortably, then I will begin... 'One wet and misty December 10th, up even before the lark had pressed snooze on the alarm clock. I limped out of the house. I mean, I cut my hair, faffed about wondering what to take; making myself late as a result of pressing stuff that couldn't wait. It made me think back to times of homework and exams…….
Eventually got to Pembrey, South Wales, at 9.10. Race start was 10am. Wee'd and poo'd, me and the dogs, warmed up as much as poss. **No wee or poo used for warm up!!
​
And so to the race! All two dogs went in the first wave. Set off at a fair pace, but then got over taken. One chap over took with his two hound type dogs, then they would piss about, so I would have to overtake. This went on for a while. It was a bit slowing, not his fault and they got going in the end, by which time a fair few other runners came along, so let them by, I did. I honestly needed a rest…but It does put one off ones stride.
Flo managed to wrap herself round a tree, then they dragged me into the pond. They both worked hard and Flo was well behaved. My bad foot held out to end of race, just.

Day two was a different story.... Sam was a nutter at the start, thus making Flo nuts too. I had to take them to one side. Honest to god they were crazy, I'm lucky to have some of my fingers left. Flo ran down the start line barking. From then on, any dog trying to pass Flo 'the bitch from hell', it was lunged at. I should have been ready for this. However, I was tired. The other different part of the story
It only took the first 1k to realise that, not only was it a mistake not to put the extra insoles in my running shoes (caused a rubbed toe the day before), but running at all was a problem. Where my right leg had taken all the strain of helping my left leg the day before, it said no fecking way the next day. Bloody 3 mins longer the 2nd day, nightmare!! And the slower I got the more peeps ran by the more Flo was a bitch from hell. Possibly a painful lesson??!!
I'd love to be happy with first prize, however, I'm not sure I can. I take home that I was faster than last year at same race and I was faster than a few peeps running that weekend but as I was the only one running it was by default!
 
Note from the NATBs – you have to be in it to win it #proudnatbs