Again it is ironic that a desert rat like me (Deirdre and also AZGaye!) is an avid fan of the sport of mushing and especially the Big Race in Alaska, the Iditarod. I’m a loyal backer of Aliy Zirkle who has placed second in the last two runs of the Iditarod, beaten by a father one year and a son the year before but miles ahead of the ‘also rans’ in the bunch. She is awesome and I am really hoping she will make it first next spring when the race is run again.

It is not anything I will ever do, goodness knows, but the dogs are so beautiful and you can see how much they love it. The big races like the Iditarod and the one in the Yukon are very taxing but the dogs are extremely well cared for and there are veterinarians at every check point who will pull a dog that is not doing well although most of the racers will volunteer to do so as soon as they see a dog is hurt or struggling. They love their teams and they can live or die themselves depending on those dogs in that 1000 miles over the most rugged terrain and the cold in our northern most state.

I’m also a fan of the human and horse endurance races such as the Tevis Cup 100 miler that is run in the summer in California from Lake Tahoe to Auburn over the Sierras. Back when I was riding and training, my ambition was to train a good horse or mule and compete but I never got to do that. I still enjoy watching and hearing about it though.

So I guess to answer my own question about sports–to participate in, any competition that involves riding a horse and working with that animal as a team. I used to barrel race some, do various show classes etc. and trail riding. To watch, or follow, I love the winter Olympics and dog racing. Skiing and ice-skating are my faves on the Olympics. Never in this lifetime but it looks like so much fun and a huge challenge that I would enjoy trying.