08/09 Race season update:
We are pleased to say, Dan and Taskan won the Scooter Class this year at Greystoke Park, Penrith. The trail was a tough 2.6 mile up and down hill, rollercoaster ride, with Taskan and Dan working hard together to beat a class of approximately 10 entries!! Fantastic result!
Pikatti Sleddog Team
Pikatti Sleddog Team are Joe and Dan Blackshaw and our 4 Siberian Huskies; Yeni (Wolfskins Yenisei), Ty (Wolfskins Tylinski), Taskan (Falling Snowflake) and our new addition who joined later this season; Buka (Salazka's Black Rapids) - Not forgetting our Lurcher, Brennan.
We are based in Brixworth Village in the north of Northamptonshire and have owned, trained and raced Siberian Huskies for approximately 5 years.
We train regularly throughout the year, using our Pawtrekker Scooters and a racing rig. Our aim is to own and work happy healthy huskies, which we are positive we are achieving.
07/08 Race Season update
Firstly, we would like to celebrate all the hard work the dogs have put in over the season.
We are pleased to have finished the 07/08 race season with happy memories of some great races all over the country.
The SHCGB/Arden Grange Aveimore Sleddog Rally, Scotland, turned out to be yet another great event. This year celebrating its 25th Anniversary, day one was spent clearing the dangerous trail of ice with picks and shovels. Eventually, we ran the 4.5 mile course through the Cairngorm Mountains in the 'D' class with Yeni and Ty, (2 dog) in the fastest time ever achieved by Pikatti!!
In addition, we took part in the 16 mile 'trek' with 2 teams of 2 dogs using the Pawtrekker scooters, which proved to be a toughie this year as half of the team got lost in the mountains, but all great fun in the end!!! This event is not timed and is supposed to be ‘leisurely’ jaunt though the mountains with a group of friends and great dogs, however you can’t help but get competitive, especially as the overall speed on a scooter is far greater than when using a rig.
The trek starts off going through the Cairngorm Mountains along a ‘goat trail’ and crosses though 4 estates along the way. For this reason, the scooters really came into their own, as this part of the course is extremely tough terrain and barely wide enough for a rig. Using scooters means the dogs can continue at a steady pace instead of stopping and starting every time a rig gets stuck. The terrain is also rocky and full of boulders, so being on the scooters meant we didn’t ‘bottom out’.
Unfortunately, the group got separated at one point due to a misunderstanding with the map and half of the group ended up taking a detour which added an extra 3 miles uphill!!
The course passes two Lochs; Loch Gamnha and Loch an Eilein and then follows the base of the Cairngorms and through or across a river (depending on how brave you are!).
The area that follows is great for picking up some speed as it is mainly walking trails as opposed to trails made by sheep! On these parts we were able to pick up more speed than those in our group who were using rigs and surprisingly more dogs!
The trek turned out to be awesome fun on the scooters and we are excited thinking about the scooter classes awaiting us next season!
Finally this winter season, there was the scooter class at Broxa Forest, North Yorkshire which was another great memory as this was Dan's first husky race. With one dog (Taskan) and a Pawtrekker scooter, Dan completed a mile and a half of forest trails and achieved 4th place!!
As the weather gets warmer, we will be looking forward to 'summer' training using the scooters and weekends spent in the show ring with Buka and Yeni, so fingers crossed for CC's this year.
Pikatti Sleddog Dog Team
All for fun and fun for all!!
