Ice - Bring on the Safaris!

Hi, Ice here again!

Well things are settling down nicely now after a really busy run up to Christmas. All of us loved the weekends running at Low Wray Campsite. And it was very exciting to be part of the team that were chosen to advertiseWray Castle in Cumbria Life magazine. We all loved the photograph taken by Phil Rigby, he was really patient with us all as there was lots of leaves on the ground and we were all trying to roll around in the leaves. And I kept looking back to check Wolf and Storm were in place and not trying to overtake Luna and me. I think my sister Luna looks great in photos – she is always so full on and her energy shows in the pictures. Mum, Sonia told us we did really well because there was a lot of just standing around and then very short runs so photographer, Phil could take our photos – we had to be very patient! Storm’s very good at posing for photos too – he is never that fussed about running too fast (so no camera blur!) and he’s happy to stand about looking good.

Husky rides at Wray Castle

Initially, I was a bit disappointed that I did not get to go to Grange over Sands for their Xmas Extravaganza but I did enjoy the two days at Muncaster Castle for their Taste Christmas Fayre. I think we did better than the guys who went to Grange because we got lots of Cumberland sausages and a delicious chicken curry. A really kind lady who was in the tent next to us gave us lots of meat rolls too. We worked off some of the food by giving some lovely children rides in the dog carriage on the Sunday. Tasha, Zoe and her mum Leanne looked after Storm and me at Muncaster on the Saturday. We loved travelling in style in their car.

Grange Xmas Extravaganza

We had lots of lovely treats over Christmas and New Year, especially Christmas goose! Mum just told me we have all received a present from Louise and Michael Peacock – I sneaked onto the laptop and caught a glimpse of a photo of the present on Facebook – and I’m really looking forward to tasting some of it tomorrow! Luna and I had a really fun time out today. Gus, who was learning to drive, really loved going fast so that suited us fine. It was really windy though, so hard work for Mum and Tasha to keep up with us – in the end, they decided to take turns! Gus and his wife, Debra have a Malamute and German Shepherd so I wonder if we will meet them some time. Perhaps they have their own dog blog too. . Gus wrote a lovely note saying how exciting and thrilling the experience was and that he looks forward to a repeat visit!

A thank you note!

Our delicious present!

I have been running quite a lot with Skye recently. Skye is really pleased about that, and she tells me that she loves running with me. We had a very exciting afternoon last Sunday when a group of 6 booked us for 3 hours. We started off with just Luna (no surprise there) until everybody had had a quick go and we were all okay, and then we worked with 2 rigs and worked in pairs. I was mostly running with Skye. We ended up with 3 rigs: Blade and Luna out front with the passenger rig, Shadow with a rig and then me and Skye. We all ran mega fast both ways up and back again: 4 miles in about 20mins! People often ask if we do racing – we don’t but I know we are fast enough. Mum tells me I am booked in to run with Skye again this Sunday – as a 14 year old girl wants to learn to drive.

I wonder when our next Safari will be and if I will be chosen. We all love running on our home base lane but Safaris are extra special and we get to enjoy all the lovely Lake District scenery. I know that lots of people have been awarded their Bronze Mushers’ certificates so they will be able to take us out on a Safari. I hope someone books one soon. Quite a few are booked for March but that seems such a long time to wait!

Ah well, time to curl up in the hay now, it has been quite a busy day. Luna and I had such a blast with Gus today 

Love, Ice x

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Storm - New Year, New Adventures Ahead!

Hello everybody, Storm here!

A very Happy New Year to you all of you! I hope it’s getting off to a good start and you’re all keeping to your resolutions!

Happy New Year!

I’m trying hard to keep to my resolution of trying to run a bit faster –I’ve been out mushing with Star quite a bit and I’m starting to keep up with her! Running in January is certainly helping all of us shed a few pounds that we piled on during the festive season!

We have lots planned this year and I’m already looking forward to Valentine’s Day when Star and I will be helping Mum, along with the rest of the pack, so we can deliver some truly special and exciting experiences for couples.

A Date With The Huskies!

We’re all looking forward to going on husky hikes with lucky ‘Golden Ticket’ holders – we can all see Black Combe from our paddock and it looks like a hillside of adventure! Mum said we should all put our creative heads together and start writing some exciting fictional stories. Blue’s always having exciting dreams which he tells us about in the morning. The other night, he dreamt that we were all shipwrecked on an island of sandy beaches, and him, Wolf and me found some hidden treasure! We narrowly escaped some pirates before being picked up by a passing boat and taken back to Horse and Husky! Maybe we’ll get Blue to write down all his dreams, as I’m sure they’ll all make really great stories!

Exploring new lands!

Well, I’m off to get some supper and then snuggle down for a sleep. Early start tomorrow!

See you all soon!

Love, Storm x

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Shadow - New Year's Resolutions

Hi everyone, I’m Shadow!

You may already know a little bit about me if you have read my brother Blade’s blog a little while ago. I’m a Siberian husky and I’m 3 and a half years old. I am almost as tall as Storm, but because I love running so much, I am much slimmer! I love to race with Blade; we sometimes have a bit of a quarrel as to who is going to win. Blade can be very noisy so sometimes I have to shout loudly for him to hear me. I am very strong too, and Mum thinks I may be the strongest in the group. I love jumping and spend quite a lot of time high up on top of the box in the paddock. Star is the only other husky who has managed to jump up on there.

Fun times in the paddock

I have had a great time since coming to Horse and Husky. Blade and I get to run out almost every day which is great. I loved going to Wray Castleand Low Wray campsite. It was awesome there a few weeks back when there was snow on the ground. I really hope Sonia buys a snow sled in the new year so that we can do more running in the snow. My favourite trail has to be the Eskdale trail – last time we went there, we spent sometime in front of a lovely log fire, had a dish of tea and some treats. Lukanuka was with Blade and I, and we all had a great race together. Luka is pretty fast, it surprised me how fast he is when I first saw him running.

Running in the snow at Low Wray Campsite

Luna and Ice have told me all about the trail that runs alongside Windermere- I am looking really forward to running there. Mum, Sonia has also told me that we have a lot of safaris booked and we are going to run on new trails that even Ice and Luna have not been on yet.

Christmas was really good – not only did we have lots of special food – I tasted goose for the very first time, mmmmm so yummy!, – we also met loads of lovely people who enjoyed running with us. It has been very busy which is great. All of us love going for trips out in the van because it is very exciting not to know where we will be when the van door opens. We spend time guessing where we are. We usually know if it is the campsite because on the number of speed bumps. Blade and I always travel in the top crates because we are such good jumpers. Last time Lukanuka also travelled in one of the top crate but he had help by standing on a crate first, so he didn’t have to jump as high.

Outside in the paddock

Ryan asked me if I had any New Year’s resolutions so I thought I’d tell you all, and I went round the paddock and asked everybody else what resolutions they’ve been making too!

Next year, I’d like to learn how to pull the dog carriage because I want to go out over the summer to Muncaster Castle and the Ravenglass and Eskdale railway and give small children rides. Storm, Wolf, Ice and blue have told me what good fun it is. Sonia said I am big enough and thinks I will be calm enough. I think so too – I usually just get excited when Blade is jumping around. It will seem strange to go out without Blade – but I expect he will enjoy playing in the paddock with the others.

New Year’s resolutions

Archie has told me he plans to cut back on the digging a bit- as he’s starting to trip over his own holes!

My brother, Blade, assures me he’ll try and stay out of trouble – he really enjoys jumping over fences – but to be honest, I usually follow him over too!

Blue has told me that since seeing Storm dressed in his Lord Storm fancy dress costume with his big top hat, he hopes to completely get over his fear of people with big hats in the new year.

Ice says he’d like to revisit Grange-over-Sands, as he’s hoping to pop into Higginson butchers for some delicious sausages.

Luka simply told me that he’d like to run faster than ever before!

Luna said she’d like to help Sonia train Archie to be a full sleddog. I’m sure Luna will be a great help at keeping Archie in order!

Skye mentioned that she’d like to go on a few husky hikes in the new year. I think we all do, especially if there’s still snow on the hills. . .

Star (and Storm) are both hoping to get involved in a very exciting Valentine’s event that Sonia has planned in February. . .

Storm also hopes to work on his running. I told him that Blade and I would be able to help him run a bit faster . . . I hope we haven’t scared him off!

Wolf has said he hopes to travel to some new places – he loves travelling and going to new locations.

Well, Happy New Year everybody. I know we have a busy week ahead – yippee!

Happy New Year!

Love, Shadow x

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Archie - Digging and Hiking!

Hi, I am Archie!

I am the youngest of the group, I’m only 18 months old, and I am a pedigree Siberian husky. Skye is the only husky smaller than me, I think I’ll grow a little bit more yet though as I’m still only young.
I had a few homes before becoming one of Sonia’s Snowdogs. Until coming here, I did not have the chance to play with many dogs and I never played off lead so it was really awesome to meet all the other guys here.

Relaxing in the paddock

I met Storm first, he is a really big guy. I was so excited to have the company of other huskies that I ran straight at him and jumped all over him! I know now that that’s not the best way to introduce yourself. He was quite patient with me really, but eventually he had had enough so he turned round, jumped on me and then sat on me! He sat on me for about a minute, it did not hurt but it sure took me by surprise. He can be very playful, can Storm.

Playtime

I then met all the others. I had forgotten all about what Storm did to me so I jumped all over them too. They were all very patient but then they started telling me off too. I learnt to calm down a bit and stop jumping up at the other huskies . . . so instead of jumping all over everybody, I began digging holes! Haha, it is such fun. I had never been allowed to dig holes before so I dug hundreds of them in the paddock over the first week. The first few days I just dug and dug and dug. I got very mucky – in fact I enjoyed it so much that I started rolling around in the soil. I was almost unrecognisable to the other huskies as I was black all over with muck, instead of my usual black, white and brown.

Playing with Luka

Mum made me have a bath every night for the first week. He he. I loved having a bath because the water was lovely and warm, and I loved jumping in and out to make a splash. All the other huskies have also had previous families so they have all needed to adjust to a new life just like I did. For quite a long time I spent night times inside in the house (this is why Mum, Sonia wanted to bathe me after I’d been digging).

Exploring the holes I’ve been digging!

But, I am a full outdoor husky now, which is very exciting. I prefer it because I can play with my friends whenever I want to. And I have such a thick coat that I get too hot inside. I still get quite excited and play a bit too rough for some of the other guys so Mum doesn’t allow me out with those guys. But I play well with Wolf, Blue and Lukanuka – and Luna is ok with me too. I think the others are just too soft!!

I am still learning to become a sled dog. I like it best of all when I’m chasing behind Luka, that is such fun because he runs really fast and I am determined to keep up with him. After all, he is my best buddy! I am less keen if Mum wants me to run on my own though. I am really looking forward to joining the others when they go out on a safari. I have heard all about it and it sounds brilliant. I’m sure I will be able to keep up, especially on a shorter one to start off with.

I have also been lucky enough to be chosen to be someone’s special friend so I’ll get to meet them on the open days and we’ll be able to go out on a husky hike together. I wonder where we will go. I suppose it depends on whether my friends want to do a long hike or a short one. I have heard the hike up Black combe is great. I sometimes sit on the bench and gaze out over the fields to the Combe. There has been snow on the top recently, which makes it look very pretty. We did a husky hike for mountain rescue which was very exciting – that was about 13 miles in total over Bootle and Corney fell and it took over 4 hours. But I did it easy peasy! And Mum said I was one of the best behaved and easiest to walk! I can’t wait till we go hiking again. We have a very exciting year coming up, and I’m really looking forward to it.

Hiking on Black Combe

We have all had a lovely Christmas with lots of treats. I’ve met lots of people who have been given gift vouchers for Christmas to come dry land mushing. Everybody wants to meet us all afterwards – I think Mum should start suggesting that people bring us special treats when they visit. I will mention that to her – I can be very good and sit beautifully with lots of treats around!

Well, best go and dig a fresh hole – I haven’t dug one for a while!

Hope to see you soon, Love Archie x

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Star - Christmas Wishes!

Hello, Star here!

My full name’s actually Mystic Star! I have lots of other fun names too. Mum also calls me ‘Fluffy Bunny’ and ‘The Polar Bear.’ You can guess why I imagine! I am losing my summer coat at the moment, it’s a bit of a shame that all of my lovely white fur goes to waste – perhaps we should start making hats from my lovely soft white fur. They would make stunning presents.

My lovely soft, white coat

I have been busy in the run up to Christmas, teaching people how to do dry land mushing. I generally go out with my friend, Storm but he only does half the running and even then he does not always do much pulling! I don’t really mind though as I love running and pulling. Storm and I met a lovely family the other day – the boy Samuel is usually frightened of dogs so Sonia chose us because we are calm and steady. By the end of the 2 hour session Samuel was no longer frightened, he was hugging us both! He is only 3 years old so I suppose we must have seemed enormous to him. We love meeting children.

Storm and I with one of our young friends

Sonia has been clearing out the stables that Storm and I have been sleeping in, ready for our horse pals Rapport and Toby to come home for the winter months. It will be really nice to see them both again. Although it’s good fun to have the extra space in the summer, I’m just as happy sleeping in my kennel with all that lovely warm hay. I imagine I will have the run of the big paddock again at night time.

Toby and Rapport

All of us had such a great Christmas – Mum made lots of yummy food for us, including goose, ham and sausages! Luka was running in and out of the house singing Christmas carols, we took turns pulling Christmas crackers with Sonia, Kev and Lexie – we won of course, as we were using our teeth! Today, it was back to work and me and Storm went mushing with a lovely family who have told us they will be returning again next year.

Merry Christmas!

In the New Year, Sonia has promised me that I will get to head out on some of the safaris. That will be awesome. I just wish other dogs had better manners and did not rush up to me as I don’t like it. I do like playing with some of the guys but I don’t really get on that well with the other girls – apart from Luna of course – she is ok.

Ah well, I’m off to see Sonia now – I think she needs a cuddle. We’re all happy as it’s turkey for supper in a minute. I think I’ll curl up and sleep under the Christmas tree in the paddock tonight.

I hope you’ve all had a fantastic Christmas!

Cuddles from Star x

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. . . and this is why they call me ‘The Polar Bear!’

Blade - Exciting times to come!

Hey there, my name’s Blade!

I’m 3 and half years old and have been here at Sonias Snowdogs for a couple of months now. My brother, Shadow and I already had a bit of experience before we came here – we’d done quite a lot of running and pulling and Sonia says we are both awesome! Just like Shadow, I’m a Siberian husky and I absolutely love running. We both needed to find a new home because we need so much exercise and most people find us too difficult to look after.

Playing with my new friends here at Horse and Husky

I love working out how to escape from where I am supposed to be. There’s so many fun things to do in this big, wide world and I’d love to run from place to place and from adventure to adventure! Of course, we have plenty of adventures here with Sonia and her snowdogs. I’ve made lots of new friends and love playing outside in Sonia’s paddock.

Occasionally, the temptation can get too much – and I feel the urge to escape. I did this a lot at my previous home so I’m very good at it by now! I love working out new and exciting ways to escape. I can jump over 7 foot fences, squeeze through very small gaps, chew through fencing and dig underneath. I normally escape first and then Shadow copies what I have done and follows me. So then we both go running away looking for fun things to do. Our favourite thing to do at our previous home was to escape and find our way into the nearby chicken run. We both adore chasing chickens. But, sadly, lots of people get very cross with us when we do this. Sonia thought that her fences around the paddock were high enough because all the other guys cannot escape but they are no problem for Shadow and I! Kevin calls me Harry Houdini after the great escape artist hehe!

Time to escape!

Right now, I have just got home after running at Low Wray campsiteand noticed that the paddock fences look a bit higher – hmm – I will have to check them out as soon as I get chance. I have had a lovely weekend with Shadow, Wolf, Blue, Ice and Luna at Low Wray campsite. It’s such a great place to run and there are so many chickens by the farm plus 3 cats! I always have a look to see if any are about. So far I’ve had no luck in catching any but I’ll certainly keep trying! Chicken for Christmas would be great . . .

My brother Shadow having fun in the snow at the campsite!

I wonder what Santa will bring me this year. I would love to pull his sleigh with Shadow and the rest of the gang. Maybe Rudolph will catch a cold and Santa will ask us to help him. We huskies can run by the light of the moon, no problem. Bet we’re faster than the reindeers too. If not this year, maybe next Christmas.

Santa’s sleigh – ready and waiting for us huskies!

And after Christmas, I’m really looking forward to January 17th and 18th when a group of 6 guys from theRSPCA will be practising with us for an Arctic Challenge in Sweden in March. They are raising money for a new veterinary hospital for their centre based in Leicestershire. They told us they’re going to be camping atLow Wray Campsite in 2 of their camping pods and doing husky mushing with us guys on both days. That will be great fun because we will get to do loads of running in new places like Grizedale Forest, the bridle path by Windermere and maybe some other places too. I have never been to these places before but have heard lots of great things about them so it will be very exciting. Of course, you’ll be able to read all about it in my January blog.

Merry Christmas everybody, and save some turkey for me!

Blade x

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