Doug Freese wrote:
>
> What I do know is how well they take care of the horses during the race. They have many mandatory
> vet checks where pulse and temps are taken and the horses can not leave until pulse and temp
> stabilize. On hot days a horse may have to stay a half hour.
>
This is typical of most races with animals, I think. It sure is for the sled dog races. If you want
to run long in your next life, be reincarnated as an Iditarod dog
They even have booties to
protect their feet in rough conditions (frequently sewn by volunteers, not running shoe companies),
get paw massages, etc. There's mandatory vet checks and at least a 24-hr layover anywhere, one 8-hr
along the Yukon and another 8-hr in White Mountain before the last push (=sprint from here) to Nome.
Race duration now is generally about 9 days for winner and add 5 or 6 for the red lantern.
The best mushers are known for their dog care, and the dogs respond accordingly. There's an award
(Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian award) for the musher that takes the best care of their dogs - as
voted by vets in Nome after examining dogs.
http://www.iditarod.com/veterinary_corner.html
BTW, since mushers sometimes run behind the sled (not in light running gear or shoes), esp. on
uphills, some train as runners also - for their own good, but also to learn more about endurance
training so they can improve how they train their dogs. So I would assume there's a lot of transfer
in training techniques. But I don't think I've seen any mention of hrm for dogs, like I've seen on
the Polar website for horses
Dot that time of year up here
and the humans started Sat on their own adventure
http://www.alaskaultrasport.com/RACE%20UPDATES.html
--
"Success is different things to different people" -Bernd Heinrich in Racing the Antelope