Mushers to sled into park this weekend
MUSHERS will show Toowoomba residents the sport of dog sledding tomorrow.
Sled Dog Racing Queensland Inc will host the SDRQ Dog Day Out Toowoomba at Norman Park at 2pm.
During the event people will be able to meet members of the club, see the equipment and gear that is used and take part in demonstrations.
SDRQ president Emily Vourlides said she got interested in sledding when she saw a demonstration of an 18-dog team work together to pull a truck.
“Our club has been going since 2014 where I and 10 other friends started the club,” she said.
Sledding in Australia uses a three-wheeled rig which is pulled by a team of three to four dogs through a trail which is called gig-racing.
The sport has a range of divisions which differ with the vehicle used which are: mountain bikes, scooters, three-wheeled rigs and cross country running.
“People participate for a bit of fun and being active or they participate in the point score races that take part over the season,” Ms Vourlides said.
Mushers are the people who steer the vehicles that are pulled by the team of dogs who control the team by voice commands.
“It is all done by voice command, you can only steer the bike or vehicle that you are on, you can’t steer the dogs,” she said.
The first training session for the club will be on the Easter long weekend which marks the start for the season.
“The temperature is critical for us to be competing, it has to be below 15C for us to race,” she said.
“The colder the better, we have had some races where the temperature was below 0C.”
Races and training are held at various trails around the state such as Benarkin, Geham and Passchendaele.
To get involved into dog sledding, there is only minimal cost associated with the sport.
“If you want to start all you need is a harness, a gang line and a mountain bike or you could just run along with your dog,” Ms Vourlides said.
“It doesn’t matter what breed of dog you have, we have different categories that suit all breeds of dogs.
“If you have a small dog, you can take part in the carnicross and run alongside your dog.
“Anyone interested being active with their dogs are more than welcome to come and watch.”
For more information email info@sdrq.org.au.
❝ People participate for a bit of fun and being active or they participate in the point score races that take part over the season.
— Emily Vourlides.