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Pre-Race Vet Check: One last hands-on check before the race begins

Pre-Race Vet Check: One last hands-on check before the race begins

by June Price

03/01/2006

Depending on what your goals were, a Wednesday visit to Iditarod Headquarters might have been viewed as a fan’s nightmare or dream.

It was quickly obvious it wasn’t a normal day at Headquarters. As I turned into the driveway, I was immediately met by a line of dog trucks stretching back nearly as far as the archway over the driveway. If you’d come to shop, it was clear this wasn’t going to be a good day to shop, if only because you most likely wound up parked around the corner, then around another corner and down the road, or maybe even around the corner and down the road in an adjoining parking lot. Yep, it was a tad crowded.

On the other hand, if you were there to see mushers and dogs, it was a great day to be at Iditarod Headquarters. Mushers are required to have their dog team checked over one last time during the week prior to the race and, for most, this was the day. The veterinary team put together by Chief Iditarod Vet Stu Nelson was on hand, performing the checks at no cost to the mushers.

I detailed the procedure last year, so I won’t go into great detail here since it can be read in full by scrolling down to “Taking It Personally” under the links on the “2006 Iditarod” page. The procedure is best described using Nelson’s “HAWL” acronym.

'H' stands for heart and hydration, something of the utmost importance to both musher and vet. 'A' stands for appetite and attitude, two more important ingredients for success. 'W' stands for weight, which might be seen as a logical partner of 'hydration' and 'appetite,' but not always. Finally, 'L' is for lungs. The most common reason for dropping a dog is some sort of limp or a visual sign, so a method of determining other, less visible signs is a valuable tool to the vet core.

Those gathered in the Iditarod’s parking lot today watched vets go through this routine countless times. Every dog potentially named to run the race must have this exam. Although some mushers do opt to have their private veterinarians do the exams, that means somewhere in the vicinity of 2000 Iditarod dogs are having this same evaluation at about the same time this week.

Did I mention that it was cold? I live six miles from Iditarod Headquarters here in Wasilla and woke up to a balmy -3 degrees this morning. Being a former Floridian, I sympathized with first time visitors who’ve yet to discover the wonder of hand and foot warmers. Camera batteries quickly froze, creating the necessity of changing batteries frequently, even for those of us who knew the trick of sticking a warmer in a pocket with spare batteries.

Despite this, a steady stream of observers made their way up and down the icy parking lot, many with both camera, race program and pen in hand, hoping to snag an early autograph. Sans bibs, of course, most mushers simply blend in with the rest of us, so it wasn’t unusual for fans to dart up to those with some visible familiarity with the mushers and ask in a rush, “Who’s that?” pointing toward the suspected musher. Of course, some were easily identified. Sebastian Schnuelle’s rather distinctive hair made him an easy ID, while John Baker made it easy, arriving in a truck with a logo announcing “Team Baker” had arrived.

Through it all, dog trucks arrived and departed. Dogs were dropped and checked. Then, room was made for the next musher. It’s just one more hurdle on the way to Iditarod 2006 for the mushers, but a great photo opportunity for fans.