Latest news with #Malamutes
NZ Herald
19-07-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
On The Up: Taupō couple race Siberian huskies, share passion for sled dogs
'We had previous large dog experience, but he was untrainable, restless and wouldn't listen.' The Coxheads decided they had to learn to manage him as they had a responsibility towards him. 'We joined the Northern Alaskan Malamute Club and went to a working weekend in the forest,' Steve said. During that weekend, Kaz was introduced to the world of dryland running dog racing. Taniya said he loved it. They raced him through the winter season of 1996. 'This breed is a working dog and needs to run and have a purpose.' The world of husky racing Taniya Coxhead with two of her Siberian huskies. Photo / Catherine Fry Steve wanted to take the racing further. 'I told Taniya that I would love to get a racing team together using Siberian huskies, as Malamutes are big and feisty. 'The Siberian huskies are smaller and are very good pack dogs, with fewer power struggles.' While waiting for their first huskies, the couple prepared to have their own pack. 'We needed harnesses and equipment, including chariots, or rigs as they are known. 'We built our own using parts from all sorts of things and were able to race from 1998 onwards.' They initially raced their first husky, Malinka, as a single dog, then borrowed a dog to race a two-dog rig. In 2002, they ran a four-dog rig. 'Dryland running is with one dog to eight dogs. 'In New Zealand, the majority of races are run on forest trails using wheeled rigs or scooters.' Steve and Taniya are in training for the annual Sled Dog Festival held at the Wairau Snow Farm in Cardrona Valley from September 2 to 6. This location is the only venue where dogs can be run on snow in New Zealand, as the rest of the snow areas are National Parks and dogs are banned. Steve said racing their huskies on snow was the ultimate experience and exactly what they are bred to do. 'While snow isn't a necessity, huskies just love the cold.' Taniya's father, Gary, hand-crafted a wooden sled for the couple's Timberline pack to race on snow. Breeding their own huskies Pack members howling with excitement before they are exercised. Photo / Catherine Fry Over several years, the Coxheads bought 10 pups from the now-retired Ray and Dianne Holliday's Cheechako Kennels. These huskies were from two breeding lines: Northome Kennels from Duluth, Minnesota, and Alaskan Kennels, Anadyr Siberians. Cheechako Arky's Topaz, or Timber as he was known, was a 'great all-round dog'. 'In 2010, we looked at business options near the Snow Farm but decided that the snow season wasn't long enough and we needed a more sustainable business model that would work year-round. '[From there] Timberline Racing Siberian Huskies Kennel and Tours was born.' As the Coxheads were coming to Taupō from Tauranga around 20 times a year, they decided the Central Plateau was the place for their new business to be based and found their current Broadlands property in 2016. It's near the Kaingaroa Forest where they can dryland train their dogs. Taniya and Steve Coxhead. Photo / Catherine Fry Steve was a builder and Taniya is a data administrator. They wanted their tour business to show visitors what the dogs can do and educate them about the breed's needs and traits. 'We bought a 10-acre bare block and I built all the kennels and runs, the shed, our house and outbuildings,' Steve said. They built an 800m fully fenced track enabling the huskies to be exercised daily. On cold days, they can run further, but on hot days, huskies can overheat easily. 'They get very excited when they realise they're getting a run,' Steve said. 'They howl in true husky style until we set off. 'I run them in front of my quadbike and while it looks like they are pulling me, I'm actually letting them run at their speed and I keep up with them.' Using frozen semen from Timber and AI, the Coxheads bred five puppies with River over two litters in 2019/20 and another litter of six from a natural mating with Shawnee and Tor in 2022. 'These puppies are solely for us to keep our racing pack going,' Taniya said. 'When they can no longer race, we retire them and keep them until they pass away – they have a home for life with us.' Timberline use the K9 Petfoods raw meat diet to meet their dogs' nutritional needs, together with a frozen high-performance food.
USA Today
16-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
J.J. Spaun showed he has grit required to win a U.S. Open at a golf course like Oakmont
J.J. Spaun showed he has grit required to win a U.S. Open at a golf course like Oakmont Show Caption Hide Caption J.J. Spaun relives the dramatic 64-foot birdie on 18 to win U.S. Open A 64-foot birdie to seal it. J.J. Spaun is your 2025 U.S. Open champion after a dramatic finish at Oakmont. USGA OAKMONT, Pa. – J.J. Spaun needed a Lou Holtz talk from Adam Schriber. Spaun's swing instructor had once taught the famed football coach, who returned the favor by teaching Shriber how to deal with his pupils. 'He told me, 'You got to give them a hug or you put the boot right up their butt and nothing in between. Sometimes it calls for tough love and it's not always as obvious as you think.'" So, when Spaun was warming up on Wednesday ahead of the 125th U.S. Open and was scared of what he might shoot at big, bad Oakmont Country Club. Schriber was prepared for the moment. 'Everyone wants to be coddled this week,' Schriber said. 'I was like, 'All right, here comes size 15.' ' Overcoming five bogeys in his first six holes with the sandpaper grit required to hang with such a beast of a course like Oakmont, Spaun sank a 64-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th hole for one of the most improbable victories at the U.S. Open. Spaun closed in 2-over 72, coming home in 3-under 32 after a 96-minute suspension of play for dangerous weather 'I tried to just continue to dig deep,' he said. 'I've been doing it my whole life.' Spaun finished the tournament at 1-under 279, the only golfer in red figures and two shots ahead of Scotland's Robert MacIntyre, who rallied with 68 after being nine shots back early in Sunday's final round. Oakmont has lived up to its reputation. The clumsy, the spineless, the alibi artists all had stood aside. For the final day, Mother Nature drew up one final test – a rainstorm – that turned the famed layout into a cauldron of speed, impenetrable rough and the elements merging into one final stand in golf's battle of attrition. Four players began the final day under par but before long there were none. Spaun is golf's version of a Yorkshire Terrier. In a game focused on the Dobermans and Malamutes, Spaun is fearless, punching above his weight and fit in well near the Alleghany Mountains with his coal miner's complexion. Days after hiring short-game guru Josh Gregory to smooth out a perceived weakness in his game, Spaun opened the U.S. Open by chipping in at his first hole and then made just about everything he looked at en route to shooting bogey-free 66. He followed up with rounds of 72-69, which led Schriber to provide something closer to a Holtz hug. 'You had a B game but your attitude was A+,' he told Spaun. 'That's what you need this week.' WHAT A PUTT!!!! J.J. SPAUN WINS THE U.S. OPEN!!!! — U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 16, 2025 That attitude would be put to the test when he flighted a sand wedge from 93 yards that hit the stick and ricocheted off the green. He made bogey and it felt like a two-stroke swing. Spaun compounded that bad break with bogeys on five of the first six holes and seemed to be fading into oblivion. But he got a reprieve as he reached the ninth tee when a horn blew suspending play. During the break, he changed his outfit and cleared his mind thanks to his coaches. 'It just unravelled very fast. But that break was actually the key for me to winning this tournament,' Spaun said. Hug or the size 15 shoe? Schriber smiled and said, 'The course bent you over for the first six holes like no other. Now it's your turn. No regrets – that was the tagline.' When play resumed, Spaun flushed his driver into the fairway giving him a confidence boost. Then he sank a 40-foot bomb at the par-5 12th and a 22-footer at 14 Meanwhile, Sam Burns, the 54-hole leader was imploding with a pair of double bogeys at Nos. 11 and 15. He ballooned to a 78 and finished T-7. 'I didn't have my best stuff today,' Burns said. 'But I can hold my head high.' Spaun bogeyed 15 but he saved his best drive for the short, par-4 17th, driving the green to set up birdie and a one-stroke lead over MacIntyre, the clubhouse leader. And that's when Spaun, after getting a free read from Viktor Hovland, drained his 64-foot birdie putt, the ultimate exclamation mark on his second career PGA Tour title and the highlight of his career.
