# Interested in mushing



## SpotTheCat (Apr 8, 2021)

I am really interested in mushing and have a few questions 
What are all the types of mushing?
Is carting a type of mushing? 
Can you do none competitive mushing?
In carting do you pull people? Or only objects
Any advice for someone wanting to start?


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## DaySleepers (Apr 9, 2011)

In my limited knowledge:

Mushing is when you have a full team of dogs pulling some variety of traditional dog sled
Carting is when you have a single dog pulling a dog cart which typically will not be holding a person
Sulky driving is having one or two dogs pulling a specialized cart (a sulky) which can hold a single person (obviously you need dogs of a certain size and conditioning to do this one)
Joring is when you have one or more dog that helps pulling you as you also provide some of your own power: this can be just with running (also called canicross), but also with skiing, biking, kickbiking, scootering, etc. This is a good option for dogs who wouldn't otherwise be big enough to safely pull a person 100% by their own power.

I've never done any of these sports personally, so I may have some things mixed up, but that's my general understanding of the 'dog pulling things' sports that aren't weight pull. Any of these will require a dog to be trained and conditioned carefully so they have the appropriate muscle development before they're ever expected to pull the sled/cart/etc. and all require specialized harnesses to distribute the force in a safe and effective way (but it's not a one harness fits all situation, heavier pulling with a low attachment point might require a more specialized harness with a spreader bar whereas joring harnesses are typically more lightweight).


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## SpotTheCat (Apr 8, 2021)

DaySleepers said:


> In my limited knowledge:
> 
> Mushing is when you have a full team of dogs pulling some variety of traditional dog sled
> Carting is when you have a single dog pulling a dog cart which typically will not be holding a person
> ...


Thank you! what I understand is mushing is any thing powered by dogs, but I am not sure if that is correct.


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## DaySleepers (Apr 9, 2011)

As I said, I personally have only heard it used specifically for the traditional dogsledding style with full teams, but I could be wrong. I'm also in Norway, and the people here into mushing are REALLY into mushing and probably wouldn't be pleased to have their sport compared to stuff like bikejoring, haha. 

I will say that most of these can be done casually, and in the case of joring I'm not sure there even are competitions, it's just a fun activity with dogs. There definitely are carting/drafting competitions, but the only one that really requires you to be all in is proper dogsled mushing just due to how many animals you need to pull it off.


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## LeoRose (Aug 20, 2015)

Mushing generally applies to either dog sledding or dry land mushing, which uses teams of dogs to pull a sled or wheeled cart designed for off-road running.

Carting is one or two dogs pulling a wheeled vehicle with the handler walking.

Driving is one or more dogs hitched to a cart or sulky with the handler in the vehicle.

Jorring is one or more dogs attached to a person skiing, or a bike, scooter, or the like with the person riding the vehicle.

Cani-cross is one or more dogs attached to a person who is running/walking.

Weight pull is a single dog pulling as much weight as possible for a specified distance.

A more general term that includes mushing, jorring, etc. is "pulling sports". All of them can be done casually or competitively.


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## parus (Apr 10, 2014)

My advice to someone who wants to get started with mushing is to work at at a dogyard in exchange for instruction, but then again, I live in Alaska and there are mushers everywhere, lol. I imagine they're less ubiquitous elsewhere.

If you wanted to buy a mushing team every spring there are bunches of them for sale here, or dropped at shelters.


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## SpotTheCat (Apr 8, 2021)

LeoRose said:


> Mushing generally applies to either dog sledding or dry land mushing, which uses teams of dogs to pull a sled or wheeled cart designed for off-road running.
> 
> Carting is one or two dogs pulling a wheeled vehicle with the handler walking.
> 
> ...


thank you!


parus said:


> My advice to someone who wants to get started with mushing is to work at at a dogyard in exchange for instruction, but then again, I live in Alaska and there are mushers everywhere, lol. I imagine they're less ubiquitous elsewhere.
> 
> If you wanted to buy a mushing team every spring there are bunches of them for sale here, or dropped at shelters.


I am looking at going some where to try it. Sadly there are very few places that do mushing and they are too far away for me to go frequently, so not much point to seeing if they would let me work there in exchange for instructions.


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