Book review: Sled Dog Racing in New Zealand – A Photographic Odyssey

By Teresa Angell

We wrote about dog racing in Issue 2 of 1964 (March 2020) and featured photos by Teresa Angell, so we were pretty excited to see that she has published a full-length book on the subject.

Sled dogs are just the best. Woof!

Teresa explores our national sled dog scene from the sport’s origins in Aotearoa, when a homegrown litter of Siberian Huskies was born in 1979, to the first sled dog race, held in Herbert, Otago, in 1985, to its status as a thriving community with clubs and events around the country. By 1997, 90 races were held in New Zealand, with 435 teams competing.

It’s a fascinating history, but it’s the dogs themselves who are the stars of this book. Teresa’s images capture them, and their “mushers”, in all their adorable glory, whether racing on snow, or pulling dryland rigs through forests, vineyards, tussocks and mud. I may be anthropomorphising, but man they look happy when they run.

LAURA WILLIAMSON

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Laura Williamson
A writer, songwriter and poet based in Central Otago, Laura Williamson is the editor of 1964: mountain culture / aotearoa. She co-wrote The Blue Moments Project song and spoken word cycle, and her book The Bike and Beyond: Life on Two Wheels in Aotearoa New Zealand is out now as part of the BWB Text series.

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