Gemma

Sponsored by Bruce Clendenning

‘She’s about to become something for somebody,’ Al said when Gemma arrived in the spring of 2019. Al had been working with Gemma for a year, training her as a lead dog, and when Spiller returned Gemma arrived as well. Gemma came from the kennel of Bruce and Monica Magnusson, and while I teased Al before I met her that she might be too houndy (the Magnusson’s race short fast races, against sprinty hound teams), I was really happy to be greeted by that poofy tail.

Gemma gives the best hugs. Hugs that curl around as she twists into a donut, hugs that burrow as she puts her head under your arm, and traditional sled dog hugs of legs around your waist. For this reason, I suspect it will always be a little bit hard to keep her from being spoiled rotten!

Gemma is an opinionated, dominating, and competitive lead dog. In a race, Gemma comes alive, hungry for competition, trail, and the finish line, in a way that I never see her on the training trail. When Gemma nails a turn command before her co-leader, she will holler at them as if to say ‘yeah that’s right, I know what I’m doing!’. For much of our training runs, Gemma moves in and out of lead as she can be ‘meh’ about training runs. As a dominant personality, Gemma does best with another leader who can cancel her out, but she and Aurora did find a way to work together in the 2020 race season. Gemma has a need for speed, rolling into a fast traveling pace any chance she gets.

In 2020, we entered two races and won both of them. A lot of that was due to the teamwork of the entire team, but a lot of that is, I know, thanks to Gemma’s leadership. After Aurora retired from racing, I needed a new companion for Gemma, which, thankfully, has emerged in Jax.

After three years of training, Gemma has finally stepped up and become the main leader she was meant to be. She holds the line out, she takes commands without challenging me or sassing her co-leader, and she stares at me with those big brown eyes with a look of trust rather than a look of questioning. As Al predicted, she became something for somebody, and became something for me and the team.

Race Record:

2022:
Wilderness 35: 1st Place, leader
Can Am 100: 1st place, leader

2020:
Blue Mtn Sled Dog Races 30-mile (1st place, leader)
Can Am 100 (1st place, leader)

2019 (With Al Borak):
Apostle Islands 80 (1st place, leader)
Midnight Run 100

Born: 2015
Guru (Magnusson) x Cheyenne (Magnusson)