Joy Davis, Educational Journalist, IN
Growing up in Switzerland, Sven Haltmann was surrounded by animals and became devoted to dogs. In 2001 he moved to Alaska. From 2004-2008 Sven worked as a wild land firefighter. In 2009 he started working for Go North Travel in Fairbanks.
He is motivated by his dogs who are his ‘babies.’ Sven said, “My dogs are more than just my dogs. They are everything that I have and I don’t think anybody would make them as happy as I do. I am motivated by the way my team runs down the trail, they way they inhale their food after a hard run, the smile on their faces after a long run as if to say-‘ Is that all you got Daddy? Let’s turn around and do it again.’ I am also motivated by having the dogs cross the finish line in Nome while walking tall and wagging their tails. I am motivated to train, train, train…to breath, eat, sleep, and dream running dogs all day and night.”
Sven has competed in two Iditarods. In 2008 he finished 36th. He improved his standing in 2009 with a 22nd place finish. He said that his training methods for those races were similar. The 2010 training has been different. “We stepped it up in training intensity and attention to the detail. The dogs are all veterans of the 2008 or 2009 race. We have confidence and maturity in the team.” Sven has gained confidence himself and is better at reading his dogs. His goal is to improve with each Iditarod.
“Mushing and financing the sport without being a consistent top contender seems to get harder year after year and that’s another motivator to finally get higher in the ranks,” said Sven. He sometimes wonders how he is able to fund his racing. He works hard but that is not enough. He would like to thank his sponsors: Go North Travel Center, Pike Legal Group, Felix and Claudia Ammann, H.C. and Kathy Grossman, the Haltmann family and friends.
A normal day consists of feeding between 5:30 and 9 a.m. He also has to cut meat, sort booties, clean the dog yard, fix equipment, run errands in town, groom and cut trails. Then it’s time to water the dogs at lunch. This is followed by training runs that last from 3 to 10 hours. Sven said, “For me it’s important that I don’t sleep too much in the winter and the dogs can sense my energy. Everything we do all day has to directly relate to the Iditarod. How can we make things better for the kennel, more efficient, smoother and better for the dogs? It’s hard work with no glory in it but a lot of satisfaction when things get done right in the Iditarod.”
Sven is able to focus on the dogs and his Iditarod goal with the help of his two handlers, Thomas and Patrick, and his girlfriend, Jamie. Sven acknowledged, “Handlers don’t get credit anyway in this sport and I would like to take this opportunity to say that those guys rock.”
In the off-season (about 6-8 weeks after the Iditarod) the dogs free run. Training starts in the summer with the handlers. Sven enjoys running during this time. He works to come up with the money for dog food in the winter. He enjoys spending time with his two-legged friends. He gets serious about training the dogs in September.
When asked where Sven sees himself in 5 years he replied, “I better have a championship under my belt by that time. You know this sport takes so much energy and time and one has to sacrifice a lot to make it happen. Again, I’m not complaining but I’m not one of those guys who tries and tries and tries and tries until he’s so spent and abused by the time he is 50. I know I always will be running dogs but if it doesn’t work out with winning, I will focus on other things in life. Life’s too short to get tunnel vision on just one thing. Right now, I’m just having a blast training and racing for the Iditarod. It gives me sleepless nights and happiness. My dogs are the best anyway, no matter the ranking in Iditarod. I owe everything to them. They have gotten me through a divorce, hardship and some tough times. We belong together and the worst part about trying to build a competitive team is the fact that I can’t keep them all…”
Safe trails, Sven.
