JOHN KLINE | THE GOSHEN NEWS Jan Bloom, a mushing enthusiast from Paw Paw, Michigan, gets his team of Siberian Huskies into their harnesses during a Mushing 101 class held at River Preserve County Park Saturday afternoon. - Goshen, IN 
Mushing 101 class offers lessons in dog sledding
Fur was flying at River Preserve County Park on the city’s south side Saturday as energetic canines and their eager owners gathered for the first-ever Mushing 101 class sponsored by the Elkhart County Parks Department.
Held in partnership with nonprofit mushing advocacy group Heartland Mushers Association, Saturday’s three-hour mushing class offered participants a crash-course in the various styles of mushing, including traditional snow mushing with sled and skies and dryland mushing using rigs, bikes and canicross. In addition to mushing demonstrations, Saturday’s program also covered proper gear use and what mushing resources are currently available in the Elkhart Country region.
“Heartland Mushers Association, they actually reached out to us about holding a class here at one of our parks, because it’s something they’ve done in other counties. So they came early this morning, they set up, they marked out their trail and got their team and their harnesses ready,” said Phelicia Jozwiak, an event and program naturalist with Elkhart County Parks. “Their group, they just really want to bring awareness to the sport and introduce it. I mean, I knew you could do dog sledding in the snow, but I didn’t know you could do dryland mushing. So we’re excited about the opportunity to offer this program to the community.”
Keith Miller, a Heartland Mushers member and organizer of Saturday’s event, said he often uses the River Preserve Park location to train his own mushing dogs, and when the opportunity to offer a class on the sport arose earlier this year, he jumped at the idea.
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