STRONG BOND: Steve Grinham with one of his team of Siberian racing huskies, which he keeps at home in Hamsterley Forest - Hamsterley Forest, UK 
Steve must look further afield to race his huskies
Visitors to Hamsterley Forest may sample all it has to offer without ever knowing it is home to a pack of more than a dozen racing Siberian huskies. Wendy Short went to meet their owner Stephen Grinham.
Steve Grinham and his family live right in the middle of Hamsterley Forest and their husky pack forms only a small part of the menagerie. His wife, Nicola, is a veterinary nurse at Wilsons Vets, in Bishop Auckland, and is largely responsible for the rest of their assorted collection of animals.
A variety of unwanted pets have come into the surgery over the years and many end up being taken home – with few objections from Steve, it seems. The couple keep 22 dogs, including six which are simply pets, plus several sheep and one goat; a tortoise, pigeons, chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys, budgies and canaries, guinea pigs, fish (coldwater and tropical) and one, presumably very placid, cat.
Unsurprisingly, the couple met through of their love of animals and their wedding had a canine theme.
“My dogs are registered at Wilsons and one of the other vet nurses set me up on a blind date with Nicola,” explains Mr Grinham, who is the caretaker of a local school.
“We got married in 2009 in Alaska and we timed our arrival with the Iditarod trail sled dog race, so that we could watch it together.”
For Mr Grinham, sled dog racing has recently had to take something of a back seat, as the couple’s son Lance suffers from damaged kidneys and has to make frequent trips to hospital.
This does not prevent the four-year-old, who has inherited a love of animals, from helping to look after the dogs, as well as travelling to the training ground along with his mum, who has won several sled dog racing awards in her own right.
When the family purchased their home in the centre of the forest, Mr Grinham had permission to train his huskies on the many tracks which criss-cross the landscape. Sadly, the increasing number of walkers and bike riders who make use of the 2,000-hectare reserve has led to permission being withdrawn. That is a shame, because a team of huskies pulling a sled is a sight which many visitors would surely enjoy.
View Full Article