Polarspirit Home Page

We are Amanda & Phil Cash and this website is all about our favorite topics
'Samoyeds & Siberian Huskies'.

And in particular our own Samoyeds & Siberian Huskies:

Summer

Thor

Kira

Taeus

Anika

Togo

Solomon

Yazmin

Boudicca

Roksana

Who also share their home with:

Jess

& Sir Hopsalot

We chose Polarspirit as our affix in recognition of the historic role that Samoyeds (our first breed) played in the
first Polar expeditions.
Team Polarspirit are located in a small village in Lincolnshire.

Summer
13/06/1996 - 13/05/2007
You were everything and so much more than we could ever have hoped you would be,
our sweet, sweet Summer.

We got our first Samoyed in August 1996.
Ch Summer Symphony At Polarspirit ShCM

Summers' General Group Championship Show Awards include:
2nd in the Group, 3rd in the Group, 4th in the Group,
4 Best of Breeds, 4 CCs, 3 RCCs, 1 Best Opposite Sex &
2 Reserve Best Bitch.

She also achieved her Kennel Club Good Citizen Bronze Award

Bred by Pam and Graham Chant.

Thor
(19/12/1997 - 17/10/2002)
A short but full life that radiated happiness to all that knew him.
A truly special boy that we were very lucky to share our lives with.

We got Thor 18 months after Summer in February 1998.
Ostyaks' Thors Reflection At Polarspirit

BVA/KC Hip Score 2 : 6 = 8
Bred by Carol Fox.

Ostyak's Thors Reflection At Polarspirit

He only went to a couple of shows but still won a Trophy!

Kira
Then another 18 months later in August 1999 we got Kira.
Ostyak Snowflower At Polarspirit

Bred by Carol Fox.

Snowflower's led in the flowerbed as usual

Taeus
In January 2003 Taeus joined our family.
Amarige Antaeus Of Polarspirit JW Sh.CM

Taeus' Championship Show Awards include:
2 Best of Breeds, 2CCs, 6 RCCs & 3 Best Opposite Sex

He has also achieved his Kennel Club Good Citizen Bronze Award

BVA/KC Hip Score 4 : 3 = 7
BVA/KC Eye Tested = Clear
Bred by Jane & Paul Farrington.

Anika
Just a few months later, at the end of April 2003 we got Anika.
Smiliesam Shalimar Of Polarspirit

BVA/KC Hip Score 5 : 3 = 8
BVA/KC Eye Tested = Clear
Bred by Hazel Fitzgibbon.

Togo
On December 31st 2006, Anika had her first litter, sired by
Ch Roybridge Ruff Diamond JW Sh.CM.
From this litter we kept Togo.
Polarspirit Balthasar
Togo has only attended a few championship shows so far but has already
achieved some very good wins!

He has also achieved his Kennel Club Good Citizen Bronze Award

BVA/KC Hip Score 2 : 3 = 5
BVA/KC Eye Tested = Clear
Bred by Amanda & Phil Cash.

Solomon
On January 16th 2008, Anika had her second litter, this time sired by our own dear Taeus.
From this litter we kept Solomon.
Polarspirit Boulevardier

BVA/KC Hip Score = 2 : 2 = 4
BVA/KC Eye Tested = Clear
Bred by Amanda & Phil Cash.

Just like his older brother, Solomon has also only attended a few championship shows so far but he too has already
achieved some very good wins!

Yazmin
We got our first Siberian Husky in January 2010.
Forstal's Yazmin Of Polarspirit

Bred by Sally Leich, Sheril Leich & Ali Koops.

Boudicca
We also got our second Siberian Husky at the same time in January 2010.
Forstal's Iceni Queen Of Polarspirit

also bred by Sally Leich, Sheril Leich & Ali Koops.

Roksana
In November 2010 we got our third Siberian Husky.
Arctictreks Starstruck At Polarspirit

Bred by Barbara Stanier.

Showing The Dogs

We only show those of our dogs that most enjoy it but have still managed to achieve some very good wins!
Summer was a Champion and also gained her Show Certificate of Merit. She won Best In Show 4 times, 4 CCs, 3 RCCs, 4 Championship Show Best of Breeds and went on to be placed in the Championship Show Groups 3 times, getting Group 2, Group 3 and Group 4!

Taeus has won Best In Show, 2 x Best Puppy In Show, Reserve Best Puppy In Show, Best Opposite Sex in Show, 2 Championship Show Best of Breeds, 2 CCs, 6 RCCs, Puppy Group 3rd at Darlington Championship Show, gained his Junior Warrant and his Show Certificate Of Merit.

Summer and Taeus have also both won their classes at Crufts.


Champion Summer Symphony At Polarspirit Sh.CM	Amarige Antaeus Of Polarspirit JW Sh.CM (2CC & 6RCCs)

We were only in the show ring for four months during 2007 but in this short time Togo made his debut and won the days
Championship Show Junior Stakes twice, both whilst he was still only 6 months old!

During 2008 Togo took a back seat while Solomon made his debut. Again we were only in the ring for a few months but Solomon still managed to do very well, including winning the days overall Puppy Stakes at Darlington Championship Show.

We did not go to any shows at all during 2009 or 2010 as our interest in the showing side of things had dropped off so much but we are planning to return to showing in 2011...

You can view details of all the dogs various wins by clicking on the relevant choices on the menu buttons to the left of the screen.

I know some think it a shame that we don't show as much as we used to but the dogs enjoyment is always our highest priority and when we all have so much more fun working the dogs than showing them, then that is what we concentrate on!

Obedience Training
Before we moved away from Wiltshire we used to take all the dogs to weekly Obedience classes. They really loved it and they were quite good too. Summer, Thor & Kira were all in the top class and they'd probably have been even better if we had done our home-work more often. We didn't compete at obedience as this did not appeal to either myself or Phil but we did take part in an obedience display that our club did at the West Wilts Show, which is held in Trowbridge park every other year. Summer even had a couple of solo bits that she had to do and she didn't let me down at all, she was an excellent ambassador for both the club and breed.

So you see, Samoyeds can do obedience - it just takes an owner that understands the breed and their dogs own individual style of learning!

During the 3 day West Wilts Show, Summer, Thor and I took our turn to man the club stand, which they absolutely adored doing. I sat them on the top of their cage and displayed a notice underneath giving their names and inviting people to come over and say hello to us. The dogs were most impressed at everybody wanting to come and make a fuss of them while I told them all about the club, Samoyed heaven.

Sled/Rig Running

Before we had Kira we started training just Summer and Thor using a bicycle, (fitted with a padded protective bar at the front to form a brush bow to keep the dogs safely away from the front wheel).

When Kira was old enough to join the team the dogs were all fitted out with new harnesses and Phil made our first rig. This rig is still going strong now, some 11 years later, despite both Phil and I managing to have a couple of crashes with it over the years!


The first ever Polarspirit Race Team modelling their new harnesses and lines This is going back some years now!	The first ever Polarspirit Rig Still going strong over a decade later!

As we are now both running teams, myself the Sibies and Phil the Sammies, we now have a rig each.


This rig has disk brakes to cope with the higher braking demands of the Sibies and front suspension forks	Just like Phils rig, this rig was made here at Polarspirit	All nicely colour co-ordinated too!

We initially took all three dogs on training runs but, in time, Summer proved to be somewhat intermittent with her desire to be part of a sled team (as many Samoyeds do). Sometimes she loved it and at other times she would flatly refuse to take part, preferring instead to run along by the side of the others, out of harness. A lot of this is to do with the fact that Summer decided that getting muddy was not for her. The occasional mud face pack - well, that was fine as all girls should follow a good beauty regime but having to run through muddy puddles and get totally covered, well, that was just too much! She did take part in a couple of races and rather enjoyed them. However, she only pulled where there were spectators nearby to see and admire her! This meant that her contribution towards helping the other dogs pull, was for such a tiny fraction of the race distance, that it was better for the other dogs if we dropped her from the team and entered just Thor & Kira into the 2 dog freight class instead. Summer didn't mind as she still came along to the races with us.

We have been running the various dogs in harness for about 13 years now. These days Phil runs the Sammie team and I run the Sibie team. Kira and Anika have both retired from proper runs with the rig but both still very much enjoy a slow trot with the bikes using the springer attachments or a bit of cani-cross instead. The current Sam team is made up of Togo and Solomon and the Sibie team is made up of Yazmin and Boudicca with Roksana havinmg just started joining them for training runs now too.

Below is a quick single shot of each of the various Polarspirit Teams that competed over the years...
But for more information on Team Polarspirit and to see more photos from the races select the 'Running Sled Dogs' button on the menu bar above.


Summer, Thor & Kira	Kira & Thor	Kira & Anika

Togo & Anika	Togo & Solomon	Boudicca & Yazmin

If you are thinking about making your own rig, remember to make sure that you contact the various organisations who run the sled dog races first, details of these organisations can be found by following the relevant menu button. This way you can check that the design of your rig will meet with their rules and regulations. You wouldn't want to turn up for your first race and find that you can not take part as your rig did not pass the safety inspection that is required prior to every race!

Polarspirit Dogs of Action!

Agility

It has been quie some years now, since we first did Agility with Summer but now all of our adult dogs love to do agility. We do this mainly during the spring and autumn months when it isn't too hot for the dogs or clashing with the race season. We are very lucky to be able to use an arena that is fully enclosed and where we have the whole area to ourselves which is great as it allows us the freedom to train the dogs in a way which suits us and them specifically.

Summer still loved doing agility when she was ten years old and at last, she was also far better behaved than she ever used to be when we did agility with her the first time, when she was about 18 months old. See Sams do grow up eventually!

Here are a couple of shots of the dogs doing agility. To see more photos click on the 'Agility' button on the menu bar.

Other ways of keeping fit

You may be wondering what else the Polarspirit dogs do to keep fit on days when it is too hot for either sled racing or agility?

Well, the Sams all love to swim! The Sibies aren't quite so sure about swimming but do love a mad splash and paddle.

And after all that swimming, the dogs take some time out to model this years latest beach/swim wear fashions...

If you'd like to contact us, our email details can be found at the bottom of the menu bar to the left.

Visitor Number: