Monday's Musher

Have you heard of the Singing Cowboy? Well, meet Martin Buser, the Singing Musher. Buser (pronounced boo-zer) is known for his trademark red and black plaid wool cap and his reputation for being extremely caring and kind to his dogs, even singing to them on lonely stretches of trail. Martin has said, “The sled dogs are the true heroes of the trail. The humans just get all the attention because they can talk.” Buser won the Iditarod in 1992, 1994, 1997, and 2002. On sixteen occasions, he has finished among the top ten finishers.

Born in Winterthur, Switzerland in 1958, Martin became fascinated with sled dogs while still a teen. He came to Alaska in 1979 to enhance his knowledge of care and training of sled dogs. He began working and training with long-time Alaskan mushers Earl and Natalie Norris and ran his first Iditarod in 1980. Martin, wife Kathy Chapoton and sons Nikolai and Rohn (both names after Iditarod checkpoints), reside in Big Lake, Alaska where the family owns and manages Martin Buser's Happy Trails Kennels . Both boys are attending college. Rohn ran the Iditarod as a Rookie in 2008.

Martin spends a large percentage of his personal time speaking with youth on the humanitarian care of animals and the spirit of the Iditarod. A favorite celebrity of the children of Alaska, Martin treats them with surprise visits from his dogs during many of these appearances.

Martin runs the race each year with his dogs to test the success of their breeding, training and physical endurance. He regards his racers as true competitive athletes and prides his team on their longevity and spirit of competition. Says Martin, "I run the Iditarod to prove that my dogs, bred, trained and raced by Happy Trails Kennels, are the best amongst the world's long distance athletes." Martin's 2002 team currently holds the record for the Fastest Iditarod by completing the race in 8 days, 22 hours, 46 minutes and 2 seconds.

As tribute to his treatment of his racers, Martin was awarded the coveted Leonhard Seppala Award in 1988, 1993, 1995 and again in 1997 for the mot humanitarian care of his dogs. The award was named for the most famous Alaskan musher who ran the longest and most dangerous stretch of the 1925, 674-mile diphtheria serum run from Nenana to Nome, which saved hundreds of lives.

Following Martin's 2002 victory, the process for his becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States was completed under the burled monument. Upon completion of the 2005 Iditarod after a woodworking accident four days prior to the race start resulting in the amputation of part of his finger, his fellow mushers awarded him both the Sportsmanship and Most Inspirational Awards. Martin is a member of the Explorer's Club. His hobbies are carpentry and woodturning. (Iditarod.com)

When asked what makes a champion sled dog, Martin said,
"There is an old cliché: A 50-pound dog with a hundred-pound heart. That's really what it comes down to. The incredible drive that these canine athletes have is second to none. You might know a dog that will chase and return a stick all day, no matter how many times you throw it. They never get tired. Our dogs are devoted like that. Sometimes they can drive you nuts because they have so much energy, and they are driven. There isn't a registered breed for a great sled dog. We call them "thoroughbred mongrels." (National Geographic)

Short video of Martin: http://www.iditarod.com/flashmap/free/video_0E5D1846-3FFF-1FD7-B3538D6A84113A7C.html

Janet sent me this excellent article pertaining to Iditarod mushers and dogs: http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/296063/17/