After more than 20 years, ABSA has well and truly achieved its original goal of setting the scene for top quality independent sleddog competitions within the UK, and will now dissolve at the end of next Season 2013/14.

Today there are many independent societies across the country, offering all sorts of events to mushers old and new, and the more serious musher is able to compete in other countries with their own teams too because of the introduction of the Pet Passport Scheme in place of harsh quarantine restrictions.  Europe, and beyond, is now at our fingertips to further our knowledge and provide better distances, and on SNOW! 

Please come and enjoy the events of our final Season - the 22nd to be exact.  The New Forest event is celebrating its 30th Anniversary and cake has been promised!

Our Brochure of Schedules will be available to download from this website from about September time.  These are our planned events (more details later in the "Calendar" page):

NOVEMBER 9 and/or 10               Thruxton
NOVEMBER 17                                New Forest
NOVEMBER 30/DECEMBER 1    Sherwood Forest
DECEMBER 15                                Ringwood Forest
JANUARY 4 & 5                               Wareham Forest
JANUARY 11 & 12                           Forest of Dean
FEBRUARY 8                                    Ashley Heath
FEBRUARY 16                                  Yateley Heath


Thank you for all your support over the years and we wish you and your dogs all the best for the future.                          

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ABSA was founded in 1992 by a few established event organisers living in the South of England. Over the preceding years, they had become increasingly aware of the need for a specialist body to offer guidance in all aspects of the rapidly growing Sport of sleddog competition in Great Britain.

ABSA's aim, therefore, is to not only encourage and support events encompassing all the various sleddog activities and co-ordinating them into a workable calendar, but to also show the way to achieving quality organisational skills and progressing the Sport alongside other countries.

ABSA Membership is restricted to Event Organisers who are willing to give of their time to assist others and who continually strive to improve standards and promote the Sport in a co-operative manner.

ABSA is now entering its 20th season, continuing to attract good support from mushers by averaging nearly 60 entries per event, with several events each winter which span the south and middle of the UK. The 27 year old ABSA Affiliated Sled Dog Events' New Forest weekend event near Southampton attracts a large entry each season and is one of the oldest events in the UK.

Mushers are invited on a yearly basis to compete at the various events which include socials. The ABSA structure allows the scheduling of several standard classes and variations of them, the event organisers free to choose classes that suit their preferences and their venues. The majority of races have computer-assisted timing and provide result printouts for the mushers.

Entry to ABSA Events is restricted to dogs on ABSA-approved registers, without exception. The present approved registers are:

(UK) KENNEL CLUB
All KC recognised and registered sleddog breeds (i.e. Alaskan Malamute, Canadian Eskimo Dog, Greenland Dog, Samoyed and Siberian Husky) may compete in any ABSA standard class and most others.

SIBERIAN WELFARE
Run by two Breed societies - The Siberian Husky Club of GB and The Siberian Husky Welfare Association. Purebred Siberians passing through these welfares are neutered and issued a Welfare Registration Number and are permitted to compete at  ABSA events in any standard class and most others. Each entry in the first season must be supported by a letter from the relevant Welfare Secretary confirming Welfare Registration Number, neutering, name and ownership.

SLED DOG EVENTS
The SDE Register has been run by Lynn Harrison  for many years and is strictly for individual purebred KC recognised sleddogs who, for one reason or another, do not have KC registration documents and, in the case of Siberian Huskies, have not passed through the above Breed Welfares. Each applicant is considered on its own merits and specific verification. It must be neutered as this Register is not intended to encourage the breeding of unregistered purebreds. Dogs on this Register may compete in any ABSA standard class and most others. Application is restricted to dogs owned by existing ABSA competitors ONLY.  The Register is closed August-April. 
Please Note: This Register is closed until further notice.

NON PUREBRED SLED DOG
The NPSD Register is 'older' than most mushers in the UK and was first introduced by The Eskimo Dog Club of GB. When that Club ceased to hold working events many years ago, ABSA inherited the Register and it is now run by the ABSA Group (Registrar: Stuart Marle, tel: 01225 865216). The Register is for suitable individual dogs of non purebred-sleddog breeds (as defined by the KC) and not for those purpose bred/owned for sledwork. Each applicant is considered on its own merits. Most dogs holding a registration number are KC registered and are the odd dog owned by purebred-sleddog mushers. Those dogs that are not KC registered, including the occasional crossbred, must be neutered as this Register is not intended to encourage their breeding. Dogs on this register are confined to ABSA -O sectioned classes, but may freely compete/attend at social events/classes.  The Register is closed August-April.

NB Although ABSA does not object to such dogs in principle, currently it has no immediate plans to introduce, or accept, a register for purpose bred/owned non KC recognised sleddogs to its events.