About Us
My name is Jessee Osborne, and I was born in raised in the backwoods of Burke County, NC. My family comes from a long line of hard working, southern farmers living in rustic shacks in the boonies, surrounded by a large number of working coon hounds. From my heritage I have come to love the south for what it has to offer, even if the summers are unbearably cruel to those of us who crave chilly weather. For two generations my grandfather raised easy to please hard working coon hounds and was always told he had a good ‘eye’ for the next best hunter. I believe that is where my love of dogs came from.
Growing up we had all kinds of dogs, mostly rescues. We had everything from Boxers to labs, to collie mixes to tiny terriers. I had a soft spot for them all but never really fell in love untill I got my first Siberian, Nakita. That’s when the idea of mushing got into my head. Why? not sure.. maybe it was destiny. Not many southerners think of mushing randomly. Years later I acquired Storm (Spirits Rainstorm Of Fire), and one fall morning I put her in an old wal-mart harness and a scraggly leash and hooked her to the bike. The rest is history. Eventually I accumulated several more huskies and raised several pet bred litters and a handfull of working and show prospects, this was the start of SouthernSpirit. What exactly does SouthernSpirit mean? Pretty much just a jumbled idea put together… The spirit of sled dogs in the south. I am the first and only one to be active with a northern breed in my family. This is my dream, the dogs are my pride and Joy.
Today I now have a large dogyard with individual stakeouts and kennels for my team of 7 Siberians. 5 are active team members, one will occasionally get a wild hair and get some miles in and the other boy is retired. All but three are altered and those remaining dogs are the future of the kennel, and coming from purpose bred lines.. they all are very promising! We mostly travel up north for sprint dryland races but aim to help start more races and fun runs down here. I run my dogs on bike during the warmer months or smaller teams and use the rig for what we really love- DISTANCE. Now southern mushing in itself is pretty cool, huh? well I’ve always wanted to take it one step further, to take my team on 20+ mile runs down the forest roads of the Carolina backcountry. Currently I am NC Director for the only mushing club this far south, and am very active in promoting the sport in general.
I LOVE meeting new people interested in getting started down here, even if it is like me. I will be more than glad to help with any questions or suggestions you may have.
Thanks for stoppin’ by and ya’ll come back, ya hear?! :)