Harness racing in Australia Harness racing in Australia Harness racing, also colloquially known as trotting or the trots, is an important spectator sport in Australia, with large amounts of money wagered annually with bookmakers and the Totalisator Agency Board (TAB). In Australia there are 91 harness racing tracks, which hold over 1,900 meetings annually. There are approximately 2,900 drivers and 4,000 trainers with about 5,000 Standardbred horses foaled and registered each year. Harness racing in Australia is conducted with Standardbred horses racing around a track while pulling a driver in a two-wheeled cart called a "sulky", "gig" or "bike". Standardbred racehorses compete in two
Horse harness will not allow the horse to work efficiently. Putting harness on a horse is called "harnessing" or "harnessing up". Attaching the harness to the load is called "putting to" (British Isles) or "hitching" (North America). The order of putting on harness components varies by discipline, but when a horse collar is used, it is usually put on first. Throughout the ancient world, the 'throat-and-girth' harness was used for harnessing horses that pulled carts; this greatly limited a horse's ability to exert itself as it was constantly choked at the neck. A painting on a lacquerware box from the State of