Harness racing Harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, occupied by a driver, although in Europe, jockeys riding directly on saddled trotters ("trot monté" in French) is also conducted. In North America, harness races are restricted to Standardbred horses, although European racehorses may also be French Trotters or Russian Trotters, or have mixed ancestry with lineages from multiple breeds. Orlov Trotters race separately in Russia. The light cold-blooded Coldblood trotters and Finnhorses race separately in Finland,
Harness racing is that they often wear hobbles (straps connecting the legs on each of the horse's sides). The belief that hobbles are used to create this gait is a common misunderstanding. The pace is a natural gait for many horses, and hobbles are an aid in supporting the gait at top speed; trotting hobbles (which employ a different design, due to the difference in the gait) are becoming increasingly popular for the same reason. Most harness races start from behind a motorized starting gate. The horses line up behind a slow-moving, hinged gate mounted on a motor vehicle, which then leads