Talk:Harness racing

Failed GA

This article failed the Ga noms due to lack of references. Tarret 22:25, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

Great Horses

I think that horses without a link should be removed, so I'm going to move them here so that in the future when they do have a page, they can be readded to the articleKearney6 19:10, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

Pacers

• Adios Harry
• Billy Direct
• Blissful Hall +
• Bye Bye Bird
• Countess Adios
• Falcon Seelster
• Forrest Skipper
• Gallo Blue Chip
• Good Time
• Hal Dale
• Hal Tryax
• Handle With Care
• Jenna's Beach Boy
• Johnny Globe
• Meadow Skipper
• Most Happy Fella +
• Mount Eden
• Nihilator
• On The Road Again
• Ralph Hanover +
• Romeo Hanover +
• Rum Customer +
• Silk Stockings
• Sokyola
• Striking Image
• Tar Heel
• Western Dreamer +

Trotters

• Ayres +
• Continentalvictory
• Fresh Yankee
• Goldsmith Maid
• Green Speed
• JM Vangogh
• Lady Suffolk - the "Old Gray Mare"
• Lindy's Pride +
• Mr. Muscleman
• Nevele Pride +
• Pine Chip
• Rodney (horse)
• Super Bowl +
• Scott Frost
• Speedy Crown+
• Speedy Scot +
• Star's Pride
• Su Mac Lad
• Volomite
• Simply Made

I'd say no to lists, though the current world record holders for various types (pacers, trotters, monté, coldbloods etc.) could be mentioned. This is a good to-do list in any case. Pitke (talk) 16:00, 7 August 2010 (UTC)

I agree -- 110%!! Absolutely no way in hell should this article have a list, as is obvious, it can quickly become endless! Other than the major foundation bloodstock, certain historically unique individuals that made a particular contribution to the sport as a whole and, maybe, the current world record holders, there is really no need for the "famous individuals" laundry list. Montanabw^(talk) 01:14, 8 August 2010 (UTC)

Lists

All the horses on the list that has been removed from the article appear to be listed in the appropriate category. I'll add the category itself to the article if it isn't there already. But lists are most certainly discouraged per the wikipedia WP:MOS unless the purpose of the article itself is to be a list, so they really DO need to go. But rest assured, they ARE categorized already. Montanabw^(talk) 22:18, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

Warm/Cold/Hot blooded horses

Cold-blooded horses? (2nd par.) Can that be right?

• I'm a scandinavian myself, so I know that is true. If you want more evidence, check out http://www.imh.org/imh/bw/finnish.html, "fastest cold-blooded trotter in the world".

According to this site, the warm/cold-blooded distinction seems to be a completely different thing to what a zoologist would mean by the terms. Instead, horses descended from the smaller Arabian or Barb are considered warm blooded, whereas all other horses are cold blooded. Loganberry (Talk) 03:48, 7 November 2005 (UTC) "Hot/Cold/Warm blooded" refers to the temperament of horses and ponies.

Yes, coldbloods (draft horses) are raced at least in Finland, Norway and Sweden. Pitke (talk) 16:03, 7 August 2010 (UTC)

Need section on harness racing in American Popular Culture and its decline

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Patch There's no suggestion here that this sport was once famous. Adios Butler was as well known in the Sixties as Cassius Clay. At the very least there should be a link to the good Wiki article on Dan Patch, an American icon, the subject of Hollywood movies. Sic transit gloria. Profhum (talk) 08:02, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

External links modified

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External links modified

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First harness race

I would have liked to include a reference to the 1st harness race ever. Padua claims to have been the first, on 22nd of August, 1808, but I see that New Haven, Connecticut, could have been two years earlier. Does anyone know any reliable sources about that? Filippo83 (talk) 17:31, 24 July 2020 (UTC)

Unsourced

This article is almost totally unsourced. It's either copied from somewhere or it's original research, either way Wikipedia shouldn't be hosting it. 212.74.97.221 (talk) 04:50, 15 September 2021 (UTC)

Harness racing

"The pace is an unnatural gait for horses, and hobbles are used to maintain the gait at top speed;" this is incorrect, pacing is natural and preferred for horses with the pacing gene mutation, ref page on Standardbred horse. Hobbles are not needed to keep the horse pacing rather than trotting but help prevent horses breaking into canter 82.41.74.198 (talk) 09:11, 12 February 2023 (UTC)

History Section?

Hello @Justlettersandnumbers! I saw that you reverted my edits on this article recently. Admittedly, I'm a fairly novice editor, so some clarification might be helpful to me. After reading through WP:Weight, I don't really think it applies here because the sport's history is intimately tied to America.

More importantly, I think the article could be greatly improved with a history section. As it stands the article focuses mostly on contemporary harness racing. However, the section I added and sources I found show that the sport in its modern form has an interesting history, and that history starts in the post-colonial United States. Two points from the sources support this: (1) the sport truly took off after the emergence of standardbred horses in North America (cited here on the breed's wikipage) and (2) Adelmann separates organized sport from pass time with "Harness racing had been a popular pastime in England, but its emergence as a sport first occurred in the United States." (12) This conclusion seems to be supported by multiple sources (I've copied some below).

Further, I have found almost no sources that discuss harness racing for sport outside of America prior to the establishment of the National Trotting Association in 1870. Some sources (examples here and here) discuss the history of European harness racing, but they almost always refer back to North America.

Given the above, might I suggest the following edit that could address your WP:WEIGHT concern while simulateously improving the article?

History

The history of harness racing can be traced at least to ancient Roman chariot racing. However, it emerged as a modern sport with the breeding of the American Standardbred. Harness racing was prolific in informal settings North America and England in the early 19th century, often taking the form of contests on public roads. In that phase of its history, harness racing was largely unorganized and undocumented. The sport proliferated greatly with introduction of the Standardbred and its perceived utilitarian nature as opposed to thoroughbred horses. Much of this rise was accelerated by the banning of thoroughbred horse racing and the closure of tracks in the northern United States in the early 1800s, starting with New York State's anti-racing law passed in 1802. These laws were only lifted in the years immediately following the Civil War. It's growth culminated in the post-Civil War era with the formation of the National Trotting Association in 1870. As the sport had become more organized by that year with a documented set of racing rules and events taking place across the United States, and eventually abroad. Even today, many trotting horses trace across the world trace their ancestry to North America.

I realize that the above paragraph still needs improvement, but I still think it presents an improvement over the lack of history present in the article. Your thoughts?

References:

Adelman, Melvin L. “The First Modern Sport in America: Harness Racing in New York City, 1825-1870.” Journal of Sport History, vol. 8, no. 1, 1981, pp. 5–32. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43611448. Accessed 12 July 2026.

Carnahan, A. Vernon, and David S. Versfelt. "Antitrust Boycott Analysis Applied to a Harness Racing Association." Ky. LJ 70 (1981): 915.

Hervey, John. The American Trotter. Coward-McCann, 1947.

Parlin, S. W. (1905). The American Trotter: A Treatise on His Origin, History and Development. United States: American Horse Breeder Publishing Company.

EspressoMachine77 (talk) 14:23, 12 July 2026 (UTC)