HARNESS RACING

sport of driving at speed a Standardbred (q.v.) horse pulling a light two-wheeled vehicle called a sulky. Harness racing horses are of two kinds, differentiated by gait: the pacing horse, or pacer, moves both legs on one side of its body at the same time; the trotting horse, or trotter, strides with its left front and right rear leg moving forward simultaneously, then right front and left rear together. Harness racing is one of the two main kinds of horse racing; the other involves horse racing astride in a saddle. For the latter, see horse racing. Additional reading Tom Ainslie, The New Complete Guide to Harness Racing (rev. ed., 1981), is an excellent guide with stress on racegoing and wagering; Philip A. Pines, The Complete Book on Harness Racing (4th ed., 1982), gives an overall view of the sport.