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![A major attraction of the Cumberland County Fair is harness racing 10 times over the seven day fair. It carries on a racing tradition from 1871 when the fair was first held and farmers raced horses on Maine Street in Cumberland. 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. 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, Norway and Sweden. Standardbreds are so named because in the early years of the Standardbred stud book, only horses who could trot or pace a mile in a standard time (or whose progeny could do so) of no more than 2 minutes, 30 seconds were admitted to the book.[1] Today, most harness races are won by Standardbreds who post times of 2 minutes or less.[citation needed] The horses have proportionally shorter legs than Thoroughbreds, and longer bodies.[2] Standardbreds generally have a more placid disposition, due to the admixture of non-Thoroughbred blood in the breed. The founding sire of today's Standardbred horse was Messenger, a gray Thoroughbred brought to America in 1788 and purchased by Henry Astor, brother of John Jacob Astor. From Messenger came a great-grandson, Hambletonian 10 (1849–1876), who gained a wide following for his racing prowess. However, it is his breed line for which he is most remembered. The lineage of virtually all North American Standardbred race horses can be traced from four of Hambletonian 10 sons. Races can be conducted in two differing gaits – trotting and pacing. The difference is that a trotter moves its legs forward in diagonal pairs (right front and left hind, then left front and right hind striking the ground simultaneously), whereas a pacer moves its legs laterally (right front and right hind together, then left front and left hind). In continental Europe, races are conducted exclusively among trotters, whereas in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States races are also held for pacers.[Wikipedia]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Harness_Racers_%2821766576679%29.jpg)
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A major attraction of the Cumberland County Fair is harness racing 10 times over the seven day fair. It carries on a racing tradition from 1871 when the fair was first held and farmers raced horses on Maine Street in Cumberland. 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. 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, Norway and Sweden. Standardbreds are so named because in the early years of the Standardbred stud book, only horses who could trot or pace a mile in a standard time (or whose progeny could do so) of no more than 2 minutes, 30 seconds were admitted to the book.[1] Today, most harness races are won by Standardbreds who post times of 2 minutes or less.[citation needed] The horses have proportionally shorter legs than Thoroughbreds, and longer bodies.[2] Standardbreds generally have a more placid disposition, due to the admixture of non-Thoroughbred blood in the breed. The founding sire of today's Standardbred horse was Messenger, a gray Thoroughbred brought to America in 1788 and purchased by Henry Astor, brother of John Jacob Astor. From Messenger came a great-grandson, Hambletonian 10 (1849–1876), who gained a wide following for his racing prowess. However, it is his breed line for which he is most remembered. The lineage of virtually all North American Standardbred race horses can be traced from four of Hambletonian 10 sons. Races can be conducted in two differing gaits – trotting and pacing. The difference is that a trotter moves its legs forward in diagonal pairs (right front and left hind, then left front and right hind striking the ground simultaneously), whereas a pacer moves its legs laterally (right front and right hind together, then left front and left hind). In continental Europe, races are conducted exclusively among trotters, whereas in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States races are also held for pacers.[Wikipedia] |
| Date | |
| Source | Harness Racers |
| Author | Paul VanDerWerf from Brunswick, Maine, USA |
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This image was originally posted to Flickr by Me in ME at https://flickr.com/photos/12357841@N02/21766576679 (archive). It was reviewed on 12 July 2018 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0. |
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| current | 14:27, 12 July 2018 | | 1,400 × 1,000 (1.32 MB) | Hiàn (alt) | Transferred from Flickr via #flickr2commons |
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