Harness racing is a popular sport throughout the world. In many European and Scandinavian countries, it has more fans than any form of racing. Throughout history, many countries have tried to produce speedy trotting and pacing horses to race in harness, pulling light two-wheeled sulkies.
The name Standardbred originated because the early trotters were required to reach a certain standard for the mile distance in order to be registered as part of the new breed. The mile is still the distance covered in nearly every harness race.
The Standardbred breed was made possible by the creation of the Thoroughbred breed. It is said that it was founded from an early English Thoroughbred, named Messenger, brought to the United States in 1788, at the age the age of 8 years old. Messenger never ran a trot race in his life, yet he is regarded by some as the foundation sire of the Standardbred. He has crosses to all three of the Thoroughbred foundation sires, particularly the Godolphin Arabian. He spent 20 years at stud before dying at the ripe old age of 28. He was buried on Long Island.
The true foundation sire of the Standardbred breed is Hambletonion. He was born on May 5, 1849 in Orange County, New York. The only time his speed was tested was in a trial mile, when he got a then respectable 2 minutes 48.5 seconds. He measured 15.1 1/4hh at the withers, but 15.3 1/4 at the croup. Because of his enormous hindquarters, it allowed for great thrust from the rear, both for him and his offspring. At that time people laughed at him, until they found out how fast his offspring ran. Hambletonion sired over 1330 offspring between 1851 and 1875. His son Dexter trotted the mile in a record 2:17:25 in the 1860s.Since that time, only horses with Hambletonion in their pedigree have beaten that time. He was such a great sire that 99 percent of Standardbreds trace back to him. Harness racing flourished until WWI, when it suffered two lean decades. A world record by trotter Greyhound signaled a rebirth of the sport.
Currently in America there are 4 pacers for every trotter. The trot is a two beat diagonal gait. The pace is a two beat lateral gait, where the legs on the same side of the body move in unison.
Many Standardbreds are injured in the races and are put up for adoption. Click here if you are interested in adopting a Standardbred.
