Different Types of Horse Races

It's a partnership that goes almost as far back in history as kept records. Humans and horses have worked together for millennia, and horse races have always played a prominent role in the relationship. From the first moment when two people with horses challenged each other to find out which animal could run the fastest, there have been not only races but betting as well. And it wasn't long until specialized horse trainers took the horses out of the fields and began to train and breed them only for the races.

Racing with thoroughbreds is a subset of a type of race known as flat racing. This is where, as the name suggests, the horse races are run on a flat surface, usually made either of dirt or turf, and in turn the turf can either be natural or is sometimes synthetic. The flatness of the tracks, though, doesn't mean that they are automatically straight as well. Most are in fact designed to be oval in shape, and have no banking on the corners.

On the other hand, harness races, while also taking place on an oval track, are not raced flat. In this type of race, the horse pulls a lightweight sulky behind it, in which a driver is seated, and the horse is required to use certain prescribed gaits as it runs. If it's a trotter, that means the horse's diagonal legs step forward together, whereas if it's a pacer, then both legs on the same side of the body move forward at the same time. In these types of horse races, the turns on the track are banked to help the horses get more traction.

While the steeplechase, which is a race requiring the horse to jump several obstacles, is favored in Britain, the horse races most popular in the United States are those on flat tracks. However, all three of the main types, the flat track race, the harness race, or the steeplechase, can be found anywhere in international racing. And the racing of Arabian horses is seeing a steady gain in popularity as well. The sport of horse racing, as it has always been, remains an important element of the relationship between humans and horses.

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