Mini Race: What do you think of this?

~Lisa~ · Sep 3, 2010

Well I am not sure these are trotting race minis I am not saying the OP is wrong (although as a side note I would love to know which one of these horses is the OP ) I am saying I did not enter I did not see the rules and the discussion was(or at least the part I was responding to) was not are they breaking he rules but this is bad now people will think this is what minis are all about

I can not judge the training any of these horses have or do not have simply due to the fact they are running in this short race- to me that does not mean they are not cantering or galloping on command they were told to do so from the drivers as it appears anyway.

It is very possible in fact I would guess probable that these minis are great drivers who do not spend the majority of their time in harness running amok and they save that for these type of short and fun races - Well at least at this point seeing as I do not know any of them personally or the time or amount of training any of the horses have it is just something I am going to have to go with as being probable.

DukeFleurPeek · Sep 3, 2010

I think what I was trying to say but somehow it got lost in my phrasing was that these "races" are supposed to simulate actual harness races and with the minis galloping and cantering around the track, it was likely the public would get the impression that they could not maintain the trotting gait. I admit I did not consider that cantering may have been permitted or even encouraged, but I seriously doubt it. A standardbred trainer that I know told me that the horses that participated in the Georgian Downs race were required to perform a time trial and "qualify" to participate. I assumed the time trial was at the trot, but I guess it is possible I could have been wrong. Through a number of your posts I have learned some new things about driving minis, so I am grateful for that.

Sue_C. · Sep 3, 2010

They have held quite a few mini races at the raceway in Charlottetown PEI, and they trot only. the whole reason the use a standardbred track, is to "copy" the race horses that regularly race there, and no harness Standardbred race horse is ever allowed to canter.

There are other places that minis are races in North America...actually have heard of some very big purses...and the gait is always at a trot.

DukeFleurPeek · Sep 3, 2010

Well I am not sure these are trotting race minis I am not saying the OP is wrong (although as a side note I would love to know which one of these horses is the OP

The "OP" did not participate in the "EXTREME Mini" race at Georgian Downs, but I did drive the #3 horse in this

race that trotted the entire trip as specified in the rules then broke either right on or just after the wire from reacting to the crowd yelling. You will notice that 2 of the 3 horses in front of me cantered the whole race . As for the name of the Georgian race, it was part of an event dubbed EXTREME day because each race was had something unusual about it, such as a 1/8th of a mile dash, 5/8 of a mile dash, a 5 lap marathon, a race contested counter-clockwise etc.
Here is a link to a first-person account of my race at Hanover that I wrote and submitted to a horseracing publication in Toronto, Ontario.

http://www.downthest...007/page16.html (scroll to the bottom of the page)

Carriage · Sep 4, 2010

DukeFleurPeek said:
The "OP" did not participate in the "EXTREME Mini" race at Georgian Downs, but I did drive the #3 horse in this

Sue_C. · Sep 4, 2010

Competitive barrel racing would be fun as well.

We here compete in barrel racing, poles, obstacle cones and all kinds of fun game-stuff. (It too, is all at the trot.)

There is a competative trail challenge coming up next month that is being offered to the minis...sure wish I could make it, but will be away...some friends are going though. that will be gtreat to get the driving horses/minis into a competition with the riding horses...gives everyone a chance to see what we can actually do in harness.