[QUOTE=sk_pacer;8829428]
There was and still is no difference between bikes used for trotters and pacers, all the same. As to the article on the one link, full of spelling errors and mostly plagerised from assorted sources; the sire is Joe Patchen and he was also a pacer. The use of running horses is for time trials and they were disallowed in that era - the horse doing the time trial is hooked as if for a race, and warmed up the same way, then the running horses are prompters, not competitors; youtube has many time trials listed, the most famous being Niatross.
There are still a few heat races but they are far and few between now. The first two races were generally eliminations and the third, and sometimes fourth were the finals. The Hambletonian was done in heats until just a few years ago and even certain overnight events were done in heats, depending on entries into that particular class.
Finally got that picture from the movie to load…and that is a 1940s bike not something from the turn of the century; those were very high, seat up enough that the driver’s shoulders were well above the horse’s back end. Even so, she must have hit something more solid, like part of the frame than a bicycle wheel to do a whack of damage and the bike would be ‘lame’ as well if a horse put a foot through the wheel.[/QUOTE]
Thank you for the information. I couldn’t understand why the barn worker or groom kept saying, “I hooked her up to the wrong one. She’s using a regulation bike!”
Of course, the movie was made in the 40s so that would explain the type of cart in the photo. That picture was from the film. We also know by watching horse movies today, they are not always exactly correct.
HA! You noticed all the spelling and grammar issues too on that link! It was awful. Must have been a kid writing it. (let’s hope).
Yes, the use of the running horses was just a time trial to show the big crowds how fast Dan Patch was. They kept repeating in the movie that no horse of that time could beat him in a race. So they had to use running horses to show how fast he was. That part was being narrated like one of the very old classroom films. Although they didn’t or at least, I don’t recall them saying they were called time trials. I had never seen that done before, but understand why they did it in his case. The crowds came in droves and wanted to see Dan Patch who was getting paraded around the nation by his new owner like a roadside attraction. One funny part was people selling horseshoes that were said to have been worn by Dan Patch. They said, “Fast-talking horsemen got money for old horseshoes that supposed to have come from a hoof of the Great Dan Patch. If he had worn a 1/10th of them, he would have been a centipede!” LOL :applause:
I just read that the Hambletonian is back doing heats again since 2013. It is just awful. <shakes head>
I will take a look at Youtube; I didn’t think of doing that. I just did a search for Niatross and found this, http://www.niatross.com/single-g/
Such a shame so many great horses are forgotten.
My husband bets online on harness racing and wins all the time. I bet and lose eight times out of 10 on the thoroughbreds. He is the same with the thoroughbreds too. I am keeping my day job. 
Thank you for all the information. It was truly helpful.
