What is the difference between pacers and trotters

This brief video highlights just a few of the things you will see and do at one of the largest equine trade show extravaganzas in North America. Most of us are more likely to have a Standardbred track near us than a Thoroughbred track. Most fairgrounds, at one time, had a racetrack and the most common type of racing on these tracks was harness racing. Standardbred racing was very popular, and with a loyal core of fans, still is. Standardbreds come in two flavors - pacers and trotters.

In North America, there are far more pacers than trotters. The reason for that may come down to one thing: speed. A good pacer is faster and more agile than a trotter, and for fans of the sport, faster is better. In other parts of the world, trotters are more popular, and some races are ridden. What is the difference really, beside the gait at which they race? Horses can be trained to pace, but with mixed success. The natural tendency of a horse to pace is determined by its genes. Researchers have discovered the mutation of a specific gene DMRT3, in horses that inclines them to pace naturally from birth.

The pace is a natural gait, and as anyone retraining a pacer for riding can tell you, it can be difficult to teach the horse how to trot after its race career is over. When a horse trots, he moves diagonally paired legs simultaneously.

That means he's moving his back left leg at the same time he's moving his right front leg, and his front left leg in unison with the rear right leg. A trotting racehorse performs this gait at high speed. Some trotters wear trotting hopples, simple front leg loops, to aid in keeping the gait. Far more common on the racetrack than trotters, pacers move the legs on the same side of their bodies together: It's a lateral gait rather than a diagonal one.

Most pacers wear hopples on all four legs to help with gait maintenance. Occasionally, you might see a free-legged pacer, a horse racing without hopples. Many pacers trot naturally while turned out in a field; they can be trained to trot for second careers as riding horses.

The opposite isn't true -- trotters don't usually pace. McCoy and McCue are named as inventors on a pending patent application for the predictive model, which has been submitted by the University of Minnesota. PLoS Genet 15 5 : e The study, published under a Creative Commons License , can be read here. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Top 20 Trotters National Top 20 features harness racing stats for all the top horses, trainers, drivers, pacers, trotters, sires and broodmare sires in Australia. Add to your Blackbook. Save to Blackbook. Remove from Blackbook?