Harness (horse) racing could be the most exciting track racing sport i've ever heard of

Over a month ago I met this teenager online, and it’s such a pleasant thing to discover new things in life. He is a harness racing champion.
That is a sport that involves horse pulling a 2-wheeled carriage behind them. The rider sits on a small seats on the carriage, holding the harness and riding the horse.
The most exciting thing about this is, you are sitting on the back, the dust flying past you, you can feel the vibration from the wheel course through the whole race and hear the sound of the horse panting with rhythm.
I feel that to have seated behind the wheel on in this case on the wheel running on 70 miles per hour on a sand course with a fantastic horse power in front of you and your only control of the whole situation is 2 thin line you are holding. Just thinking about all the possibility and the danger and the control and at last winning can give you a thrill
Now below is the brief conversation I have with the champion. The teenager that inspire this small article.


Jonathan
so how much work is there actually to take care of a horse
?

Bobby
so much you cannot take a day off

your day starts about 7am when you feed them breakfast, wait for them to eat, then you gotta clean their stalls, train them

you should be done around 4 or 5pm thats when you feed for the night

Jonathan
how many times you gotta feed them in a day?
twice or like human 3?

Bobby
breakfast in the morning and supper at night, but during the day you might just throw them some hay to have a snack on

Jonathan
what's kinda snack do they like?
apple, carrot?

Jonathan
i suppose you have to brush them daily. do you bath them like everyday?

Bobby
yeah brush and bath everyday

Jonathan
so is it different to train a horse for ride races and harness races?

Bobby
yeah its really different

jonathan
how is it different?

Bobby
well all the gear is different. the tracks are different lengths.

Jonathan
i see. when you start you have to train them to get familiarize with carriage too?

Bobby
well the bike is called a sulky and we do that when they are 1 or 2 years old, and that process is called breaking babies and it takes alot of patience and smart decisions and gotta know what you are doing

Jonathan
the breaking. does it also include breaking them into familiarise with the rider?
you ever tame a wild horse?
that's also called breaking right?

Bobby
yup it does sometimes, its mostly to get the horse used to his or her equipment, the bike, the driver , the track and his surroundings

yes i have

and yup it is

Jonathan
is.
i c
so what about you. the rider. what kinda training to need to do?

Bobby
well as a driver we get our experience from just working with the horse knowing what to do when something happens, and take tips when older horsemen

Jonathan
every horse have different habit when they run?

Bobby
well as a driver we get our experience from just working with the horse knowing what to do when something happens, and take tips when older horsemen

Jonathan
how long is a track? and how fast exactly do you run on average?

Bobby
well as a driver we get our experience from just working with the horse knowing what to do when something happens, and take tips when older horsemen
tracks are either one mile long or a half mile when a track is a half mile you must race two laps to achive the mile

Bobby
usually about 40 mph

Jonathan
that's fast

Bobby
oh yea haha

Jonathan
pretty hard to balance when you turn
you ever topple?

Bobby
as in fall off?

Jonathan
yup

Bobby
actually no i have been lucky enough to never been in a accident

Jonathan
you ever won any race?

Bobby
yeah actually the pic in my profile there is my first race win

Jonathan
really, look really good there. nice form

Bobby
haha thank you

Jonathan
where are you now?

i mean where are you from?

Bobby

Toronto, ont

There you have it. The interview with a young harness racing champion.