Jerry Owen, age 13, of DeKalb, I11., for his question:
WHEN WAS THE FIRST STEEPLECHASE HELD?
A steeplechase horse race today is performed on a turf course furnished with artificial ditches, hedges and other obstacles over which the horses must jump. Steeplechasing developed from the sport of racing hunting horses across country. The first races were held in Great Britain in the early 1600s.
How did steeplechasing receive its name? Early riders used convenient markers such as church steeples as guides for the race course.
Horse racing most likely started about the same time that man first domesticated horses. Early matches were usually between two horses and the owners were often the jockeys. Early races were of short distances because faster horses could not run too far.
It was in the 1100s that some Englishmen discovered that Arabian and Moroccan horses could run very fast. Many wealthy owners started importing these horses into Great Britain. They used them for racing and also for breeding other fast horses.
The world’s first race track was built in London in about 1170.
Thoroughbred horse racing became popular in the United States just after the Civil War. And by 1900, it had developed into an extremely popular spectator sport.
One of America’s most famous race tracks is located at Saratoga Springs, New York. It was first opened in 1863.
America’s most famous horse race today is the Kentucky Derby which is run in Louisville, Ky. The first Kentucky Derby was run in 1875.
The British classic races are even older than the Kentucky Derby. They were started between 1776 and 1814.
Today horse racing is often called the sport of kings. The reason for this is that at one time, only noble men took part in the sport.
Today most horse races take place on flat, oval tracks that are made of sand, topsoil and clay. But sometimes, as in the case of steeplechases and other races, the horses run on grass.
Most tracks are one mile or one mile and one eighth around. The distance of a race is measured in furlongs. A furlong equals one eighth of a mile. Most races cover distances of from two to 16 furlongs.
Hurdling is a branch of steeplechasing in which the horses jump over small fences that are called hurdles.
In point to point races, the horses jump over obstacles set up on temporary courses across farming land.
In harness racing, horses pull their drivers in light two wheeled carts called sulkies. There are two kinds of harness horses: pacers and trotters. A pacer moves its right front and right hind legs forward at the same time, then its left legs. A trotter moves its right front and left hind legs forward together, and then its two other legs.