by Bob Carson

Editor’s Note: The USTA Web site is pleased to present freelance writer Bob Carson and his popular “Outside the Box” features. This monthly series is a menu of outlandish proposals presented with a wink — but the purpose behind them is serious. The views contained in this column are that of the author alone, and do not necessarily represent the opinions or views of the United States Trotting Association.

Bob Carson

While working in a stressful and demanding job I found an oasis for decompression and exercise. For five years, every weekend I drove to my local training center early Saturday morning and “fooled around” with a few harness horses. First I would stop at the track kitchen to load up on a hearty breakfast and backstretch gossip, and then it was just the horses and me.

What great mornings. Turning on the radio in the barn, mucking stalls, harnessing a horse, jogging, removing and cleaning tack, bathing and cooling out the horse, laying a tidy stall, even sweeping up became the apex of my week. I headed home with muscles slightly aching and a smile on my face following my mornings with the horses.

Although these were technically “race” horses, thoughts of winning races rarely entered my mind. These were possibly the slowest horses on the grounds, but they were champs to me; beautiful, mysterious and occasionally frustrating. I would (and did) gladly pay for the privilege of the experience of spending time in their company.

Some Information

A secret revolution is taking place. The sporting world is changing. Despite the skewed image presented by television, the American public is shifting from watching sports to doing sports. A list of the fastest growing and most economically fruitful sports will surprise many — kayaking, backpacking, archery, skateboarding, bow and arrow hunting. Marketers and sociologists realize what propels these activities; the rising sports are non-competitive, solitary, nature oriented and somewhat exotic. The old standbys are falling out of favor. Niche, participatory sports are cycling in (speaking of cycling, mountain biking is one of the fastest growing sports in the U.S.).

Autumn Ryan graphic

Non-competitive sports are relentlessly replacing sports with a finish line or a payoff. To many people weaned in the era of football, soccer and baseball this appears unthinkable. But consider this — in the past decade, students of sports participation report that among the fastest growing seven sports (skateboarding, kayaking, snowboarding, archery, mountain biking, backpacking and wilderness camping) not a single one is competitive. The growth sports of today are steeped in personal intensity and inner strength. The new breed of sports are no longer communal, they are personal (note: not a single one of the fastest growing sports requires a teammate, governing body or rulebook).

As a commercial venture (and do not deceive yourself, money plays a part in these trends) you are better off selling mountain bikes and advertising in the plethora of bicycle magazines, internet sites and television shows than you are selling basketballs or tennis racquets.

Finding a strong, intense niche is marketing gold. For instance, take bow and arrow sports — seven million people shoot at targets (archery) and another seven million shoot at game (bow and arrow hunting). That’s 14 million people who need equipment, travel information, reading material and other products. There will also be dozens of cottage industries that surround these “niche” sports.

The sentence that summarizes this essay may read like an oxymoron.

“We will be well advised to take some of the “race” out of harness racing.”

A Question

Does harness horse racing fit the modern sporting business model?

I looked up the current top ten participatory sports in America. I have sampled every one. To my (granted, somewhat warped) mind, esthetically, emotionally, intellectually and physically — my mornings “fooling around” with harness horses made me the happiest.

The most difficult transition to a more casual niche of harness horse participation would seem to be getting past the pari-mutuel mindset of harness racing as a business. This may not be as difficult as it seems as noncompetitive harness race participation does not require detonation of harness racing as we know it. Our hundred year old version of harness racing can continue without interruption.

Recreational harness racing, let’s call it “harness sporting,” can operate as a supporting cousin. Exactly what form the new niche of harness sporting would take is unpredictable. As in many sports, like kayaking, the niches develop their own niches; kayak aficionados may skim across rivers, ponds, oceans, bays, and streams. They may join clubs, regattas, chat groups, etc. — they can splinter into a hundred sub groups.

What will the “harness horse sporting” fan look like? Obviously some will want to race — even if it is not for (wink, wink) money. Some may prefer courses through woods; some may trot longer distances; some in caravans; or some harness horse participants may strive to make simple, easy specific time markers. Some may merely continue to go in circles. Who knows? But new people falling in love with these beautiful animals will be harnessing up and purchasing tack, food and supplies. Right out of the starting gate recreational “harness sporting” would open the doors to the majority of the states that do not have harness horses.

The Billings Series is great, but this niche is somewhat handicapped by the need to stay on the pari-mutuel racetrack and is not really a niche as much as amateur harness racing where the goal is to race a mile and do well.

We need to think bigger. We need to think nationally. We need to think non-competitively. For modern Americans hungry for a new niche we have a lot to offer. Harness horses fill all the intangibles that appeal to a new sports crowd — outdoors, often solitary, and environmentally friendly. Should modern sporting people discover the joy of hooking a horse in the early morning sun, we will not be able to build barns fast enough.