What is a Sulky?

Our Sulky Harness Racing Statue makes an eye catching award or gift. The bronze colored statuette captures the fluid movement of a pacing horse as the wind blows back the horse’s mane. The statue’s ebony base (12.5”) provides ample space for our engraving plate. Our talented graphic artists will place up to 2 lines of text on the plate, and all engraving is included in the price of the gift.

This extremely life-like sulky statue depicts the three distinguishing characteristics of harness racing which make this form of horse racing different than other forms: the two-wheeled sulky, the driver with his whip, and the Standardbred, short-legged pacing horse that is typically used in harness racing.

What exactly is a sulky? Dictionary.com defines a “sulky” as “a light, two-wheeled, one-horse carriage for one person.” In harness racing, according to Sallie Walrond, author of the book “The Encyclopedia of Driving”, the carriages behind the horses are called “sulkies” because the drivers must prefer to be alone as if the drivers were sullen or gloomy.

 

Sulkies (sometimes called bikes due to their wheels) are typically divided into two types for harness racing. Jog carts are used for training the horse, and they usually have larger seats and tend to have heavy wooden/steel frames. Two long poles attach the sulky to a harness around the neck and shoulders of the horse. Racing “bikes” are much more aerodynamic with a small seat and stirrups for the driver. They typically are aluminum, carbon fiber, or some other lightweight material. The sulky in our statue has the thin tires and sleek frame of a racing bike.

A second distinguishing feature of this sport is the term “driver” not “jockey” for the person in control of the horse. Drivers must be athletic to stay firmly in the seat, and they must be smart about when to signal the horse to speed up. Harness racing requires strategy and skill to win. The driver may use a whip during a race, as our statue shows; however, the driver normally strikes the sulky shaft to signal the horse.

Finally, our statuette displays a Standardbred horse using a pacing gait. Standardbreds will run a harness race using one of two gaits: a trot or a pace. A trot is defined as when the horses’ legs move in diagonal pairs; when the right foreleg moves forward, so does the left hind leg, and vice versa. On the other hand, a pace is a two-beat lateral gait; pacers’ forelegs move in unison with the hind legs on the same side. If the horse breaks the assigned gait for the race, they are disqualified.

Now that you’ve learned about what exactly a sulky is, let us show you another example of our Sulky Trophies! Like the RFB031 Sulky Statue, this RF3101SG Harness Racing Sulky Trophy features a resin statue of a horse & jockey, but this time it’s in a silver & gold look. It’s mounted on a dark wood base that includes an engraving plate for personalization. It’s 12″ long, 8″ tall, weighs 3.5 lbs. & includes free engraving!

Horses are charming animals and watching them race can not only be exhilarating, but also a thing of beauty to watch. If you’re a horse lover then before you go we can’t pass up the opportunity to let you briefly know about our complete selection of horse statues that we have to offer. Not only are there race horse statues, but also more specific types of horses such as the Tennessee Walking Horse, Lipizzaner & Stallion. There’s also close up & detailed horse head statues that are made not only with the bronze resin, but also crystal as well. As you can see, we have many options for the horse aficionado in your life, so be sure to stop by that page before you leave!