It's sudden and predictable. Horses know and drivers sense it. The very second the gates open, the race is on . . . dirt flying, ground shaking, wheels spinning, hearts pounding, hooves flashing and crowds cheering.
This is chariot racing - two horses and one cart, two to four teams, all headed for the finish line down the track. Horses reaching out in giant strides for firm ground, never once missing cadence, and drivers pushing for more.It is, spectators and participants agree, something that gets into the blood, like a craving for chocolate.
It is, too, a sport maturing with time.
The first chariots, heavy, four-wheel designs, were introduced around 3000 B.C. Newer models - two wheels, light weight, high dashboard - with two-, four- and six-horse teams, became a feature attraction in early Olympic Games. Whole cities celebrated when a team won, and were downcast when it lost.
That part, at least, hasn't changed.
"There's not a better feeling in the world than winning," says Vic Adams, a team owner and former driver from Ogden, "and nothing makes you feel lower than losing."
Locally, chariot racing (called cutters when skis replace wheels for snowy tracks) took seed in the late 1950s. Horse owners, says Adams, made chariots, sometimes out of old oil drums sawed in half, placed them on old car wheels and hooked up any old team of horses.
Early starts were called "Lap and Tap." Two teams would turn, come together and somewhere within a 100-foot strip, get the signal to race. Years later, starting gates were built to hold up to four teams.
Now, teams pull around, slip into the gates, wait for the gates to move and race. That, says Bill Hodson of Ogden, a starter for 42 years, is the most exciting part of the race.
There was concern in the beginning that the thick leather straps wouldn't hold under the pressure of an instant start of two-horse power from behind a gate, so new ones are made of nylon.
Adams notes that as interest grew, so did the quality of horses. Now, chariot or cutter horses are among the finest there are. A single horse can cost as much as $5,000 to $10,000.
Some horses are being trained to the chariot before graduating to the race track . . . "It's good training," he says.
Most of the horses used in chariot racing are quarter horses. Their characteristics are that they start fast and run fast for short distances, which in this case is 440-yards.
Training can begin when a horse is about a year and a half old. Once broken to the harness, Adams says the youngster is teamed up with an older, stronger, slower work horse.
"This," he says, "teaches the younger horse to work as a team and pull as a team. It can't push the old work horse around too easily. It teaches the younger horse it can't run away."
Even then, picking a team isn't easy. Running horses aren't always compatible. Some horses run better on the right or left side of the harness and some run better without a friend.
And, a good team wins . . . usually something for the bookshelf or mantel, and a picture from the winner's circle.
Once trained for the track, conditioning begins about 90 days before race season (November through March). This, too, is a time when eating habits change. Grain becomes the daily main course.
When the season begins, always the first Saturday after Thanksgiving, horses and drivers are ready.
Drivers are also changing some. Owners used to do all the driving. Now there are designated drivers - slim, trim and skilled. It helps, too, to be a lightweight. Minimum allowable weight for harness, chariot and driver is 275 pounds. Chariots weigh around 70 pounds and harnesses a little over 30. Often, now, drivers don't bring the pounds up to minimum and so extra weight is added.
Adams says it costs him between $500 and $700 a season to run a team.
The goal at the end of the season is to win the Utah Championships and gain an invitation to the World Championships. This is where the top five teams from 26 divisions around the western U.S. will meet.
The Utah finals have concluded. Winning teams have their invitations to the World finals at the Golden Spike Arena Fair Grounds on the north end of Ogden, March 18-19 and 24-26. Races will begin at 12:30 p.m. daily.
It is here that the very fastest team will prance into the winner's circle for the grand picture and trophy.