THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 7, 1994 TAG: 9408050292
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 147 lines
ALMOST EVERY weekday morning, around 8:30, you can see Harry L. Curling Jr. going around in circles.
The lifelong farmer isn't wasting his time, though. He's putting his miniature racing horses - Loving Success and Todd's Lottatalk - through their paces on his own homemade quarter mile track facing Sign Pine Road in the heart of rural Chesapeake.
Even though Curling has his own oval track, like a true frugal farmer he doesn't waste this land he was born and raised on. The rounded ground-in dirt path is used for the ponies' daily workout while the inside oval has been cultivated for soybeans.
While farming takes up most of his time and brings in the revenue, Curling turns to his ponies for relaxation.
``I started racing these ponies about 30 years ago,'' Curling said as he wiped sweat off of his 2-year-old, Loving Success, after a spirited early morning practice run. ``Shoot! It's just a hobby I picked up from my father, Harry Curling Sr. It's just a hobby, that's all, like a boat to spend money on or when people go fishing.''
His hobby is harness racing, a sport in which a horse pulls a cart, called a racing bike or a sulky.
The cart is nothing more than a seat suspended between a harness and two large spoked wheels. But when Curling jogs his ponies every morning for practice he uses a smaller, lighter jog cart.
``Makes it easier for the horses on a day-to-day basis,'' he said in his quiet, understated manner.
Besides the carts they pull, pacers use a hobble around their legs. Curling said this special type of lower harness allows the pacers to keep up their gait and keep them at a steady pace. Other than that, his ponies use the standard equipment or tack used by other horses.
``Hobbles are only worn by pacers,'' he said. ``They wear them during practice and during races. That's when you need them the most to get a good speed out of them.''
Curling, along with his cousin Linwood Sawyer, nephew Travis Curling and friend Clarence White race their ponies at Buckhorn and Cobb's tracks in Suffolk, at Mount Jackson near Skyline Drive and at tracks in Delaware, New York, Maryland and Florida.
``I race 'em just about every weekend,'' he said. ``We always travel to the tracks together and split the expenses. My wife always travels with me, too. She helps me wash and dry down the ponies, helps me take care of 'em. It's hard to leave without her.''
Curling said most competitions are family affairs with racers bringing along family members, friends and children. He said most races are within four to five hours drive from his Chesapeake farm.
``People show up, set up lawn chairs, put down blankets, bring coolers and food to watch the races,'' he said. ``But it's really dropped off over the years. Used to be you could go to races with 50 to 60 ponies, now most races bring in an average of 20 ponies. Ain't too many young people getting into it. I guess it's too expensive.''
During the 30 years or so he's been racing, Curling has had his share of miniature pacers.
``They're half standard bred racing horses crossed with ponies,'' he said. ``They can only be 51 inches tall. That's the limit set by the International Trotting and Pacing Association. I've raised, bred and trained most of my horses myself.''
Curling said most pacer enthusiasts journey to Bloomsburg, Pa., every October, right after the end of the racing season, to the annual pacer pony sale. He said he's bought and sold a few ponies at that famous sale event, too.
Curling said he's trained and bred a number of winners. In fact, the two he races right now have earned quite a few awards.
Last weekend he raced both at a track in Georgetown, Del. Loving Success took two first-place wins. Todd's Lottatalk came away with three second-place finishes and one third place.
In fact, his prize pony, Loving Success, has already earned 22 first-place wins this year.
``My 2-year-old's doing mighty good,'' Curling said with a slight glint of pride in his eyes.
The winnings aren't quite in the same league as the Kentucky Derby or Preakness, but they add up.
``Most of the time a first-place purse is about $100,'' he said. ``But some can go as high as $750.''
But big money can be made by selling winning ponies or offering them for other services.
``You can get stud fees for some winning horses,'' he said. ``But they do sell right good, too. My nephew recently sold one to a man in Bermuda for $7,000.''
Curling said International Trotting and Pacing Association rules stipulate pacers must be at least 2 years old to be eligible to race. The horse has to be registered with the association before Jan. 1. Its office then issues eligibility papers allowing the pony to compete in sanctioned races that take place as far north as Canada and as far south as Florida.
Most races are run in two half-mile heats with a 30-minute rest between each heat. But when he puts them through their practice runs, Curling said he jogs (slow pace) them about four miles each day.
``Then, at the end of the jog you go as hard as you can go,'' he said, ``then you dry 'em off, cool 'em off and give them a rest.''
On one recent sunny summer morning Curling was busy putting Loving Success through its paces.
Todd's Lottatalk had already been through a practice run and was cooling off in a nearby stable. The regal-looking pony occasionally stomped its foot and reared its head, almost as if it were cheering his four-legged colleague on.
Curling sat up in the practice jog cart wearing an almost serene look as he guided Loving Success through a run.
``Racing ain't that hard,'' he said. ``It's all done with the reins and signals. Sometimes I cluck to 'em, or I say `Ho!', or I smack my lips or I pull the reins. It just comes to you, I reckon. Every horse is different.''
During his racing career, Curling said he's experienced only two or three nasty tumbles. It's all part of the sport, he said.
But the most rewarding thing about racing these ponies? The daily workouts, Curling said.
``You get away from everything,'' he said. ``You get your mind off of a lot of stuff. It's relaxing.'' MEMO: JUST THE FACTS
Harry Curling's ponies are harness racers but they're not trotters,
they're pacers.
According to the World Book Encyclopedia, ``a pace, like a trot, is a
gait used in harness racing. When a horse paces, it moves the legs on
the same side of the body at the same time.''
During a trot ``the front leg on one side of the body and the hind
leg on the other side hit the ground together.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photo on cover by STEVE EARLEY
Harry Curling works out with one of his pacers, Todd's Lottatalk,
around the quarter-mile race track on his farm on Sign Pine Road.
Staff photos by STEVE EARLEY
Harry L. Curling Jr. has raised, bred and trained miniature racing
horses for about 30 years.
At left, Loving Success leads the way for a workout on Harry
Curling's farm on Sign Pine Road.
Todd's Lottatalk, like all miniature pacers, can't exceed 51 inches
in height.
Below, 2-year-old Loving Success took two first-place wins last
weekend at a track in Delaware.
Harry Curling grows soybeans inside his quarter mile race track.
by CNB