Kidz Kartz is a great way to introduce children to harness racing. Photo / Thinkstock
Kidz Kartz is something my family and I look forward to seeing more of in the New Year - and knowing adventurous Miss Three, I'll venture to add something we may later become more involved with.
Put simply, Kidz Kartz is harness racing for children aged 6-16 although only those
aged 10 and older can participate in competitive races at licensed racing tracks. They use miniature horses and ponies up to 13 hands high that, like their bigger counterparts, are harnessed to a sulky to race on a trotting track. Race lengths vary starting with 400m for the smallest ponies, 600m for those of average size and 800m for bigger ponies.
Sure, they look adorable but it's becoming a serious sport with around 300 young New Zealanders taking an active interest. Indeed, those wanting to get out on to a race track must complete a three-day course to get a license.
Junior harness racing, popular in Australia, North America and Europe, was introduced to New Zealand in 2003 by Kumeu's Deneece Goldsworthy. Deneece heard about it from a fellow trotting enthusiast who, recently returned from Europe, kept saying someone should introduce harness racing for children to New Zealand.
"I started looking into it and thought the same way but it took about 18 months to get everything up and running," she says. "In the end, we thought, 'if we're going to do this, we just have to do it' so we arranged through the Auckland Trotting Club to have a race at Alexander Park Raceway and we were off!"
