Harness horse racing is a sport that has been around longer than anyone on this earth has lived. Many great horses has come and go, but there’s one that almost everyone knows. It’s one of the most dangerous sports that has ever lived, because many crashes have occurred and many more will happen in the near future. This is a sport that has had all kinds of different families. These families are taking huge risks and sometimes even putting their whole family in some sort of a scare. They take a lot of chances on which horse to buy and worrying what race they will crash in. My family has been in it for over fifty years now and one night, my whole life almost changed.

Harness horse racing was the number one sport in America in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Dan Patch is one of the most famous and well known horse around the world. He was born on April 29, 1896, in Oxford, Indiana. It is said that he showed a lot of potential in his first year of life. Over the next three years, he gotten to be so good, that the owner decided to sell Dan Patch to a man who lived in Hamilton, Minnesota. Named after the new owner, the town was later called Savage.

It’s in the records that Dan Patch had never lost a race in his lifetime. He also had broken his own records fourteen times; for instance, he ran the fastest mile in one minute, fifty-five seconds. Dan Patch was the first horse to run the mile in less than a minute. That record was later broken thirty-two years after it was set.
When my grandpa was growing up, one of his greatest memories is going to the fair on the fourth of July, to watch harness horse racing with his dad and brothers. When he was finally old enough to get his own horse, he didn’t look back. His very first horse that he owned to get into this crazy business, was named Tennessee Myrtle. This horse wasn’t a Dan Patch but it was a good start. After so many years of racing and meeting so many great people, he finally caught a break and had his first most winning horse named DJ Speedy Fox.

After my grandpa had been in this business for a couple of years he had his first child, who is my dad. My dad has grown up racing horses and getting them ready before a race. He had also learned how to train and jog one. One of his best memories was when my grandma was eight months pregnant with my uncle. She was jogging a horse and it had gotten spooked by something. When something spooks a horse, it gets out of control and that’s what this horse did. My grandma was so scared that she started to scream, which makes horses even more scared. The horse started to run around the track 100 miles per hour. They finally slowed the horse down and eventually everything was okay.

Finally, my brothers and I had been born. I remember going to different fairs around the country. When my little brother was born, he wasn’t even a month old and we went down to Kentucky and watch our dad and grandpa kick butt. Another thing that will always stick with me is before every race, my brothers and I would always knock on the helmets for good luck, it always worked. But one night, my life almost turned upside down.

On April 8, 2008, my worst nightmare had happened. It was the first week of a new track that had been opened. It started out like any regular night. First, we went to the barns to see the horses and to say good luck to my grandpa. Then we went up to the “stadium” to wait for the races to start. When my grandpa’s race was finally happening we all got up to go outside. The race has started and all we could do is hope that he wins. Around the last turn of the race, an accident had occurred. My grandpa had been run over with some of the buggies who were behind him and been stepped on by a horse. When the ambulance finally arrived and brought him to the hospital, I thought that I had already lost him. My mom had brought me and my brothers to the hospital and we sat there for what felt like forever. When he was okay and ready to have people come in, I truly didn’t believe that he was going to remember me. But he did and he has been with us ever since.

Harness horse racing is one of the most dangerous sports on this planet. Even though Dan Patch didn’t have a huge accident, he is still one of the most known horses. Growing up in this crazy business has been a rollercoaster especially when my grandpa had his accident. It was the most scary thing that has ever happened to me. I will never forget it and hope and pray everyday that it will never happen again.