Ron Garretson ran the cutter races for 30 years and Garretson knows that not only does the driver of the team need to be on top of their game on race day, but the team of horses has to be ready to run as well.
According to Garretson, the type of horses a team runs depends on how serious the team takes the racing. The horses are the factor on how a team does at the races, and if a team is serious about competing they can spend a lot of money on horses.
If a team wants to just have a good time and not take the races so seriously, then any saddle or roping horse will do.
Garretson told the Sun that the best horses come from running bloodlines. These horses are direct decedents of thoroughbreds and racing quarter horses. The best horses are good quarter-mile sprinters and there is not much difference in the height and build of the two horses in the team.
Garretson has seen some mismatched horses on a team but not in the higher level of competitions.
“If we had a horse that we thought could run, why, we would put the harness on em’ and see how they do,” Garretson said.
Through the levels of competition, the better horses continue to win. A person that is interested in betting can look at how the teams did in the previous races and that is a pretty good indication of how they run. Garretson explained that there are local races then state races. If a team is good enough to qualify, then there are the world races in Ogden, Utah. Garretson drove a team in the World races and won, but it was for another team, not the team he owned.
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