Passage 5.9.2
ἦν δὲ ἡ μὲν θήλεια ἵππος, καὶ ἀπʼ αὐτῶν ἀποπηδῶντες ἐπὶ τῷ ἐσχάτῳ δρόμῳ συνέθεον οἱ ἀναβάται ταῖς ἵπποις εἰλημμένοι τῶν χαλινῶν, καθὰ καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἔτι οἱ ἀναβάται καλούμενοι· διάφορα δὲ τοῖς ἀναβάταις ἐς τῆς κάλπης τὸν δρόμον τά τε σημεῖά ἐστι καὶ ἄρσενές σφισιν ὄντες οἱ ἵπποι. ἀπήνῃ δὲ οὔτε τῷ ἀνευρήματι οὐδὲν ἀρχαῖον οὔτε εὐπρέπεια αὐτῇ προσῆν, ἐπάρατόν τε Ἠλείοις ἐκ παλαιοῦ καὶ ἀρχὴν γενέσθαι σφίσιν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ τὸ ζῷον· ἦν γὰρ δὴ ἀπήνη κατὰ τὴν συνωρίδα ἡμιόνους ἀντὶ ἵππων ἔχουσα.
The horse used was a mare, and at the very end of the race the riders would leap down from their horses, continuing the race on foot, still holding the bridles—just as even in my own time competitors known as "anabatai" ("riders") still do. However, the "kalpe" race differs from the riders’ race both in terms of the turning points and because the horses used in the kalpe are stallions rather than mares. The mule-cart race, on the other hand, was neither ancient as an invention nor did it possess dignity; furthermore, from ancient times the Eleans considered the animal itself to have been a curse originating in their land. Indeed, this mule-cart was similar to the chariot race, but it employed pairs of mules instead of horses.