34 ZOOPRAXOGRAPHY 



movements are repeated by the other pair of diagonals, 

 and the stride is then complete. 



If the stride of a trotting horse is divided into two 

 portions, representing the comparative distances trav- 

 ersed by the aggregate of the body while the feet are 

 in contact with, and while they are entirely clear of, 

 the ground, the relative measurements will be found 

 to vary very greatly, they being contingent upon length 

 of limb, weight, speed, and other circumstances. 



Heavily built horses will sometimes merely drag 

 the feet just above the surface, but, in every instance 

 of a trot, the weight of the body is really unsupported 

 twice during each stride. It sometimes happens that 

 a fast trotter, during the four steps of a stride, will 

 have all his feet clear of the ground for a distance ex- 

 ceeding one- half of the length of the entire stride. 

 Upon landing, a fore foot almost always precedes its 

 diagonal hind. 



It will be observed in the illustrations that while 

 durino^ the fast trot the fore feet are lifted so hi^h that 

 they frequently strike the breast, the hind feet are 

 raised but little above the surface of the ground. The 

 trot is common to all the single-toed and to nearly 

 all the cloven-footed and soft-footed animals. It has, 

 however, not been recorded as being adopted by the 

 elephant, the camel, or the giraffe. 



THE RACK. 



The rack, sometimes miscalled the ''pace," is a 

 method of quadrupedal locomotion in which two lateral 

 feet with nearly synchronous action are placed upon 

 and lifted from the ground alternately with the other 



