348 ACTION, HANDINESS, AND CLEVERNESS. 



The hind legs should be swung freely to the front, so that 

 they will considerably overstride the imprints made by 

 the fore feet. View^ed from behind, as well as from the 

 front, the near and off pair of legs should respectively 

 move in the same line, so that there may be no " dishing," 

 or crossing of the legs. The hocks should have no in-and- 

 out movement, as may be sometimes seen, and had better 

 work rather close together than wide. Any tendency to 

 stumble or knuckle-over behind is a serious fault, unless 

 it be solely due to bad shoeing. If the horse be given a 

 long rein, when he is being ridden, he should carry his 

 head rather low and well advanced, and should be able to 

 walk at a rate of about five miles an hour. 



The Trot. — At the fast trot, the fore leg should be 

 brought to the front with a straight knee, the foot 

 appearing as if suspended for a brief moment (Fig. 409) 

 before being placed down. Even in match-trotting, the 

 knee should not be raised higher than what would be 

 sufficient to make the fore-arm horizontal (Fig. 410), 

 or not quite so much. The hind legs should be carried 

 well forward, and should work in perfect unison with the 

 fore hmbs (Fig. 411). Nothing looks worse than to see a 

 horse trotting high in front, and dragging his hind legs 

 along the ground. As I have already remarked, with 

 reference to the walk, there should be no " dishing " or 

 crossing of the legs, so that, when viewed from behind, a 

 clear space will be preserved between the near pair and 

 the off pair of legs. The term, " dishing " with a fore leg, 

 means that the horse turns the foot outwards when he 

 raises it off the ground. In the trot, the head should be 

 carried much higher than in the walk ; as the limb has to 

 be raised to a greater extent. Fig. 412 shows the " ex- 

 travagant " action which is greatly prized by admirers of 

 fashionable harness horses. 



The Gallop. — In order that the animal may utilise to the 

 utmost his forward reach in the gallop, the knee of the 

 leading fore leg should be kept as straight as possible, while 



