4)9 



THE HORSE. 



legs on the ssme siffe of the body raised at once, the other two being firm 

 upt)n the ground — a position which horses of the present day never assume 

 while trotting. 



In the case of these relievos, it is true that there are only four horses, 

 out of more than two hundred, which are in the action of trotting, all the 

 others being represented in a canter or gallop ; and only two of these four 

 are entirely in the foreground, and distinct from the other figures. It 

 would not be safe, therefore, to draw too general a conclusion from this 

 example alone; but we have another very decided proof of the remark that 

 we have already made, in the case of the four horses of the church of St. 

 Marc at Venice. 



Whether this was then the mode of trotting or not, it is certain that it is 

 never seen to occur in nature in the present day ; and indeed it appears 

 quite inconsistent with the necessary balancing of the body, and was, there- 

 fore, more probably an error of the artist. 



It perhaps may have been found difiicult or troublesome to watch the 

 movement of a horse's legs ; but a very little practice will enable anybody 

 to verify what we are about to state : by keeping near the side of a horse 

 that is walking, it will be easily seen that, immediately after the raising of 

 either of the hind legs from the ground, the fore leg of the corresponding 

 side is also raised, so that the latter leaves the ground just before the for- 

 mer touches it. If the fore legs be then watched, it will be seen that, 

 immediately after the movement of either of these, the hind leg upon the 

 opposite side is put in action, so that the order of succession appears to b« 

 in walking, as numbered in Jig. 3. 



If the horse be now examined from a short distance, it will be seen that, 

 when he is walking freely, the successive movements of the legs are at 

 equal intervals of time, '.nd that the muscular force of one limb only is 

 brought into action at t'.te same moment. But if a horse, which is drag- 

 ging a load with some considerable exertion, be watched, it will be seen 

 that he then acts longer upon his legs, and allows a less interval of time 

 for raising and advancing them ; and at the same time, the regularity of 

 the movement is generally destroyed ; the limbs on the same side gener- 

 ally being moved more simultaneously, or at nearer intervals of time 

 than those at the opposite corners: thus, the muscular forces of two limbs 

 are always acting together, the movement of the whole body is less con- 

 tinued and uniform than in the former case ; but each impulse is more 

 powerful, and a resistance, which would be too great for the muscles of 



