THE WALK. 121 
THE WALK. 
THERE ARE TWO questions involved in this pace which have led to dis- 
cussions without end. /%rstly, there is that connected with the order of 
sequence in which the feet are moved. Secondly, that relating to the part 
of the foot which first touches the ground. Of each of these, therefore, 
I must enter into a particular description. 
IN EXAMINING THE ORDER OF SEQUENCE in which the feet are taken off 
the ground, it appears to me that a very simple matter has been converted 
into a complicated one. No one with a grain of observation can dispute 
that all the four legs in this pace move separately, and not, as in the trot 
and amble, by twos of opposite or the same sides. Solleysell, however, 
says that “in a walk the horse lifts the near fore leg and far hind leg 
together,’ and Percivall, in quoting this passage, calls him “this true 
observer of Nature ;” but, nevertheless, the latter author goes on to 
disprove the correctness of the very passage he has just quoted, though 
he does not seem very clear upon the subject. His description is as 
follows :—“ At the mandate of the will to move forward, the fore leg is 
first put in motion, the order of succession in the walk appearing to be 
this :—supposing the right or off fore leg to move first, that is no sooner 
carried off the ground than the left or near hind foot is raised, the former 
heing placed upon the ground prior to the latter. The two remaining feet 
move in respect to each other, in the same order of time, the left or near 
fore after the off hind, the right or off hind after the near fore ; it being 
observable that as each hind foot follows in the line of movement of its 
corresponding fore foot, the latter would very often get struck by the 
former, did it not quit its place immediately prior to the other being 
placed upon, partly or entirely, the same ground.” Can anything be more 
confused than this jumble of words, which is solely so because it is desired 
to make the horse begin with a fore foot in preference to a hind one. 
Any one who examines the action of the feet of one side only will have no 
difficulty in perceiving that the hind foot is raised from the ground and 
moved forward for half its stride before the fore foot is disturbed, the 
same order being observed on the other side in succession. Hence, if the 
horse is started from the standing position with all the feet on the ground, 
it follows that he must begin with a hind foot, because with whichever of 
the sides he starts he lifts the hind foot half a pace before the fore foot, as 
is admitted by Percivall himself, for he says, “the latter (fore foot) would 
often get struck by the former (hind foot) did it not quit its place imme- 
diately prior to the other being placed upon, partly or entirely, the same 
ground,” It is very difficult to convey a correct idea of this fact by 
illustration, because the eye has become accustomed to the erroneous view 
which is conventionally received by artists. However, with the assist- 
.ance of Mr. Zwecker. who has himself studied the subject carefully, I am 
enabled to present the following engraving, which, though apparently 
awkward and ungraceful, is literally correct. Here the near hind foot (1) 
is just about to be placed on the ground, on the spot which the near fore 
foot (2) has just left. The off hind foot (3) will follow next in succession, 
and lastly the off fore foot (4) will complete the cadence. But if each 
fore foot leaves the ground just as the corresponding hind foot is finishing 
its stride, it follows as a matter of necessity, if the action is carried on 
throughout in the same way, that in starting from a point of rest the hind 
foot of one side or other is the one to begin the walk. Next follows the 
