4 Gait of the American Trotter and Pacer 



have either ten or twenty strides on record. It is not one individual 

 stride that will show any deficiency, but it is rather the averages of the 

 various distances between the tracks that can give us a truthful ac- 

 count of a certain manner of gait. 



First, there is the stride, or the distance between the two contacts 

 at the toe of one and the same foot. Then there is the distance be- 

 tween the two feet that move together. This should be the same for 

 both sides in a square gait. Again, there is the distance between one 

 fore foot and the opposite one, or between one hind and its opposite 

 mate. In a square gait these also are alike or nearly so. Sometimes 

 a horse has a habit to extend one foot ahead of the other, in which 

 case the hind that moves with that fore will also extend ahead of its 

 mate. The distances thus measured will give us, by means of aver- 

 ages, a more trustworthy account of the manner of propulsion than 

 the eye can possibly detect. 



The tape line used should be 100 ft. long and should be divided 

 into 10 parts to the foot instead of 12 parts. This will facilitate 

 figuring. A stride of 15 ft. and 3 inches, or 15% ft.., will therefore ap- 

 pear as 15.25 ft. This enables us to add, subtract, multiply and 

 divide as we do with dollars and cents, which avoids all the trouble 

 incident to the figuring in inches. Of course, the tape line will have to 

 be staked a number of times to include 20 strides. The measurements 

 should be put down in a continuous form in a notebook and the 

 figuring done later ; or it may be done on the spot as the various feet 

 are taken. The latter way, however, takes too long on the ground and 

 is more difficult. In the trot the start is made from the toe of near 

 fore foot, in the pace from the toe of the near hind foot. The toe is 

 the beginning and end of each distance so marked. A little systematic 

 arrangement of the continuous measurements will soon bring the mat- 

 ter clearly before one's mind. Reference is again made to the tenth 

 chapter, where a general outline is given. The reader may prefer to 

 find out for himself what is meant by such measurements and how 

 they are obtained before he is willing or able to follow the discussions 

 in the intervening chapters. I believe, however, that the subject is not 

 so difficult for anyone who has at all applied himself to the study of 



