Tracks and Motion of the Feet 



other pair, so also in the pace there is a distance of opposite pair of 

 feet as indicated by the brackets in Fig. I2A. 



And again, as in the trot, these distances between the pairs of 

 lateral feet, or the extension on one side and on the other, should be 

 equal ; but we shall see later on that in either gait the extension on 

 one side may exceed that on the other a little, because of the habit of 

 horses to relieve themselves under great exertion by placing one foot 

 ahead of the other. We shall also find that .generally in the pace the 

 fore feet are apt to spread farther apart than the hind and the ten- 

 dency of the lines of motion is given in Fig. 13. The line pace, how- 

 ever, constitutes the standard to judge by. 



We can, therefore, assert that the two distances between the corre- 

 lated feet on both sides should be the same in both the trot and the 



M 



mr 



Fio. 



TTT) 



13 



N 



pace. We also have seen that there is a possible interference of hind 

 with fore as the pairs of correlated feet pass each other in midair, and 

 that, inasmuch as any curves in the locomotion of either gait tend to 

 loss of time and energy, there is a line trot as well as a line pace as the 

 most economic form of propulsion as far as time and energy is con- 

 cerned. Judged by these standards of gait, any locomotion deviating 

 largely from them is faulty because it produces a certain amount of 

 "lost motion," or motion to the sides, with all the dangers of interfer- 

 ence. 



Such must be the standards, but where faulty action accordingly 

 exists there may be some compensations that offset these faults. On 

 the whole, nature has a wonderful way of making amends for de- 

 ficiencies in her creations of the animal as well as the human family. 



