1 6 Gait of the American Trotter and Pacer 



She counterbalances a weak structure by a correspondingly larger de- 

 velopment elsewhere. In other words, we may find a compensation or 

 an offset in hind gait for whatever may be out of the ordinary with 

 the fore action, and vice versa. 



A phenomenon like Lou Dillon can give free play and action to 

 her hind legs by a peculiar habit of crossing over with fore. At first 

 this seems excessive and impossible, but her wonderful speed is that 

 of a phenomenon. Later on we shall analyze her peculiar gait. Other 

 great trotters may have similar habits of motion ; but we cannot judge 

 the good ordinary trotter by a phenomenon, and it is best to take the 

 locomotion of the majority of trotters as a standard form in estab- 

 lishing the faults and shortcomings of gait. Speed is born with some 

 horses; it is like genius everything else adjusts itself to that gift 

 That wonderful capacity to trot extremely fast with a frictionless gait 

 evolves from the brain of the horse from early youth, and somehow 

 the motion seems perfect, even though it should prove to be only a 

 matter of compensations in the movements of legs. By compensation 

 is meant that balance of development which counteracts weakness here 

 by strength there in the make-up of the horse and in his motion. We 

 find, for instance, a horse with very high action in front and low action 

 behind, and yet he trots fast and true. The eye is not pleased, our 

 sense of symmetry is sadly jarred and our task of balancing a trotter 

 of that kind is truly great at times ; and yet we learn to accommo- 

 date shoeing to that mode of action and will find it nearly impossible 

 to equalize the action and to make it conform to that standard or ideal 

 motion, where there is the least difference between the elevation of 

 fore and hind and where the speed is attained without undue exertion. 

 The test of measuring the extensions and computing the averages 

 and variations in other words, the analysis of such an apparently- 

 unequal action will reveal the fact that the symmetry of extension is 

 good and that the feet land squarely on the ground. 



This brings us to the ordinary way of judging the trotter's action 

 by the eye, or by the side view while in motion. 



The human eye has always claimed great accuracy of observation 

 concerning things in motion, but photography has shown how unre- 



