26 Gait of the American Trotter and Pacer 



action should always take into consideration the movements of the hind 

 legs as well. Horses move in all sorts of ways, it is true, and have 

 speed, but many would not come up to the standard when speed and 

 quality of gait are to be transmitted to their next generation without a 

 step backward in their development. There are many freaks and many 

 queer examples of compensations for deficiencies, but all of these are 

 not proper factors for the greater evolution of the trotter and the 

 pacer. We must have ideals regarding their gait as well as their speed. 

 Mere speed can not, and in time will not, be the only criterion of their 

 fitness as progenitors. 



By kind permission of the publishers I offer my own outlines of 

 pictures taken by E. J. Muybridge thirty years ago, as found in that 

 excellent work "The Horse in Motion," by Dr. J. D. B. Stillman, pub- 

 lished many years ago by Ticknor & Co. of Boston. The publishers 

 have still a few copies on hand and it is a pity to think that all plates 

 have been destroyed and the work is out of print. 



The tracings here offered are those of the horses Occident 2:16^4, 

 Elaine 2:20, Edgerton (Abe Edgington) 2:23^ and Clay 2:25, all 

 owned by the once famous Palo Alto Farm some thirty years ago ; but 

 the lessons from the motions of these four subjects will remain ever 

 new even though we have progressed in the production of speed. 



These four horses are different in action and gait and will serve 

 as types for similar cases in these days. It is well worth while to 

 recall this first brilliant and bold attempt to investigate this intricate 

 subject. A good deal of what is thus presented may be well known 

 to many, but it will bear repetition in conjunction with ,my subject. 



The great usefulness of that unique presentation of the consecu- 

 tive positions of the same horse in motion renders it invaluable for the 

 student of gait. Nothing like it has ever since been attempted so far 

 as I could find out. And the further fact that the ground line over 

 which those horses trotted was divided into equal divisions has enabled 

 me to also locate the consecutive positions of the feet and by connecting 

 these points to trace the curves of motion, or the trajectories of fore 

 and hind feet. Let me first outline to the reader the apparent 

 characteristics of the gaits of these four horses. 



