32 Gait of the American Trotter and Pacer 



In the study of Lou Dillon's gait we shall see that with her manner 

 of propulsion the question of interference of hind with fore feet does 

 not apparently cut any figure. For, inasmuch as the fore feet cross 

 over each other, they are out of the way of the approaching hind at the 

 critical moment. There is no "line trot" here, although the hind feet 

 move in nearly straight lines ; but the fore do not move in straight 

 lines and effect their propulsion from the opposite side. 



The last of these series is Clay 2 125, by St. Clair, a short-coupled 

 and rather leggy horse, with all the faults of gait which such a horse 

 is apt to be guilty of. With a good deal less fold of knee than the 

 previous trotter he has still more of a jerky and sudden elevation of 

 hock action, due to the fact that his reaching backward with hind legs 

 is very marked. This sudden elevation is followed by as decided a drop 

 and he just pokes hind leg forward without any further effort to lift 

 leg or foot. Being deficient in knee action, we see in Fig. 27 that knee 

 and hock elevation are about the same in magnitude as those of Elaine. 

 Being leggy and short-coupled and probably standing under in front 

 and pointing forward with hind, he passes hind legs on outside of 

 fore, much more so than Edgington, and this is a fault not tolerated 

 to-day and one that never promises much speed or an. even gait. 



Finally, there is an unknown pacer given whose gait is not of the 

 best and lacks extension to show its characteristics at speed. It 

 shows, however, the low elevation of hind feet, not only as compared 

 with that of fore, but also by itself ; and as a rule the pacing gait is 

 of a more creeping nature behind than the trot is or ought to be, and 

 in the lateral extension the hind feet are generally inside the lines of 

 motion of the fore. This is the reverse from the lines of motion of the 

 trotter and this closer approach of the hind adds to the tendency of 

 their low elevation. 



This pacer has, like the trotter Clay, the fault of lifting his hind 

 foot off the ground before its correlated fore foot, which often tends 

 toward single-footing, or at least to an uneven or rough gait. In 

 Elaine, Occident and Edgington we notice the reverse, namely, that 

 hind foot leaves the ground a trifle later than its forward mate. This 

 is as it should be to insure an even or synchronous contact with the 



