io6 



Gait of the American Trotter and Pacer 



axis of leg, or the perpendicular line dividing the leg into symmetrical 

 halves. At E we have the point of toe of a foot and the angle of such 

 a point (K E H) if measured by any line, such as E K in this perpen- 

 dicular plane. The angle sought is therefore contained in two planes 



FIG. 79 



at right angles with each other, one of them cutting lengthwise into two 

 halves the hoof in question, whose sole surface rests on the other or 

 horizontal plane. 



The hoof guage denotes the angle exactly in that manner. In case 

 the frontal surface of hoof is uneven or bulgy, such uneven line could 



FlG.^80 



be averaged by the eye by means of a small thumb-screw in frontal bar 

 of gauge, as given in Fig. 80, where the bar is parallel with the main 

 frontal line of hoof. It is also well to rasp off a little bulge in outline 

 so as to adjust the gauge properly. Ordinarily the difficulty of a nice 



