Experiments and their Verification 125 



any one or of any two legs and. let the rest of them go along at a longer 

 stride. At that rate the fore would become separated from the hind 

 to such an extent that they would no longer be parts of the same horse. 

 A stride is a step, or a distance from toe to toe or heel to heel of the 

 same leg, as the fashion may be. We can therefore shorten the jour 

 strides of the jour legs at the same time, but we cannot reduce the 

 stride of one or two of them. 



The trouble is that "stride" is erroneously used for "extension" 

 and particularly for forward extension. "Shortening a stride" must 

 therefore be placed in the same pigeonhole as "a cross-tiring trotter" or 

 "a scalping pacer," all coming under the heading of "human error." 

 What is really meant is that the forward extension of hind should be 

 checked and a greater backward extension effected. Hence my plea 

 for the power and effect of proper backward extension. This, in fact, 

 is done nowadays to a larger extent by leaving the angle of hind toe 

 greater by 3 to 5 degrees than that of the fore, and by having the toe of 

 the hind shorter by Y% to ^ of an inch than that of the fore. It is a 

 double application of the theory of pointing, namely, by decreasing the 

 pointing forward with a shorter toe and increasing the pointing back- 

 ward by a higher heel. There is also, with these remedies, the usual 

 one of more or less lengthened heels of shoe to ease contact and to 

 direct foot. It is at all times more preferable and rational to limit 

 the extent of these long heels of shoe, and the "freak" shoes of former 

 years having these are fortunately a thing of the past. 



II. THE TURNS OF THE TRACK AND THE GENERAL DIRECTIONS OF 



THE FEET. 



In dealing with the irregularity of extension, especially in fore 

 legs, mention was made in a previous chapter of the habit horses have 

 of reaching forward with either left or right in preference. In the 

 gaits of the saddle horse this is a well-known feature, but we are not 

 so conscious of such a preference in the trotter and pacer. Investi- 

 gations, however, have proved that a subject will habitually set one 

 fore foot ahead of the other. It is not a harmful habit, provided the 

 difference of extension does not become excessive. 



