Experiments and their Verification 197 



My notes say that she trotted very much better uphill than downhill. 

 It will be observed that the distance between the extremities in the 

 downhill trial with the longer stride is less than that of the uphill trial 

 with the shorter stride, showing thereby the excessive activity, or 

 rather the excessive extension of the hind legs downhill. 



These trials, therefore, determined me to put 6 oz. shoes on fore 

 and 9 oz. shoes on hind feet. The tradition is that such a change is 

 likely to bring about a pacing gait. In fact, with the extensions on 

 the same side (i.e., near side), I was inclined to fear that; but shod 

 as in Fig. 152, she trotted fairly well, except that her gait was a little 

 irregular, and the hind shoes slid a good deal at the heels. She also 

 forged a little now and then. The result showed some improvement, 

 but there was still that pacing extension on near side. The stride was 

 not as extended, and appeared to be a little short-gaited or tied up. 



The season was near its close, and a few trials with unequal 

 weight in hind shoes did not improve matters very much. These trials 

 proved again that the relation between fore and hind enters largely 

 into the effect which any unequal weight may have on one particular 

 foot. Besides, there are length and angle of toe, and the shape of shoe 

 to be considered. Experience has shown me that any difference of 

 length of toe is not conducive to an even gait except where there is a 

 difference in the size or shape of the hoofs, or where in conjunction 

 with a higher heel the whole leg is lengthened by a fraction of an 

 inch in order to counteract any difference in length between two op- 

 posite fore or hind legs. So much depends on the evidence of the 

 tracks, which reveal the weak points of the four feet, that enough 

 stress cannot be laid on its study. No horse is perfect, and all four 

 legs do not always move and act alike. The difference may be a tem- 

 porary habit, but it may also be a permanent structural inability, which 

 can be found only by a persistant analysis of the gait and overcome by 

 shoeing to meet the demands of a square gait. 



Even in these last trials of that season it became apparent that 

 the weight of shoe and the angle of the foot worked well together as 

 a combination and that when the conditions of length of toe and shape 



