238 Gait of the American i rotter and Pacer 



My final experiment with this horse was, as mentioned before, 

 that of Fig. 180. The difference in front weight was reversed and 

 both angles lowered. The toe-lengths are the same. In both Figs. 

 1 79- A and 180 the roll of near fore shoe is greater than that of off 

 fore. With a heavier shoe very often goes a thicker web, so that in 

 the former trial the near fore was perhaps as long a foot as the off 

 fore ; while in Fig. 180 the off fore had a heavier and thicker shoe 

 and hence greater length. Again, the heavier shoe on the off fore and 

 its squared toe had the effect of increasing the folding of the leg and 

 the elevation of that foot without increasing the extension. 



The average stride in each case was exactly the same: 15.59 ft. 

 The average separation between the extremifies in these trials were: 

 3.54 ft. in Fig. I79-A, and 3.38 ft. in Fig. 180, which makes a differ- 

 ence of .16 ft. or 1.92 in. In other words, there is a greater separa- 

 tion where the squared toes occur diagonally across than where they 

 are applied on the right side of horse. A glance at the total scope 

 of the variations of the individual strides from the general average 

 stride shows the greater disturbance in the second trial (Fig. 180). 

 This proves that when the subject was allowed to follow his inclina- 

 tion, as in Fig. I79-A, the movements were less forced. 



Let us look at the total scope of these variations in each case. We 

 have : 



near-fore-off. near-hind-off. 



Fig. I79-A 6.56 ft. 5.02 ft. 6.69 ft. 4.39 ft. 

 Fig. 180 '9.00 " 5.71 " 6.40 " 6.05 " 



In marking these totals as "feet" it is intended to call the reader's 

 attention once more to the meaning of such variations. These totals 

 comprise the sum of all the differences which each leg showed in all 

 of its strides from the general average. The smaller these variations 

 are as a whole the more regular will be the motion of the animal. In 

 their relation to each other we have already learned that a greater 

 variation in front denotes the stronger leg and the greater varia- 

 tion behind denotes the weaker leg; or, perhaps, it would be 

 better to say that such a fore leg points forward more than its mate, 



