248 



Gait of the American Trotter and Pacer 



a "shorter stride," may have for its cause these differences of actual 

 length of leg. All this would have to be ascertained by trials and ex- 

 periments to that effect. As a rule it is far more dangerous to have 

 an inequality in front than behind on account of the stiffness of the 

 front articulation, and this is especially true of the near fore with its 

 choice of extension around the turns, as we have seen before. Here 

 the jar of a longer foot may bring about a sprain of the ligaments and 

 tendons. Behind, with the looser motions of quarters this danger of 

 injury does not obtain so much. If there is such an inequality it is 

 likely to be alleviated by a hop, so often seen in badly gaited horses. 

 A curb or a spavin is, however, likely to appear when the forward ex- 

 tension is either too great as a whole or excessive in one hind leg only, 

 especially when the lateral balance of the foot is also faulty. 



A." 



FIG. I S3 



B- 



Jluer. cdst . correl feet / 



4- //. 



Now, let us look at a few more examples to illustrate once more 

 the effect of the various relations between toe length and angle of the 

 foot. 



Let us take, for instance, a case where the changes were only in 

 angles of fore and hind, as in Fig. 183. The toes remain the same in 

 length, while the heels, both in front and behind, are lowered one de- 

 gree in B, as compared with A. The front shoes in B are beveled on 

 outside half to prevent knee-hitting, or toeing out, and the outside heels 

 of hind shoes are longer to induce hind feet to toe out more. We shall 

 see, incidentally, that the fact of outside heels being longer does not 

 cause the feet to spread more apart in this instance. The stride in A is 



