268 



Gait of the American Trotter and Pacer 



sition hind foot A has reached the ground before fore foot B has been 

 removed and before the off fore C has made a contact with the soiL 

 In the third position, C has just come to the ground. Note the dis- 

 tance between A and C and the difference of inclination of the legs due 

 to their independent actions. While D and B are off the ground in the 

 second position note the difference in elevation, which seems highest in 

 the fifth position. Directly after that D lands on ground, while its 

 diagonally opposite mate B is about to descend, as in the last position. 

 The pictures are meant to illustrate the difference in elevation and 

 action between fore and hind feet and to show that such a difference 



f/G. 



may at any time, through faulty balancing, bring about in a more or 

 less aggravated form what is known as single-footing. There is among 

 all the feet no connection in pairs, as in the trot or pace, such as have 

 been termed the correlated feet, and each one lands more or less inde- 

 pendently on the ground. As before mentioned, the characteristic of 

 this motion is the difference in action and elevation between fore and 

 hind extremities. To make it clearer, a comparison with the attitudes of 

 the flying trot are given in Figs. 198 and 199. The distinctly direct and 

 equalized motion of both fore and hind extremities, as compared with 



