TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 415 



A shallow body set up high on very long legs is not a good type. 

 Yet it is just as essential that the light-harness horse have length 

 of leg to secure speed, as it is that the draft horse have a short 

 leg to secure great power. However, the length must come above 

 the knees and hocks as much as possible. The arm should be 

 muscular, an'd carried well forward, while the forearm should 

 be long and muscular, with a nice tapering to the knee. This 

 provides room for the long muscles associated with speed. The 

 knees must be clean, bony, straight, broad, deep, and strongly 

 supported. The cannons should be broad , with large, clean 

 tendons set well back from the bone. Straight, wide fetlock 

 joints and strong, sloping pasterns of good length are very nec- 

 essary. The fore leg must be straight, and the toe should point 

 directly forward, to insure trueness of action. A long, muscular 

 gaskin is an important requirement. This brings the hocks 

 far below the point of the buttock, which is essential in securing 

 speed. Clean hocks that are wide, deep, straight, with promi- 

 nent point, and well supported below are very necessary. The 

 hind legs must be set straight, with the toes pointing straight 

 ahead. Sickle-shaped hind legs are rather too common. 



Feet. The best of feet are necessary. Although this type 

 is usually afforded an easy footing, nevertheless the tremendous 

 concussion puts the feet to severe strain when the horse travels 

 at speed. At high speed, a stride of 19 or 20 feet is attained. 

 Imagine the force of the concussion when a 1,000-pound horse 

 strides 20 feet in less than half a second, as is the case when the 

 horse is trotting at a two-minute gait. The feet should be well- 

 developed, uniform in size, point straight forward, and slope 

 at the same angle as the pastern. The horn of the hoof should 

 be dense and smooth, the sole should be concave, the bars strong, 

 the frog large and elastic, and the heel wide and open. 



Gait. Both pacers and trotters are found among light- 

 harness horses. These gaits differ from each other in that the 

 pace is a lateral motion in 'which the fore and hind leg of the 

 same side act together, while the trotter moves diagonally. A 

 change of a few ounces in the weight of a shoe often transforms 

 the gait. Many horses hold records at both gaits. The pacing 

 gait is about three seconds faster for the mile than the trot, 

 but it is not so popular with horsemen as the trotting gait, es- 

 pecially for road driving. With the pace there is often asso- 

 ciated a decided rolling of the body, which is disliked, the pull 

 on the vehicle is jerky, and the pacer does not work well in the 



