416 TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 



mud or where the going is heavy. The natural pacer also fre- 

 quently possesses a steep croup, short underline, and sickle- 

 shaped hind leg. 



Action. The walk should be true, quick, elastic, and regular. 

 The trot, in order to be fast without undue tiring of the horse, 

 must be straight and true, with regular, even, long stride. Height 

 of action is of little importance; in fact, the less knee and hock 

 action the better. It is only important that the foot clear the 

 ground, accompanied by enough action of knee and hock to 

 secure length of stride. There should be no hitching or un- 

 steadiness of gait, and no great tendency to break when going 



Fig. 134. The Light-Harness Horse in Action. 



The Harvester, 2:01, Ex-Champion trotting stallion, driven by Mr. Ed 

 Geers. Owned by Mr. C. K. G. Billings of New York City. 



at speed. The action should be what is sometimes termed 

 "frictionless," giving one the impression of a perfect mechanism 

 that can travel at greatest speed with least expenditure of energy. 

 It is apparent that much of the success of the light-harness 

 horse depends upon good action, and good action, in turn, is 

 dependent largely upon proper position of the legs. Defects 

 in conformation result in knee knocking, speedy cutting, over- 

 reaching, and other faults of action. 



Common defects in the action of light-harness horses are 

 (1) swinging the fore feet inward, instead of carrying them 



