CHAPTER VI. 



THE LEAP NOT PROPERLY A PACE. ACTION IN THE LEAP DESCRIBED. THE DANGER 

 TO BE APPREHENDED IN THE LEAP. THE STANDING LEAP. CORRESPONDENCE IN 

 THE ACTION OF THE HORSE IN THE LEAP AND THE DEER IN THE BOUND. ACTION 

 IN THE TROT. DISTINCTION BETWEEN A STEP AND A STRIDE. THE DIFFICULTY 

 TO BE ENCOUNTERED IN INCREASING THE SPEED OF TROTTERS. DIFFERENCE IN 

 THE ACTION IN THE TROT AND THE RUN. DIFFICULTY IN RESTRAINING A HORSE 

 FROM BREAKING INTO A RUN EXPLAINED. FAST TROTTING CULTIVATED IN AMERICA 

 IN THOROUGHBREDS. TROTTING NOT HEREDITARY, BUT A HABIT. THEORY AND 

 MECHANICAL ACTION IN THE TROT. THE ACTION IN AMBLING, OR "PACING." 

 DEFINITION OF THE WALK APPLICABLE TO BIPEDS, NOT TO QUADRUPEDS. THE 

 ACTION IN THE WALK. THE ACTION IN THE PACE KNOWN AS SINGLE-FOOT. 



THE leap cannot be properly considered as a pace ; although it is a 

 mode of progression, it is not a continuous one. Before any quadruped 

 will venture to undertake it, he must have acquired a considerable 

 degree of experience in locomotion, and that confidence in the use of 

 his limbs which experience only can give. That it is naturally 

 acquired, there cannot be a doubt, as it is necessary to all quadrupeds 

 in a wild state to enable them to overcome obstructions otherwise 

 insurmountable. The weight of the horse's body, however, renders it 

 necessary for him to reduce his speed, and with it his momentum, 

 before he can safely attempt it, even when the obstruction is of mod- 

 erate height. It is a feat in which he is excelled by most quadrupeds, 

 all the quadrumana, and even by man himself. 



I'rom the mode of action of the various parts of the locomotive 

 machinery, as shown in Chapters IV. and V.; the reader will experience 

 little difficulty in understanding what takes place in the leap. The 

 action is so full of interest that we have given a number of illustrations 

 to enable the reader to observe the many different phases the leap 



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