CHAPTER VIII. 



THE TROT, THE AMBLE, THE PACE, THE RACK. 



" We ride and ride. High on the hills 



The fir-trees stretch into the sky; 

 The birches, which the deep calm stills, 

 Quiver again as we speed by." 



OWEN INNSLY. 



IN the trot, the horse moves his legs in the 

 same diagonal manner as in the walk, the only 

 difference being that in the trot they are moved 

 more rapidly. When trotting regularly and 

 evenly, the right fore-foot and the left hind- 

 foot strike the ground nearly simultaneously, 

 and then the left fore-foot and the right hind- 

 foot do the same ; and so on alternately, two 

 legs being diagonally upon the ground at about 

 the same moment, while two legs are raised in 

 the air. 



The strokes of the hoofs upon the ground are 

 called " beats/' and are loud and quick, harmo- 

 nizing with the animal's rapidity of motion and 

 length of step. The trot is the safest gait for 

 a rider if the horse be free from any defect 

 in his limbs, as he will be less apt to stumble ; 



