THE IMPROVED ART OF FARRIERY. 3! 7 



joints ; and this conformation also lessens concussion, 

 by increasing the elasticity. 



Horses that are very short in their backs, generally 

 trot wide with their hind-legs, especially those that are 

 wnat is termed cat-hammed ; that is to say, with their 

 hocks standing close together, and their feet at some 

 distance from each other ; by this manner of moving 

 their hind-legs, they avoid striking or overreaching 

 their fore-feet, as their hind-feet alight on the ground 

 on the outside of their fore -feet. 



There is also another method of going, by which 

 short-backed horses escape overreaching ; and that is, 

 by trotting a little side-ways, like a dog ; by which 

 means, one hind-foot comes between the two fore-feet, 

 and the other hind-foot on the outside. 



This method of going, however, is unpleasant to the 

 rider; because, if he sits in a straight direction, he 

 cannot so well adapt the motion of his own body to 

 that of his horse, which is constantly carried in an ob- 

 lique position, and he is therefore obliged to sit with 

 one shoulder more advanced than the other, although 

 he is going in a straight line of direction. 



It is a common opinion that blood horses never 

 make fast trotters. This, perhaps, may arise in some 

 measure from their never being selected for that pur- 

 pose. But as all fast trotting, beyond a certain rate, 

 becomes a run, it is evident that the length and pli- 

 ancy of the legs of the blood horse, together with that 

 elongated or darting action wdiich they all show in the 

 trot, is not adapted for that short or quick step by 

 which the common hack is distinguished. 



