GAITS. 



13 



The weight of the body of the horse is elevated upon 

 four articulated supports which sustain it and cause its 

 motion : myology teaches that the muscles induce the 

 oscillation and extension for support and appui. 



-THE WALK. 



No description will be given of that known as the 

 initial, which, corresponding to all the irregularities of 

 the station of the animal, is invariably curtailed. 



In the walk, the horse lifts and lowers its feet 

 alternately in the following order : the supposition 

 being that the animal is in motion and that the right 



anterior member 

 be raised, the left 

 posterior member, 

 diagonallyopposite, 

 will follow after a 

 brief interval, the 

 left anterior mem- 

 ber next comes 

 and finally the right 

 posterior. There 

 are four times, 

 which cause four 

 audible beats ; the 

 gait is calm and 

 slow. 



The horse not 

 quitting theground, 

 the gait is termed 

 marched and di- 

 agonal, in the sense 

 that the diagonal 

 appnis are more 

 apprehendable than 

 the lateral (figs. 2 

 and 3). 



The imprint or trail of two feet on the same side, 

 precisely answer to the middle of the space which 

 separates the successive imprints of the other two. 

 {ab—cd, fig. 2). 



Fig. 2 and 3. 



