THE TROT. 199 



moving straight forward, while the animal spir- 

 itedly enters into the occasion and gives out his 

 full power. In this trot all the legs are moved 

 very rapidly, and the hind ones with more force 

 than the fore-legs, in order that the horse's 

 body may, with each bound, be propelled as far 

 forward as possible. Between the two succes- 

 sive bounds all four legs are momentarily oE 

 the ground. Very springy fetlocks tend to di- 

 minish speed in the flying trot, and hence, not 

 having such elastic fetlocks, a good trotting 

 racer is rough in his action and an undesirable 

 saddle-horse. 



In the true or even trot, the action of the 

 horse is regular, all his limbs moving in an even 

 manner, his feet measuring exact distances, his 

 hoof-beats being in equal time of one, two, three, 

 four, and his feet, when moving rapidly, touch- 

 ing the ground only for an instant. There are 

 two ways in which this trot may be ridden : 

 one is to sit closely to the saddle, moving as lit- 

 tle as possible, and making no effort to avoid 

 the roughness of the gait. This is the method 

 practiced by the cavalry of this country, as well 

 as by the armies in Europe, and is called the 

 " cavalry " or " French trot." 



The other method is to relieve the joltings 

 by rising in the saddle in time with the horse's 



