THE COLT. 



TS 



ground before its fellow hind foot or fellow fore foot, the sup- 

 port of the body developing alternately upon one foot and upon 

 two feet, the single foot being alternately a fore and a hind foot, 

 and the intermedial support alternately diagonals and laterals. 

 The amble is natural to the elephant, and in some countries to 

 the horse, the mulej and the ass. The sequence of foot fallings 

 is the right hind, the right fore, the left hind, the left fore, be- 

 ginning again with the right hind foot. At no time during the 

 stride is the body of the animal supported. The amble has been 

 erroneously confused with the rack or pace. It is the most 

 gentle and agreeable to the rider of all methods of locomotion of 

 the horse; whereas the rack is the most disagreeable and un- 

 graceful. 



WALK. 



This method of progression is common to nearly all of the 

 terrestrial vertebrates. The notation begins with the landing of 

 a right hind foot; the consecutive foot fallings will be the right 

 fore foot, the left hind foot, the left fore foot, followed by its 

 diagonal hind, with which the record began. The time intervals 

 of foot fallings vary with different species of animals, but their 

 sequence is invariably the same with all, the apes alone excepted, 

 with which the landing of a hind foot is usually preceded by 

 that of its lateral fore foot. During a single stride of a qua- 

 druped in an ordinary walk it is supported in eight different 

 ways — twice upon the laterals, twice upon the diagonals, twice 

 upon two hind feet and one fore foot, and twice upon two fore 

 feet and one hind foot. 



GALLOP. 



The gallop is the most rapid method of progressive quadru- 

 pedal motion, in which the animal springs into the air from a 

 fore foot and lands upon the diagonal hind foot. If the notation 

 of stride by the horse during the gallop begins with a landing 

 with a hind foot upon the gi-ound — as for example, the left hind 

 foot — the right hind will next strike the ground at a considerable 



