THE SIX PHIN'CIPAL DEFECTS IN (JAlT. l3o 



bold front action, l)nt perhaps little action behind. 

 Xext to hopples on a pacer the sight of elbow 

 boots on a trotter is the greatest abomination at 

 the races. They are the slow result of inefficient 

 shoeing and indiscriminate use of toe weights. An 

 increase in the hind action or elevation would by 

 itself modify the high front action. Furthermore 

 a shoe that does not roll or slip, together with a 

 reasonably long toe and fairly low angle of the 

 foot, would comprise the remedy in a general way. 

 As in the other cases, we should always remember 

 that while we work on one extremity we should 

 not neglect to do something at the other end be- 

 cause of the intimate relation that ever exists be- 

 tween fore and hind action. 



Miscellaneous. 

 When a trotter or pacer tries to recover lost 

 ground because of a deficient extension of either 

 one fore or one hind leg, we notice that distressing 

 and laboring motion familiar to all observers of 

 a horse driven beyond his capacity or to his limit 

 before being in proper condition for such a trial. 

 These revolutions in front and hops behind always 

 indicate an uneven extension between the two fore 

 and the two hind legs ; that is to say. one leg pre- 

 cedes its mate to too great an extent for the good 

 of a square gait. It is then that trainers are ape 

 to "take it out of a horse" by trying to wipe out 

 this "rough" gait by a still greater speed and moro 

 severe training. From my point of view as an in- 



