504 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



The canter is an unusual or defective gait, in which the hetero- 

 chronous beats of one of the bipeds, anterior or posterior, effect a 

 rhythm different from the isochronous beats of the opposite biped. It 

 is said, in this case, that the horse gallops in front and trots behind, 

 and vice versa. The canter can also be defined as a trot in which the 

 beats of one of the diagonal bipeds is disassociated instead of remaining 

 simultaneous. 



The running walk, or high step, a gait establishing a transition 

 between the marched broken trot and the walk, in which the diagonal 

 beats follow in close succession and the posterior imprints are always 

 but a short distance behind the anterior, 



3d. The walk, a still slower gait, with four times, in which the mem- 

 bers, associated in diagonal bipeds, are elevated and rested successively. 



According as the beats are closer laterally ov diagonally , it furnishes 

 varieties which tend to simulate either the amble or the trot. 



Backing, or the walk executed backward. 



4th. The gallop, a fast gait, with three beats, and leaped, in which 

 the synchronous beats of a diagonal biped are interposed between the 

 successive beats of the opposite diagonal biped, which begins the step by 

 its posterior member. 



The simultaneous beats of the second contact with the ground 

 (second biped) have the greatest tendency to become disassociated when 

 the horse moves almost without advancing, when the equilibrium is 

 bad, or when the speed is very great. In this case the ear can perceive 

 four distinct beats. 



On the race-course the gallop is an extremely fast gait in which 

 this separation of the diagonal beats is driven to its utmost limits. 



A. — The Amble, Pacing. 



The amble is a natural or an acquired gait, in which the members 

 of each lateral biped rise and reach the ground simultaneously (Fig. 

 193). Two beats only are therefore heard in the complete step of the 

 ambling horse. 



It is thought that these expressions are derived from the Latin 

 ambulare, to go about, doubtless because horses which have this gait 

 were formerly employed for quiet riding. De Curnieu says that this 

 gait was in great vogue at the time when the horse and saddle were the 

 only means of transport for travellers of all ages and all sexes.^ 



Many authors affirm that horses which amble naturally have better 



1 De Curnieu, loo. cit., t. i. p. 161. 



