THE GAITS IN PARTICULAR. 553 



the artist, is that they prove the falseness of the old classical doctrine, 

 that during the entire evolution of a stride of the gallop the members of 

 one lateral biped are always in advance of those of the opposite lateral 

 biped. This assertion is no more correct of the inferior parts of the 

 members than of the superior. Each shoulder remains, in its turn, in 

 front of or behind its congener for a certain period of time, and the 

 thighs behave likewise, the one in relation to the other. Despite the 

 spasmodic rhythm in the gallop, when a member reaches the latter part 

 of its evolution, its homologue must of necessity more or less approach 

 the commencement of its transmission, — that is to say, be oblique in an 

 inverse direction. When, for example, the horse, galloping upon the 

 right, is shown detached from the soil (Fig. 250), his posterior left, 

 upon which he will fall, is of necessity bound to pass in front of the 

 posterior right, which will only touch the soil afterwards. For the 

 same reason, the anterior right, whose contact occurs last, should also, 

 at a given moment, be found not very far behind the anterior left, 

 which will take its contact with the ground before the right. 



M. Lenoble du Teil ^ was the first one to disprove clearly this 

 theory of the advance of one lateral biped upon the other, which 

 cannot be verified by an attentive observation of the facts, and which 

 is flatly contradicted by all the instantaneous photographs, notably 

 those of Lissa. 



These true representations of the galloping-horse are precious also 

 from another point of view. They show us, with great exactness, the 

 changes of the direction of the body during the successive phases of the 

 entire stride. 



At the beginning (Fig. 243), at the time of the fall upon the pos- 

 terior left, the withers are more elevated than the croup ; the rider, 

 who has just been projected, is seen still above the saddle and leans 

 forward. The body then becomes horizontal when the left diagonal 

 biped touches the ground (Fig. 246) ; the members of the right diagonal 

 biped now attain their maximum separation, while the rider commences 

 to fall back. The hind-quarters now give their impulsion, become 

 raised and detached from the ground, while the fore-quarters, very low, 

 touch the soil with the anterior right foot (Fig. 248). During this 

 phase the rider bears heavily on the thighs, particularly the right ; his 

 seat is displaced backward. But the impulsion from behind imme- 

 diately changes his position ; he is pushed forward and I'aised from the 

 saddle. His mount at this moment (Fig. 249) prepares to leave the 



1 Lenoble du Teil, Cours th^orique d'^quitation, de dressage et d'attelage, p. 207, Paris, 1889. 



