530 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



JM . bidets d'allure or de haut pas, are at present somewhat 

 fk p scarce ; but before the construction of railroads they were 

 prized by horse-dealers, and, in general, by all persons 

 who had to travel very long distances. They were sought 

 for on account of their pleasant gait, the rapidity of which 

 almost equalled that of the ordinary trot. 



Mazure 1 has indicated their conformation, if indeed 

 such a word is appropriate ; for in truth a great muscular 

 P/\ development, a somewhat large head, a powerful neck, 



rather horizontal than erect, loins short and strong, above 

 all, a thigh thick, long, and descended, do not constitute 

 a particular conformation allied to this special gait. 



The trail (Fig. 221) shows, as in the case of the 

 short trot, the posterior imprints placed behind the an- 

 terior; the difference resides entirely in the diminished 

 ** length of the step. 



This gait may be natural or artificial; in the latter 

 case the horse is dressed by trammelling him in diagonal 

 bipeds by means of a strap attached to the pasterns, and 

 urging him as much as possible without passing into the 

 trot, which is not without difficulty. 



It would seem that all horses do not execute this gait 

 in the same manner. According to Lecoq, there were 

 some in Normandy which were called skaters (patineurs), 

 and in which the beats, almost equally separated, differed 

 only from those of the normal walk by their rapidity 

 and a lesser elevation of the members. These animals 

 i fatigue the rider much more than those with the ordinary 

 f\ p running walk, by the rocking which they occasion. 



C. The Walk. 



Definition. The walk is a slow, marched gait, in 

 which the four members succeed each other diagonally, 

 A f) rise and touch the ground separately, and produce four 



equally-spaced beats. 



FIG. 221. -Trail Kinematic Analysis of the Play of the Members. 

 walk ^rom^Le^ ^ke body resting always upon the ground in the walk, there is 

 noble du Teil. not, during the contact, a period of dispersion as energetic as in 



1 Mazure, M6moires de la Society velSrinaire des departements du Calvados et de la Manche, 

 1837, p. 134. 



. 

 p f \ 



