THE GAITS IN PARTICULAR. 



543 



As Lecoq l has remarked, the posterior member is carried backward 

 before the posterior quarters can be surcharged by the displacement of 

 the centre of gravity. The impulsion is then communicated to the 



FIG. 234. Backing. 



trunk by the anterior members as well as by the posterior, whose ob- 

 liquity downward and forward favors this action. 



2d. The phenomena are different when the horse is attached to a 

 vehicle, particularly if he moves a heavy load over soft or unequal 

 ground. Not only is he, in this case, obliged to surmount the difficul- 

 ties arising from the inability to place his members in a position inverse 

 to the normal, but he has also to overcome the resistance formed, on 

 the one part, by the weight of the load, and, on the other, by the nature 

 of the soil. He then backs principally through the breeching of the 

 harness, and only displaces the members slowly and with difficulty 

 (Fig. 235). 



It results therefrom, says Lecoq, 2 that the hind-foot supports, be- 

 sides the weight of the posterior quarters, already augmented, all the 

 resistance opposed by the burden, and the slipping forward, rendered 

 so frequent by this double cause, deprives the horse of a large part of 

 his force and exposes him to strains of the articulations. 



1 Lecoq, loc. cit., p. 342. 



2 Loc. cit., p. 342. 



