568 



THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



Transitions between the Different Gaits. 



" It is very difficult," says M. Marey, 1 " for an observer to understand how the 

 passage from one gait to another is accomplished. The graphic method furnishes 

 a very easy means to follow these transitions ; this will, perhaps, not be one of the 



least benefits derived from the applica- 

 tion of this method to the study of the 

 gaits of the horse. 



" In order to comprehend well what 

 takes place in the transitions, it is neces- 

 sary to revert to the comparison of 

 Duges, and to conceive two pedestrians 

 who follow each other at the walk, 

 the trot, or the gallop. They present, 

 in the continued gaits, a constant 

 rhythm in the relation of their move- 

 ments, while, in the transitions, the one 

 behind or the one in front, according to 

 the case, hastens or slackens his move- 

 ments so as to change the rhythm of 

 the beats. Some examples will render 

 the explanation clearer. 



"Fig. 257 is the notation of a 

 transition from the walk to the trot. 



" The dominant character of this 

 transition, independently of the aug- 

 mentation of the rapidity of the move- 

 ments, consists in the fact that the 

 movements of the posterior members 

 gradually gain in speed upon those of 

 the anterior, so that the posterior left 

 beat, PG, for example, which, during 

 the walk, took place in the middle of 

 the duration of the contact of the ante-' 

 rior right member, AD, gradually ap- 

 proaches the beginning of the contact 

 of AD, and finally coincides with this 

 beat itself when the trot is produced. 



"Fig. 258 indicates, on the con- 

 trary, the transition from the trot to the 

 walk. 



" It is seen, by inverse phenomena, 

 that the diagonal beats, at first syn- 

 chronous, disassociate themselves more 

 and more. A dotted line which unites the left diagonal beats, is vertical at the 

 commencement of the figure, in the part which corresponds to the trot ; little 

 by little this line becomes oblique, showing that the synchronism disappears. 



Marey, loc. cit., p. 179. 



