412 ON DRAUGHT. 



legs on the same side of the body raised at once, the other two being firm 

 upon the ground — a position which horses of the present day never assume 

 while trotting. 



In the case of these relievos, it is true that there are only four horses, 

 out of more than two hundred, which are in the action of trotting, all the 

 others being represented in a canter or gallop ; and only two of these 

 four are entirely in the foreground, and distinct from the other figures. 

 It would not be safe, therefore, to draw too general a conclusion from this 

 example alone ; but we have another decided proof of the remark we 

 have made, in the case of the four horses of the church of St. Marc at 

 Venice. 



Whether this was then the mode of trotting or not, it is certain that it 

 is never seen to occur in nature in the present day ; and indeed it appears 

 quite inconsistent with the necessary balancing of the body, and was, 

 therefore, more probably an error of the artist. 



It perhaps may have been found difficult or troublesome to watch the 

 movement of a horse's legs ; but a very little practice will enable any body 

 to verify what we are about to state : by keeping near the side of a horse 

 that is walking, it will be easily seen that, immediately after the raising of 

 either of the hind legs from the ground, the fore leg of the corresponding 

 side is also raised, so that the latter leaves the ground just before the 

 former touches it. If the fore legs be then watched, it will be seen that, 

 immediately after the movement of either of these, the hind leg upon the 

 opposite side is put in action, so that the order of succession appears to 

 be in walking, as numbered in^g-. 3. 



If the horse be now examined from a short distance, it will be seen 

 that, when he is walking freely, the successive movements of the legs are 

 at equal intervals of time, and that the muscular force o one limb only 

 is brought into action at the same moment. But if a horse, which is 

 dragn-ing a load with some considerable exertion, be watched, it will be 

 seeiVthat he then acts longer upon his legs, and allows a less interval of 

 time for raising and advancing them ; and at the same time, the regularity 

 of the movement is generally destroyed; the limbs on the same side 

 generally being moved more simultaneously, or at nearer mtervals ot 

 time than those at the opposite corners: thus, the muscular forces ot two 

 limbs are always acting together, the movement of the whole body is less 

 continued and uniform than in the former case; but each impulse is more 

 powerful, and a resistance, which >vould be too great for the muscles ol 



