106 HANDBOOK OF THE TURF. 



Gallop. The leaping or springing gait or movement in 

 which the two fore feet are lifted from the ground in succession, 

 and then the two hind feet in the same succession. The term is 

 commonly used to denote the movement intermediate between 

 the canter and the run, in which during the stride, two, three, 

 or all the feet are off the ground at the same instant. 



In the gallop the horse is supposed to be moving by a succession of 

 bounds in whicli he rises us far as he lalls. Tliis would give one- 

 fourth of a second as the time of descent equal to one foot of ver- 

 tical fall to twelve and a half feet movement in a horizontal direc- 

 tion, and a consequent iletlectiou of the center of gravity to that 

 extent.— The Horse in Motion, J. D. B. Stillman. 



This gait is wholly an<l radically different from the pace and trot; the 

 order of action, and, necessarily, the mental organization govern- 

 ing tlie method of iocoiuotiou and use of the linjbs are different. 

 Hence no one horse is, or can be, possessed of great speetl at the 

 gallop, antl also great speed at the trot or pace. To possess great 

 speed of eitlier one of these two orders he must inherit speed of 

 that order.— Leslie E. Macleod. 



The gallop is a fast gait, with three beats, and leaped, in which the 

 synchronous beats of a diagonal biped are interposed between the 

 successive beats of the opposite diagonal biped, which begins the 

 step by its posterior member. The simultaneous beats of the second 

 contact with the ground, (second biped), have the greatest tendency 

 to become disassociated when the h»)rse moves almost without 

 advancing, when tlie equilibrium is bad, or when the speed is very 

 great. In this case the ear can perceive four distinct beats. On 

 the racecourse the gallop is an externally fast gait in which this 

 separation of the diagonal beats is driven to its utmost limit. — The 

 Exterior of the Horse, Goubaux and Barrier. 



Galloping Courses. [Eng.] Courses devoid of obsta- 

 cles like ditches, hedges, etc. 



Gamy. Spirited ; possessing undaunted courage. It is 

 said of a courageous, spirited, staying horse, that he is "gamy ; " 

 will never quit. 



Garter of the Tvirf. [Eng.] A term applied to the 

 Oaks stakes, established in 1779. See Oaks. 



Gaskiii. That part of the exterior of the horse situated 

 between the thigh and the hock, from which it is divided by a 

 line drawn from the point of the hock, clear of the bony promi- 

 nences of the joint. 



Gathering. [Eq.] That art by which the rider, having 

 mounted his horse, taken the reins in hand, is square upon his 

 seat and his legs in position, collects all the forces of the horse 

 in readiness for the execution of his will. By gathering or col- 

 lecting, the horse is kept well upon his haunches, is guarded 

 from crossing his legs, and has, all the time, as the phrase is, " a 

 spare leg " to depend upon. The gathering, urging, and retain- 

 ing, are the foundations of that obedience whicli it is the object 

 of horsemanship to enforce. 



Gelding. A male horse that has teen castrated. 



