Pace, A word constantly used as a general term to 

 describe all the different gaits and modes of progression of the 

 horse ; hence, a fast horse, one showing remarkable speed, is 

 almost invariably spoken of as " going at a great pace,'' 

 although his gait may be the trot and not the pace. 



Pace. A gait in which the horse moves two legs on the 

 same side at the same time, and both feet strike as one — then 

 the limbs on the other side are advanced and strike as one foot. 

 The two strokes : One, two, complete the revolution. To the 

 ear, therefore, as well as the eye, the motions of the pace are, 

 one, two ; one, two ; at regular and distinct intervals, the horse 

 appearing, by the sound, at least, to have but two feet. The 

 lateral motion of the pacer is without doubt as old as the diag- 

 onal motion of the trotter, and the two gaits were contempo- 

 raneous centuries ago, just as they are in this country to-day ; 

 at least it is clear that the exact motion of the pace now, is like 

 the motion of the amble in England described two hundred 

 years ago by the Duke of Newcastle. The j)acing gait is more 

 favorable to a high rate speed with the same expenditure of 

 vital force, than the trotting gait. 



While in the trot the center of gravity falls near the intersection of the 

 two straifjht lines drawn througli the diagonal foolpri-nts, in the 

 pace it is shifted from side to side, as the right or left feet alter- 

 nately support the weiglit. Tlie effect of this is to give a i-oUing 

 motion to the body like that of a ship with tlie wind abeam. It is an 

 easy pace for t he rider, being free from the short undulations of the 

 trot. * * * The necessity which exists of rapidly changing the 

 base of support from side to side, makes it practicable in the horse 

 only when the speed is considerable and quite impossible in the 

 rate pursued in the walk. — The Horse in Motion, J. D. B. Stillman. 



Pacer. A horse whose natural gait is the pace. All fam- 

 ilies of pacers lack hock action and go close to the ground ; hence 

 the pacer is utterly unsuitable for cross-country riding. He is 

 not a jumper and his action is too much of the gliding nature, 

 and too near the ground, to ever think of his becoming a 

 hunter. 



Pacers are ordinarily not as handy in recovering from a break as are 

 trotters, but even* at that it is only once in a longtime, that, with 

 ordinary care on the part of the driver, a pacer that has the speed 

 of his field need be distanced simply because in some particular heat 

 he is unsteady. — Wallace's Monthly. 



Pacers. In the Year Book, and in all correctly printed 

 summaries of races, the names of pacers are placed in italics. 



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