It is at once seen from the figure that the rotation of 

 the leg A B C D around the point D will take a great 

 deal longer than that of the leg A' B' C D' around the 

 point D' and will make it lose all the benefit D' F that it 

 has gained. 



The horse with long strides cannot then, by using his 

 mechanism in a normal way, increase the average speed 

 of his stride. 



He might increase his speed, not in a continuous way 

 but at the time of a particular effort, by what is called 

 the racing spring (bond de course). In this spring the 

 third step of the gallop is made by the fore leg, only when 

 the corresponding hind leg is already in suspension. It 

 is evident that the distance covered in this way exceeds 

 by a great deal the compass opening of the normal gallop. 

 According to Captain Dumas (Album de Haute Ecole, 

 1894), "the horse gains almost a yard (at maximum 

 speed) and the following period of suspension is dimin- 

 ished," conditions doubly favorable to speed. 



It is probable that long striding animals, which never- 

 theless shine over short distances, have recourse to this 

 proceeding. But it is an extremely fatiguing proceeding 

 and one that reduces them to the role of sprinter when 

 their mechanism, if normally used, would make them ca- 

 pable of running over long distances. 



gravity, hence the possibility of hastening the gallop. In the second 

 case, education assists nature within limits narrower, but still appre- 

 ciable, to the extent that it teaches the horse to extend himself 

 calmly and to avoid imposing upon himself ill-timed efforts. 



Horses of average capability are those whose mechanism can the 

 more easily benefit by those modifications which come from wisely 

 applied training. 



Retz, for example, who was best suited at a mile and a quarter, to 

 a mile and a mile and a half, won in 1902 la poule d'Essai at a 

 mile, the Jockey Club Stakes at a mile and a half and ran a magnifi- 

 cent race over the mile and seven furlongs of the Grand Prix de 

 Paris. 



But training by modifying the mechanism of the horse gives him 

 sometimes a persistent second nature. 



This same Retz, trained over the Grand Prix distance, was un- 

 placed in the Prix du Ranelagh (uVa furlongs), and Prix de la Foret 

 (7 furlongs). 



25 



