MECHANICS APPLIED 

 TO THE RACE HORSE. 



(Une Foulee de Galop de Course.) 



THE Thoroughbred is what racing makes him. Our 

 saddle horses are what they are made by the Thor- 

 oughbred ; hence the capital interest attaching to the 

 the minute analysis of the galloping stride, the smallest 

 variations of which may have the most serious and often 

 the most unexpected results. 



In all times the gaits of the horse have been the object 

 of the study of horse lovers. Without going so far back 

 as SoUeysel, Bourgelat, Vincent and Goiffon, one can cite 

 the names of Raabe, Lenoble du Teil, Lecoq, who have 

 made remarkable researches on this subject; but it is 

 Muybridge's instantaneous photographic experiments and 

 Marey's chrono-photographic series which caused a de- 

 cided advance to be made in knowledge of the subject 

 and which permitted the foundations to be laid of the 

 theories now accepted. 



The raising and grounding of the feet have been deter- 

 mined with great precision; the time of support and 

 suspension has been calculated, the oscillations of the 

 center of gravity and the pressure of each leg on the 

 ground, etc., have been measured. One point, however, 

 seems to us to have remained in obscurity; we refer to 

 the velocity of translation of the body during a stride at 

 the gallop. 



II 



