WAY OF GOING— THE FUNCTION 



19 



terized by quite a display of knee action, and many horses can 

 rack very fast. Wiile most agreeable to the rider, it is most 

 distressing to the horse, and should therefore be called for with 

 discretion. 



Gallop is a fast, three-beat gait, in which two diagonal legs 

 are paired, their single beat falling l>etween the successive beats 

 of the other two legs, the hind one of which makes the first beat 

 of the three (Fig. 17). With the third and last beat the horse is 



Fig. 15. — The high-stepping trot, showing extreme flexion of knees and hocks. 



projected clear of all contact with the ground, as in a leap, and 

 there is a period of silence, broken by the contact of the indepen- 

 dent hind foot, in the commencement of a new series. The two 

 legs acting independently, the fore, with which the horse leads, 

 and its diagonal hind, naturally bear more weight and are subject 

 to more fatigue than are the other pair which act simultaneously, 

 and, therefore, divide or bear jointly the Avork. The hind leg 

 receiving the full weight at the phase of contact at the conclusion 

 of the leap bears more than the foreleg, which supports the weight 

 alone just before the projection of the horse at the beginning of 

 the leap. The gallop may become so fast as to break the simul- 



