THE EXTENDED GALLOP. 



91 



can easily be distinguished from it. This pace is merely a slow 

 and measured gallop, in which for a very short period all the lega 

 leave the ground, but in which the propulsion is steadily given, 

 and not with those snatches or jerks which are necessary to de- 

 velop the high speed of the extended gallop. The body also is 

 not nearer the ground than in the act of standing, and this may be 

 considered as one of the best distinctions between the hand gallop 

 and the extended stride of the faster pace. The French writers 

 distinguish between the two by asserting that in the hand gallop 

 there are three beats, while in the flying gallop two only are per- 

 formed ; but in practice there is no such variation. 



THE EXTENDED GALLOP. 



According to most observers, this pace is a succession of 

 leaps, smoothly and rhythmically performed, but Mr. Percivall has 

 shown that there is a considerable difference between the two ac- 

 tions. He says in his lectures, — " In galloping a horse, in hunt- 



EECEIVED INTERPRETATION OF THE GALLOP. 



ing, for example, the rider needs no person to tell him of the mo- 

 ment when his horse is taking a leap, however trifling it may be ; 

 his own sensations inform him of every grip or furrow his horse 

 leaps in his course, and should he have occasion to make a succes- 

 sion of such jumps, the rider's sensations in his saddle are of a 

 very different — very uneasy — kind, compared to such as he expe- 

 riences during the act of galloping. This arises from two causes: 

 from the spring or movement of the body necessary to produce the 

 leap being more forcible or sudden than that required for the gallop, 

 and from the latter being created and continued rather by the sue- 



