THE PACES OF THE HORSE 177 



the more considerable will be the distance between the 

 placing the fore legs. As soon as the near fore leg has met 

 the ground, and before the off fore has yet taken its full 

 bearing, the hinder legs are moved in the following manner 

 — the near hind elevates itself, and, as it reaches the ground, 

 the off hind passes it and becomes placed also. It is now 

 that the horse begins to be all in air in this pace ; for on 

 the next spring that the hind quarters make, the fore 

 quarters being already elevated from the last impulse, the 

 animal is of necessity completely detached from the ground. 

 The next period when he is likewise so is, when the fore 

 quarters, meeting the ground, gain a new impulse by their 

 rebound, the haunches are again thrown in to take their 

 share in the support, and also to give their impelling power 

 to the mass." 



In the Three-quarter Gallopy though it is merely an 

 acceleration of the hand gallop, the horse, by describing a 

 much less curve in each leap or bound, and lengthening 

 his stride proportionately, changes much the stretch and 

 increases the obliquity of his pasterns as the feet reach the 

 ground ; which fact is visible in faithful pictures of running 

 horses by competent artists. The pace is the one generally 

 seen in hunting scenes and steeple-chasing (not a " finish "), 

 the racing gallop being most incompatible with the nature 

 of the ground. 



The Full Gallop is the most simple of all the paces. 

 " Simple as it is," says Blaine, " it cannot, however, in any 

 instance, be commenced without the intervention of the 

 slower gallop, in which one of the hinder legs is first 

 advanced to establish a new centre ; for it would require 

 too great an effort to raise the fore parts at once from a 

 state of rest by means of the loins, and to throw them 

 forward at the first action, to a considerable distance, by 

 means of the haunches and thighs. This fact is well known 

 to jockeys and other sporting characters, and they often 

 derive profit from the circumstance by wagering with the 

 unwary that no horse shall be found to gallop one hundred 

 yards while a man runs fifty, provided each start together ; 

 in which case, so much time is lost in acquiring the due 

 momentum that the man has often won : make but the 

 race for one hundred and fifty yards and the horse would 

 beat ; for, now the impetus being acquired, he arrives at 

 sufficient momentum to overtake his antagonist. In the 



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