LOCOMOTOR SYSTEM 649 



ordinary horse, for the reason that he carries it on a vertical spine. 

 The nations which carry the heaviest weights carry them on their 

 heads, and no doubt a horse could carry more if it could be placed 

 over his hip- joints, where, in fact, the man sits who rides a donkey 

 about twice heavier than himself. The weight carried by pack- 

 horses, at the time when these furnished the only means of com- 

 munication in this island, was from 16 to 19 stones (102 to 121 kilo- 

 grammes) at their own pace. Desaguliers* said that in his day 

 (1763) the pack-horses used by the fellmonger and skinner carried 

 heavier weights than any others, and were sometimes loaded with 

 32 to 40 stones (204 to 254 kilogrammes), carried at a very slow pace. 

 If what we are told respecting the weight-carrying power of the 

 Cleveland pack-horse can be believed, their capabilities exceeded 

 those of any other breed. Culley (1794^ is responsible for the 

 statement that three Cleveland mares each carried 50 stones 

 (318 kilogrammes) sixty miles in twenty-four hours, and did it four 

 times a week. Youatt J states that mill-horses have carried 65 stones 

 (413*6 kilogrammes) two or three miles. A man will carry for long 

 distances a third of his body weight, and for short distances more 

 than his body weight. The Japanese coolie carries 90 pounds, 

 or even 140 pounds, long distances, and no weight seems too great 

 for the Egyptian. The writer has shown that the effective weight 

 a horse in good condition will carry for long distances, lies between 

 the one-sixth to the one-fifth of the animal's own body weight. § 

 The mean weight of a cavalry horse is 1,100 lbs. (500 kilogrammes), 

 so that the effective weight he is capable of carrying may be taken 

 at 14 stones (83' 2 kilogrammes). Cavalry horses are called upon to 

 carry as much as 20 stones, or 280 pounds (127*2 kilogrammes), 

 roughly, one-quarter of the body weight, an amount greatly in excess 

 of their strength. 



Apart from the features touched on above, the main physiological 

 fact connected with weight-carrying in horses is that the muscles 

 of the back and loins must be conditioned for the work. An animal 

 in the hardest condition for draught purposes is quite unfit to carry 

 a man ; the muscles of the back and below the loins are unable to 

 carry weight unless the animal is properly conditioned beforehand. 

 And this holds good for any class of work which necessitates the 

 employment of a fresh and unskilled group of muscles. 



The Speed of Horses — The Gallop. — The fastest pace at which a 

 horse has been known to gallop is at the rate of 37*69 miles an hour. 

 The animal was Salvator, who in 1890 was galloped on a straight 

 course against time. Flying Childers, the fastest horse known in 

 this country, galloped 3I miles, at a velocity of 34J miles an hour. 

 In another trial, of over 4 miles, the speed attained was an average 

 of 33*62 miles per hour. Flying Childers has been credited with 

 galloping a mile in a minute, but this is impossible. The mean 

 velocity for the Derby during the last ten years has been 33*54 miles 

 per hour, the distance being i£ miles. For the Lincolnshire Handi- 

 cap, the distance of which is a mile, the average speed for ten years 

 was 33*84 miles per hour. The ordinary gallop employed varies 

 from 12 to 14 miles an hour. The length of the stride is from 17 to 

 20 feet for the average horse, for the race-horse considerably more. 

 Flying Childers was credited with a stride of 25 feet. 



* Op. cit. f ' Observations on Live Stock.' \ 'The Horse.' 



§ ' The Weight of a Horse and its Weight-carrying Power, ' Journal of 

 Comparative Pathology and Therapeutics, vol. xi., No. 4, 1899. 



