32 TREAD OF THE FOOT, [BOOK I, 



4. Mares, occasionally, and skittish horses, fre- 

 quently bring their legs together, much resem- 

 bling the first figure, and are insecure roadsters as 

 well as poor draught horses. When it comes on 

 the horse of hitherto even tread, without other ac- 

 countable cause, we may rest assured, that it lies 

 internally, and is owing to the adhesion of the parts, 

 as spoken of elsewhere. See Index. The second 

 sketch is the walking motion of an unladen cart- 

 horse, or a coach-horse standing still ; these, as well 

 as hunters, take the same position, at rest, which 

 indicates that they have the free use of their limbs. 

 In the drag, the former bring their fore legs under 

 their bodies, the principle being applicable to any 

 quadruped performing the like task ; and such a 

 horse would consequently fall down forward but 

 for the resistance of the load he draws. But this 

 accident seems provided for, by the power the 

 horse has of contracting the muscles (see Section 

 10), and drawing up quickly the lower part of his 

 limb, in time to get it out of the way of his hind 

 leg, both motions forming each a separate effort 

 toward progression. I still have in view a walking 

 pace, all other paces being no other than modi- 

 fications of the walk ; and, in fact, " a horse that 

 walks well can do any thing else well," an aphorism 

 that is a- twin with one equally well founded in the 

 preceding Section. 



With some horses, the hind foot, instead of 

 coming forward, as described at the bottom of 

 the last Section, upon the spot of ground marked 



