42 Scats and Saddles. 



and the off fore leg, d^ as a lifter, these two being con- 

 nected by dotted lines in the successive bounds, e h^g k^ 

 etc., and the intersections of these full and dotted lines 

 remain invariable. 



This will serve to explain why it is that, although a 

 moderate trot is less fatiguing to horses than any other 

 pace for a long journey, on account of the pairs of legs 

 being used as bearers and propellers alternately^ some 

 horses will, under the rider, break into a canter, the 

 alternate shifting of their own and his weight from right 

 to left becoming more fatiguing than the constant use 

 of each pair of legs for the same functions ; and the 

 proof is, that many of these horses will go a steady trot 

 in harness when they have only their own weight to 

 adjust. It also explains why horses, when hurried in 

 their trot, and over-weighted in the forehand, whereby 

 the bearers (fore legs) become unable to support the 

 weight thrown more and more rapidly on them by the 

 hind legs, which now act solely as propellers, naturally, 

 and to save themselves from falling, "lead" with a fore 

 leg, immediately followed by a hind one — that is to say, 

 break into a canter, which gives them, instead of the 

 alternate lines of support a b^b c^c d (^, fig. 2), a per- 

 manent triangle, k I ?n (jB, fig. 2), as a basis. 



It may be objected that some horses will trot under 

 the rider that will not do so in harness ; no doubt this is 

 because that rider knows how to adjust his weight to 

 the peculiar exigencies of the horse ; some, from various 

 causes, being assisted in trotting by the rider's weight 

 being adjusted in a particular way, of which a very 

 remarkable instance is adduced in a footnote, p. 52, of 

 that very admirable work, " The Handy Horse-Book." 

 There was some defect of the animal's construction in 

 this case that required the weight to be adjusted in a 

 peculiar way : the halter and the riding barebacked tells 

 the tale. 



