THE " TAKE OFF:' 



131 



Fig. 150. The Horse's Leap — [continued). Fig. 151. 



have not had an opportunity of observing the paces of other 

 large fehnes. The Indian black buck and the South African 

 springbok, which are two remarkably fast kinds of antelope, 

 generally begin their gallop by a series of leaps, when 

 suddenly startled. The gallop of the mastiff (which is a 

 comparatively slow dog), depicted by Figs. 132 to 137, 

 resembles that of the horse. I may remark that the longer 

 the period of suspension, the faster and more fatiguing, as a 

 rule, will be the gallop. 



Period of Stride at which the Take Off is 

 Effected. — In the running leap from the canter or gallop, 

 we may regard the putting down of the leading fore leg {see 

 Fig. 138) as the commencement of the take off; for, at that 

 period, the character of the pace is changed, and the " take off" 

 by the hind legs is made close to the foot-print of that leg. 

 We therefore see that during the stride of, say, from four to 

 seven yards in length, there is only one moment at which the 

 " take off" can be executed. Hence, if a horse does not regu- 

 late the length of his stride when coming up to a fence, he may 

 easily make a mistake. Let us suppose that, while taking a 

 stride of five yards, he brings down his leading fore leg three 



K 2 



