VUl STONEHENGE ON THE GALLOP. 



had evidently given a good deal of time to observation and close 

 study of the paces of the animal, and it was from no lack of pene- 

 tration, but the absolute impossibility for the brain to record such 

 active movements. His observations are woi*thy of being quoted, 

 showing what was considered the intelligent explanation, before in- 

 stantaneous photography had solved the problem. Stonehenge 

 writes : 



" To represent the gallop pictorially, in a perfectly correct manner, 

 is almost impossible. At all events it has never yet been accom- 

 plished, the ordinary and received interpretation being altogether 

 erroneous. When cai-efully watched, the horse in full gallop will 

 be seen to extend himself very much, but not nearly to the length 

 which is assigned to him by artists. To give the idea of high speed, 

 the hind legs are thrust backwai'd and the fore legs forward, in a 

 most xmnatural position, which, if it could be assumed in reality, 

 would inevitably lead to a fall, and most probably to a broken back. 

 It is somewhat difficult to obtain a good view of a horse at his best 

 pace, without watching him through a. race-glass at a distance of a 

 quai'ter of a mile at least, for if the eye is nearer to him than this 

 the passage of the body by it is so quick that no analysis can be 

 made of the position of the sevei-al parts. But at the above dis- 

 tance it may be readily seen that the horse never assumes the at- 

 titude in which he is generally represented, of which an example is 

 given at the beginning of this article. When the hind legs are 

 thrown backwards, the fore feet are i-aised and more or less curled 

 up under the knees, as it is manifest must be the case to enable 

 them to be brought forward without raising the body from the 

 ground. In the next act, as the hind feet are brought under the 

 body, the fore legs are thrust straight before it ; and so, whichever is 

 chosen for the representation, the complete extension so generally 

 adopted must be inaccurate. It may be said that this is meant to 

 i-epi'esent the moment wlien all the feet are in the air, and theoretic- 

 ally it is possible that there may be a time when all the feet are 

 extended ; because, as in the fast galloj) the stride is twenty-fuur 

 feet long, while the horse only measures sixteen from foot to foot, it 

 follows that he must pass through eight feet without touching the 



