XXX OVERCOMING INERTIA. 



In the training of Defiance, the toe-weights, in a great measure, did 



away with the desire to pace, and when he broke from the trot his 



inclination was to indulge in a hand-gallop. When forced to run, 



the toe-weight is a terrible incumbrance, and when the " last 



efibrt " is made, to hurl the body through the air, there is an immense 



strain on the muscles and tendons of the fore leg which gives the 



final impulse. The whole weight of the body has to be flung to a 



distance, and though a portion of the impetus has been derived from 



the other legs, by far the greatest part of the force is due to the 



motion which precedes the bound. To raise the weight on the toe 



there has to be a violent movement at the instant it leaves the 



ground, and then it has to be raised t© an altitude of eighteen inches 



and thrown forward with a velocity" which Muybridge estimates to be 



a hundred feet in a second, or double that of the body. 



Whoever will give proper study to this phase of the action of the 

 race-horse, will readily understand the difficulty there is in overcom- 

 ing the inertia of even a few ounces of weight on the toe ; and^ as it 

 is well known, that the application of weight induces higher 

 action, there is further loss of power arising from the exuberance 

 of muscular efibrt. The old-time quarter-horse men were well 

 aware of the effect of unequal weight on the feet, and a favorite 

 plan to mislead those they desired to hoodwink, was to "cross shoe" 

 the horse, and then arrange it so as to run a night trial, when the 

 trick could not be discovered. Cross-shoeing consisted in putting a 

 heavy shoe on a fore and hind foot on opposite sides, and a light one 

 on the others, and this would make a difference of many yards in a 

 quai-ter of a mile. In some cases which came to my knowledge, 

 an arrangement Avas made to leave the stable unguarded, when a 

 confederate would suggest stealing the horse out for a surreptitious 

 trial run, after the change in shoes had been made, and the result 

 would be that the capacity of the animal was underrated and the 

 desired match obtained. In so short a run as a quarter of a mile 

 the difference between shoes and plates is not so great, and weight 

 on the feet would not be so effective, but the inequality broke the 

 regularity of stride, as well as the drawback of additional weight, 

 and the purpose was thoroughly effected. 



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