THE HORSE IN MOTION 57 



most noted pacers have possessed this conformation. Great 

 speed attends this gait, it being regarded as about one 

 second faster on the race course than that of the trot. 



The gallop is a fast, leaping three-beat gait. In this 

 case, the combined beat of diagonal feet occurs between two 

 successive beats of the other two feet. For a brief period 

 between strides the body is in the air, the feet all being 

 free from the ground. In this gait there is considerable 



Fig. 28. — "The gallop is a fast, leaping, three-beat gait." Skeleton of 

 famous Thoroughbred Sysonby at full speed. Prepared and mounted by 

 Mr. S. H. Chubb. (Courtesy American Museum of Natural History.) 



wear on the fore foot which naturally leads, and the diago- 

 nal hind, which follows, consequently it is desirable to 

 change the lead of the members so as to afford them relief. 

 The gallop ranges from slow to fast, and in the latter case 

 may develop into a four-beat movement. This is the natural 

 gait of the horse when free from the restraints of man, 

 and it is also the gait of the Thoroughbred, or running 

 horse, the holder of the fastest records made by the horse. 

 The canter is a form of gallop, slow, deliberate, graceful 



