58 JUDGING FARM ANIMALS 



and easy, in which the weight is largely borne by the hind- 

 quarters, with the front limbs carried somewhat high. 

 "There is a vast difference, however," says G. G. Burton, 

 in an address to Kansas horse breeders,® "between the 

 canter of a gaited saddler and the gallop of an unrestrained 

 horse, or the lope of a broncho. Any horse will lope or gal- 

 lop when pushed beyond his trotting or pacing speed, 

 but the gaited saddler goes from a walk, or even from a 

 standstill, into a graceful, enjoyable, hammock-like motion 

 which we call a canter. The term is inadequate to the 

 luxurious movement, but we must consider the thing and 

 not the name. His legs are never so well under him as 

 when in the canter and his neck is never so beautifully 

 arched. ' ' 



The rack is a four-beat gait, each foot striking the 

 ground separately. This gait has been in times past popu- 

 larly known in America as the "single-foot" gait, a term 

 not now in favor and going out of use. This is not a natural 

 gait, being an evolution from the pace or amble, for it is 

 the result of special education, and is notably a feature of 

 the five-gaited saddle horse. It is a hard gait but it is 

 fascinating to the expert. Again quoting Mr. Burton, "he 

 must go at a tension and rack against the bit, and he must 

 get action from his hocks and shoulders as well as from his 

 knees. If he goes in form, he will carry a high head and a 

 high tail, arch his neck and hold a vertical face. He must 

 be pulled together and remain collected from start to finish. 

 If he goes in a pure, clear, bold rack, his feet make a four- 

 beat music the rhythm of which cannot be mistaken for 

 that of any other gait." 



The running walk is, as the name implies, a gait which 

 represents the horse just passing from a walk into a faster 

 gait, closely resembling the rack. It is a slow, four-beat 

 gait, that is faster and easier than a flat-footed walk. It 

 is an 'easy locomotion, and when the horse is in full sj^mpa- 

 thy with his work, he keeps time with his step by nodding 



"Farmers' Review, Aug. 29, 1900. 



