:24 ACTION, HANDINESS AND CLEVERNESS. 



command over the limbs is, to a certain extent, lost by the 

 stride being too long. 



By the term lightness of action, I wish to specify well- 

 balanced movements of the limbs, by which undue weight is 

 thrown on none of them, and particularly not on the fore hand. 

 The action, from a ''level" point of view, is influenced by the 

 conformation of the body, and by the carriage of the head and 

 neck. To be perfect at fast paces, we require the animal 

 to be light in front , to have oblique shoulders and sloping 

 pasterns, so as to have full power to raise the fore hand ; 

 and to have good loin muscles. On page 6j, et scq., I have 

 treated of the carriage of the head and neck. In heavy 

 draught we do not require lightness of action, which is the 

 direct opposite of throwing weight into the collar. 



The Walk — At this pace, like at all others, the shoulders 

 should work with the utmost freedom, and the fore foot 

 should be thrown well to the front and only high enough to 

 clear and cover the ground. We may see this beautiful play 

 of the shoulders to perfection in young thoroughbreds. The 

 hind legs should be swung freely to the front, so that they 

 will considerably overstride the imprints made by the fore 

 feet. Viewed from behind, as well as from the front, the near 

 and off pairs of legs should respectively move in the same 

 line, so that there may be no ** dishing" or crossing of the 

 legs. The hocks should have no in-and-out movement, as 

 may be sometimes seen, and had better work rather close 

 together than wide. Any tendency to stumble or knuckle 

 over behind is a serious fault, unless it be solely due to bad 

 shoeing. If the horse be given a long rein, he should carry 

 his head rather low and well advanced, and should be able to 

 walk at the rate of about five miles an hour. 



The Trot— At the fast trot, the fore leg should be 

 brought to the front with a straight knee, the foot appearing 

 as if suspended for a brief moment (Fig. 208) before being 

 placed down. The knee should not be raised higher than 

 what would be sufficient to make the fore arm horizontal, 

 or not quite so much. The hind legs should be carried 



