126 
LECTURES ON HORSES. 
placed upon the ground again prior to the latter. The two remain- 
ing feet move, in respect to each other, in the same order of time, 
the left or near fore after the off hind, the right or off hind after the 
near fore ; it being observable that, as each hind foot follows in the 
line of movement of its corresponding fore foot, the latter would 
very often get struck by the former did it not quit its place imme- 
diately prior to the other being placed upon, partly or entirely, the 
same ground. Now, as the off fore foot gets grounded before the 
near hind, and as the near fore foot is raised off the ground at the 
moment the near hind is placed upon it, it follows that the fore 
feet are performing in manner very or quite similar to the action 
of a biped, one being off the ground while the other is on, one 
being in advance while the other is left behind ; the hind feet also 
are performing the same alternate movements, the only difference 
being that the motions are reversed : in fact, if we imagine two 
soldiers marching in file, or one behind the other, out of step , we 
shall have a very good idea of the movements of the quadruped 
animal : the soldier in front representing the fore legs, it is evident 
that unless he gets his feet out of the line of march in proper time, 
they must be trodden upon by the soldier behind, representing the 
hind limbs ; so that, in point of reality, the quadruped, in his ordi- 
nary movements, may be said to represent a double biped marching 
out of step. 
With a view of rendering the order of movement of the four 
limbs of the quadruped more intelligible, it has been common with 
writers on the subject to note each foot by a letter or number : thus, 
the fore legs are represented by the letters A, B, the hind by C, D : 
supposing the A and C to denote the left or near legs, and B, D, 
the right or off, fore and hind respectively, and that A moves first, 
D will follow, and B will quit its place just in time for D to oc- 
cupy it, while A will move off for a second time, just in time for 
C, the last leg to move, to take the ground A stood upon ; up to 
which period A has moved twice to C’s once. Supposing a hind 
leg, C, moved first, the fore leg, B, having to move next, A would 
not quit its ground in time for C to occupy it. When it happens 
that a hind leg does make the first step — as in horses or cattle 
grazing or moving leisurely or heedlessly — the step proves to be 
one short of the spot upon which the corresponding fore foot is 
resting, and so the latter is saved from being trodden upon. In 
this manner it happens that the fore and hind feet of the corre- 
sponding sides become, instead of being in respect of one another 
diagonally placed, approached close together on one side, standing 
under the centre of gravity, while on the other side the fore is ad- 
vanced, the hind being extended backwards. This is not a natural 
position, but it is one that observably occurs in movements such as 
