The Attitudes of Animals in Motion Part 2

The descent of the left hind foot completes the stride, and the consecutive movements are repeated.

In stride No. 7 we learn that during the canter the support of the body is derived from

1. The left hind foot.

2. The left hind and left fore feet--_laterals_.

3. Both hind and the left fore feet.

4. The right hind and left fore feet--_diagonals_.

5. The right hind and both fore feet.

6. The right hind and right fore feet--_laterals_.

7. The right fore foot alone, on which he leaves the ground.

_The Gallop or Run._

This movement has in all ages been employed by artists to convey the impression of rapid motion, although, curiously enough, the att.i.tude in which the horse has been almost invariably depicted is one which is impracticable during uniform progressive motion.

When during a rapid gallop, with a stride of 20 feet, a horse after his flight through the air lands on his left hind foot, the right hind will be suspended over it at an elevation of 12 or 15 inches, and several inches to the rear of and above it the sole of the right fore foot will be turned up almost horizontally, the left fore leg is flexed with the foot under the breast at a height of 18 or 20 inches.

The right hind foot strikes the ground some 36 inches in advance of the left hind, each as they land being forward of the centre of gravity.

The body is now thrust forward, and while the right hind pastern is still almost horizontal, the left hind foot leaves the ground. At this time the left fore leg is perfectly straight, the foot, with the toe much higher than the heel, is thrust forward to a point almost vertical with the nose, and at an elevation of about 12 inches the right fore knee is bent at right angles, and the foot suspended under the breast at several inches greater elevation than the left fore foot.

The left fore foot now strikes the ground, 96 inches in advance of the spot which the right hind foot is on the point of leaving, and for a brief s.p.a.ce of time the diagonals are upon the ground together. The left fore leg, however, immediately a.s.sumes the entire responsibility of the weight, and soon attains a vertical position, with its pastern at right angles to it.

In this position the right hind foot is thrust back to its fullest extent, at an elevation of 12 or 14 inches, with the pastern nearly horizontal. The left hind foot is considerably higher and somewhat more forward; the right fore leg is straight, stretched forward, with the foot about 15 inches from the ground, and almost on a perpendicular line from the nose. The right fore foot strikes the ground 48 inches in advance of the left fore, which, having nearly performed its office, is preparing to leave the ground; the animal will then be supported on the right fore foot alone, which immediately falls well to the rear of the centre of gravity, which is sometimes pa.s.sed by the left hind foot at a height of about 12 inches; the right hind foot is some distance in the rear, and the left fore foot, at a height of 24 inches, is suspended somewhat in advance of its lateral.

In this position the horse uses the right fore foot for a final act of propulsion, and is carried in mid air for a distance of 60 inches, after which the left hind foot descends, the stride is completed, and the consecutive motions renewed.

The measurements and positions herein given do not pretend to exactness, as they must depend to some extent upon the capability, training, and convenience of the animal; but they may be accepted as representing an average stride of 20 feet with a horse in a fair condition for racing.

From this a.n.a.lysis it will be seen, by reference to stride 9, that a horse, during an ordinary gallop, is supported consecutively by:

1. The left hind foot, 2. Both hind feet, 3. The right hind foot, 4. The right hind and left fore feet, 5. The left fore foot, 6. Both fore feet, 7. The right fore foot,

with which he leaves the ground, while the only position in which we find him entirely without support is when all the legs are flexed under his body.

It is highly probable, however, that more exhaustive experiments with long-striding horses in perfect training, will discover there is sometimes an interval of suspension between the lifting of one fore foot and the descent of the other; and also between the lifting of the second hind foot which touches the ground, and the descent of its diagonal fore foot (see imaginary stride 10). Should this latter be the case, it will, from the necessary positions of the other limbs, afford but a very shadowy pretext for the conventional att.i.tude used by artists to represent a gallop. It is extremely doubtful if there can be any interval of suspension between the lifting of one hind foot and the descent of the other, no matter what the length of stride.

Many able scientists have written on the theory of the gallop, but I believe Marey was the first to demonstrate, that in executing this movement, the horse left the ground with a fore foot and landed on a hind foot.

_The Leap._

There is little essential difference in general characteristics of either of the several movements that have been described, but with a number of experiments made with horses while leaping, no two were found to agree in the manner of execution. The leap of the same horse at the same rate of speed, with the same rider, over the same hurdle, disclosed much variation in the rise, clearance, and descent of the animal. Apart from this, the horses were not thoroughly trained leapers, and the results are perhaps not representative of those that would be obtained from the action of a well-trained hunting horse. A few motions were, however, invariable. While the horse was raising his body to clear the hurdle, one hind foot was always in advance of the other, and exercised its last energy alone.

On the descent, the concussion was always received by one fore foot, supported by the other more or less rapidly, and sometimes as much as 30 inches in advance of where the first one struck, followed by the hind feet also, with intervals of time and distance between their several falls. It is highly probable future experiments will prove these observations to be invariable in leaping.

It is highly probable that these photographic investigations, which were executed with wet collodion plates with exposures not exceeding in some instances the one five-thousandth part of a second, will dispel many popular illusions as to gait, and that future and more exhaustive experiments, with all the advantages of recent chemical discoveries, will completely unveil to the artist all the visible muscular action of men and animals during their most rapid movements.

The employment of automatic apparatus for the purpose of obtaining a regulated succession of photographic exposures is too recent for its value to be properly understood, or to be generally used for scientific experiment; at a future time, the pathologist, the anatomist, and other explorers for hidden truths will find it indispensable for their complex investigations.