Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1917-07-27
HORSES I'M ACTION
Advisable to Examine Animal
Carefully for Lameness.
OBSERVE The VARIOUS CATS
Perfection in Walking is Characterized
by Feet Being Brought UP Quick
Iy-Trottine Must Be With
out Wabbling.

prepared by the United States Depart
,ment of Agriculture)
Lameness due to u variety of causes
and of various forms, some not at first
apparent, should be carefully looked
for when examining Il horse in action.
When lameness is present only at GER
tain times, it is known as intermittent
lameness, consequently ii is advisable
to examine a horse on several different
occasions. In cold lameness the ami
up. while in warm lameness the i'm
pediment does not manifest itself I'M
Ill after considerable exercise. Finch
ing when the horse turns sharply indi-
Gates shoulder lameness. The various
gaits should be observed from the
front, side. and rear in order that the
desirable features and defects may not
be overlooked.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. in this gait is
characterized by the feet being
brought up quickly from the ground.
by their being carried in IL straight
line. by lengthy stride, and by the
cycle being completed quickly. All of
these aid in producing Il rapid walk,
which is a great asset to horses used
for any purpose. The defects of gait
which may well be noted while the
horse is walking are interfering, wing
ing. tOeing i'm or toeing out, and spraw-
ling.
Trot.-This gait must be square !;
that is, it must be without any ten
dency to wabble, shuttle. or mix gaits,
and the hind feet should follow in line
with the fOrefeet. In the roadster and
trotting race horse speed is highly
valued. while in the park saddle horse
a fair degree of nicely balanced knee
and hook action is demanded. The
highest priced factor of the harness
horse expresses itself at the trOt in
extreme knee and hook action. Even
in the draft horse a square, open, we'll
balanced trOt with pronounced knee
and hook action adds many dollars to
his selling price. The common defects
of the trOt are interfering, forging,
dwelling, hopping. and knee action
without a prOportiOnate amount of
hook action or vice versa. Lameness
may be detected i'm the trOt when it
may not be apparent i'm other gaits.
An abundance or lack of energy and
ambition is apparent during trotting
by the general department and car
riage.
Pace.-The pacing gait is more or
less common in harness horses. and
Ii is useful as fast road gait on
smooth thoroughfares. The charac-
teristic movements of the limbs i'm this
gait consist i'm the feet on the same
side of the body striking the ground
simultaneously. The principal defects
of the pace are crOss-firing and hit
ting the knees.
Easy Gaits.-PlantatiOn horses and
hve-gaited saddle horses have gaits
that are easy on the rider as well as
on the horse. Such gaits are desired
principally for long rides and are
known as slow pace. fox or dog trot,
and running walk. Any one of them
may constitute one of the gaits of n
five-gaited horse. while the faster easy
gait demanded in such Il horse Is the
rack or singlefoot. This is interme-
date between the trOt and pace. the
feet hitting the ground one at time.
producing a gait easy on the rider.
but firing to the horse.
Canter.-The canter, classed as a
saddle gait, may be described as a
modified. collected. and very slow gal
Top. II should be graceful, easy. and
i handily performed
Wind.-To test the wind have the
horse ridden at n very fast gallon
stopping him abruptly so that YOU NAV
hear the passing of air through the
wind pipe. In roaring. or broken wind
there will be whistling sound each
time the horse inhales. When a horse
, is affected with the disease called
+, heaves. it has difficulty in forcing air
out OF the lungs. causing a peculiar
and very characteristic movement in
the tanks and abdomen, especially
after exertiOn. Horses affected wjsl
heaves usually cough in a Characters
tic manner after drinking cold water
This cough may also be Excited in af
fected horses by tightly grasping the
wfndpipe at the throat latch for Z
short time. A horses respiration II