Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1917-07-03
HORSES IN ACTION
Advisable to Examine Animal
Carefully for Lameness.
OBSERVE THE VARIOUS CATS
Perfection in Walking Is Characterized
by Feet Being Brought Up Quick
iy-Trottino Must Be With
out Wabbiine.

!
ment of Agricultural
LameneSs due to a variety of causes
and of various forms, some not at first.
apparent, should be carefully looked
for when examining horse in action.
When lameness is present only at GER
tain times, it is known as intermittent
lameIress, consequently it is advisable
to examine horse on several different
occasions. In cold lameness the ami
NAL will go sound after he is warmed
up, while in warm lameness the i'm
| pediment does not manifest itself I'M
| til after considerable exercise. Finch
ing when the horse turns sharply indi-
Gates shoulder lameneSs The various
| gafts 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 a straight
line, by lengthy stride, and by the
| cycle being completed quickly. All of
| these aid in producing a 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 in 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
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 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 q proportionate amount of
hook action or vice versa. Lameness
may be detected in the trot when it
may not be apparent in 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
it is useful as fast road gait on
smooth thOroughfares. The charac-
teriStic movements of the limbs in this
gait consist in the feet on the same
side of the body striking the ground
simultaneously. The principal defects
of the pace are cross-fring and hit
ting the knees.
Easy Gaits.-Plantation horses and
fye-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 a
flve-gaited horse, while the faster easy
gait demanded in such horse is the
rack or SinglefoOt. This is interme-
diate between the trot and pace, the
feet hitting the ground one at a time.
producing gait easy on he rider,
but firing to the horse.
Canter.-The canter classed as a
saddle gait, may be described as
modified, collected, and very slow gal
/ lop. 1t should be graceful, easy, and
handily performed.
Wind.-To test the wind have the
horse ridden at very fast gallop.
stopping him abruptly so that you may
hear the passing of air through The
wind pipe. In roaring, or broken wind.
there will be a 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 with
heaveS usually cough in a characteris-
tic manner after drinking cold water.
This cough may also be excited in af-
fected horses by tightly grasping the
windpipe at the throat latch for a
short time. A horses respiration is