Abstract
The temporal characteristics of the equine gait known as the fox trot are described. Data were obtained from cine films of three horses ( Equus caballus), with five strides being analysed for each horse. The results show that the fox trot has a lateral sequence of limb placements: left hind, left front, right hind, right front. The rhythm of the footfalls is characterised by diagonal couplets with impact of the forelimb being followed by the diagonal hind limb after an interval of 15% of the stride duration, whereas impact of the forelimb follows that lateral hind limb by 35% of the stride duration. The mean stride duration was 593.3 ms which is equivalent to a stride frequency of 101 strides min −1. The stance durations of the forelimbs and hind limbs were 54% of the stride duration, indicating that the fox trot is a walking gait without any periods of suspension. During a complete stride the body was supported by eight distinct limb combinations. For each half of the stride the limb support sequence expressed as a percentage of the stride duration was tripedal with two hind limbs and one forelimb (8.9%), diagonal bipedal (60.6%), tripedal with one hind limb and two forelimbs (8.9%), and lateral bipedal (21.7%).
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