Page 128 - ShowSight - August 2019
P. 128

                Form Follows Function:
BY STEPHANIE HEDGEPATH continued
    Figure 15.
Figure 16.
   Figure 17.
Figure 18.
  The swinging phase for the right front leg begins once the leg has lifted off of the ground. The shoulder blade rotates forward and the leg begins its forward swing. The leg should move forward with the foot low to the ground in a straight column of sup- port. As speed increases, the legs tend to converge more and more to the center line. If a dog’s feet eventually fall on the center
Figure 19.
line at a fast trot, this is termed single-track- ing. (Figures 15–20)
Now let’s look at the action of the rear legs. (Figures 11–20) The rear leg first reaches under the body to strike the ground close to where the front foot is just leaving the ground. (Figures 11–15) During this phase, the thigh and hip muscles do the majority of the work. Next, the leg swings
Figure 20.
backward under the dog’s pelvic assembly, using the hip and thigh muscles to generate most of its power. The leg then continues from under the hip toward the rear with a combination of the upper leg and the extension of the rear pastern providing the propelling force. (Figures 17–20) The rear pastern then completes the all-important follow through providing most of the final
126 • ShowSight Magazine, auguSt 2019






















































































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