year of the horse

Cut-paper collage postcard. Photos of horses in motion all by Eadweard Muybridge. Still photos by Keith Carter. Muybridge, who did most of his work in the 1870s-80s, was a real pioneer: his documentation of animals & humans in motion is influential to this day.

One issue he resolved has to do with the horse's gallop: Muybridge was frustrated with centuries of depictions of galloping horses with their front legs extended out front & up high, and their back legs extended out back & up high. He didn't think that posture ever happens in the gallop, and he proved it. He found that there is indeed a moment in the gallop when all four of the horse's feet are off the ground, but it happens when their legs are gathered underneath them. If you look at the second row from the top, the second photo from the left shows that moment.