Do horses' legs leave the ground at a gallop?

A cheetah vs a horse showing the legs leaving the ground in the tucked position from famous photos by Eadweard Muybridge
A cheetah vs a horse showing the legs leaving the ground in the tucked position from famous photos by Eadweard Muybridge

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There’s a famous photo series by Eadweard Muybridge that shows, unequivocally, that while galloping, all four of a horse’s legs leave the ground.

I’d always heard that’s what they were trying to find out at the time, but from what I’ve read, it was more a question of at what points a horse’s legs leave the ground. The photos show the somewhat surprising state of leaving the ground while the horse’s legs are tucked, not when they are outstretched.

It’s a lovely example of what Edward Tufte calls small multiples .

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