The horse in motion

The horse in motion (1878).  Former California Governor Leland Stanford argued with a French physiologist ($ 25,000) about the existence or absence of a canter phase when all four of the horse’s legs are off the ground. Photographer Edward Muybridge (April 9, 1830 — May 8, 1904) was invited to provide them with evidence or refutation of his innocence. The photographer himself was interested to find out whether the horse lifts all his legs off the ground during a gallop, and if so, in what phase of the three-stroke gait this happens. Edward understood that it would not be possible to capture this with one camera. He placed 24 cameras along the path along which the horse will run. I attached strings (stretch marks) to the camera shutters (1/25 sec.), which were triggered by the legs of a running horse.

The horse ran at a speed of 36 km / h. In the images obtained, it was seen that at a certain moment the horse lifts all four legs off the ground. So Leland Standforth was right and won the argument (equestrian magazine EquiLIfe).