Horse Galloping Through Wheat coloring page

About this coloring page

A horse galloping through wheat is speed in motion. For centuries, though, nobody could say exactly what a horse’s legs were doing at full gallop, because the human eye simply cannot follow movement that fast.

The answer came in 1878 from photographer Eadweard Muybridge, working for California businessman Leland Stanford. Muybridge lined up a row of cameras beside a track and triggered them one after another as a horse raced past. The pictures proved that at one moment in every stride, all four hooves leave the ground, tucked up beneath the body. Those sequential photos are also remembered as an early step toward motion pictures.

The gallop is a four-beat gait, with each foot landing in a set order before that brief moment of flight. It is hard work. A galloping horse breathes in rhythm with its strides, one breath per stride, and cannot keep up top speed for long.

All that running ability comes from the horse’s past as a prey animal on wide-open grasslands. Long legs, big lungs and a powerful heart helped wild horses outrun predators, and today those same traits make horses outstanding athletes.

• galloping horse
• wheat field
• horses
• speed
• farm