The Horse in Motion

A man named Muybridge took special photos.

He wanted to see how horses move. A man named Stanford asked for help. He thought old paintings were wrong.

Muybridge used twelve cameras at once. A wheel hit wires to start them. The cameras showed the horse's legs. It showed all four feet can leave the ground. These photos helped start movies!

Long ago, people thought they knew how horses ran. Most paintings showed horses with legs stretched out wide. They looked like they were flying through the air. But a man named Leland Stanford thought this was wrong. He wanted to see the real truth.

Stanford asked Eadweard Muybridge to help him. Muybridge used a new way to take photos. He set up twelve cameras in a line. He used wires on the ground near the track. When a horse ran by, its wheels hit the wires. This made the cameras take pictures one by one.

The photos showed something amazing. They showed that all four feet can leave the ground at once. This happens when the legs are tucked under the body. One famous photo shows a horse named Sallie Gardner.

These pictures were called chronophotography. This is a way to record time through photos. This work was a big step for motion pictures. It helped lead to the movies we watch today.

Have you ever wondered exactly how a horse moves when it runs? For a long time, artists painted horses in a very specific way. They showed the animal with its legs stretched out wide in the air. This made the horse look like it was flying like a squirrel.

However, a man named Leland Stanford thought these paintings were wrong. He was a horseman and a former Governor of California. He wanted to use science to find the real truth. He believed the camera could show the actual position of a horse's limbs.

To solve this mystery, Stanford hired a photographer named Eadweard Muybridge. They worked together to build a special way to capture motion. Muybridge set up a line of twelve cameras along a race track. He used an electrical shutter system to trigger the cameras. He even placed wires under the surface of the track.

When a horse pulled a sulky, the wheels would trip the wires one by one. This caused each camera to snap a picture in a quick sequence. Each shot lasted only about 1/1000th of a second.

The results changed how people saw the world. The photos showed that horses do not stretch their legs out while running. Instead, all four feet are sometimes off the ground at once. This happens when the legs are gathered underneath the body.

One famous set of cards features a mare named Sallie Gardner. These cards are part of a series called "The Horse in Motion." They showed the different phases of how a horse moves. This method of taking photos is called chronophotography. It was a new way to record the passing of time.

This project happened in the summer of 1878 in Palo Alto, California. The very first successful test was on June 15, 1878. A horse named Abe Edgington trotted across the track for the cameras. The cards were sold by Morse's gallery for $1.50 each. That is about the same as $49 today. Muybridge also worked on other horses like Occident. He even published his findings in a book called "Animal Locomotion" in 1887. He shared his discoveries through lectures all across Europe and the United States.

These early photographs were a huge step for modern technology. Many people call the Sallie Gardner cards the world's first bit of cinema. Even though Muybridge used a device called a Zoopraxiscope, it was not like modern movies. He used painted discs to show moving images from his photos.

Still, his work helped lead to the development of motion pictures. It connected the world of science with the world of art. Today, we can see how his careful steps helped create the movies we love.

The Horse in Motion is a landmark series of cabinet cards created by Eadweard Muybridge in 1878. These cards represent the first major example of chronophotography. Chronophotography is an early method used to record the passing of time through photography. It was primarily used to document the different phases of locomotion for scientific study. By capturing successive moments of movement, Muybridge provided a way to see motion that the human eye could not fully process. This work became a vital stepping stone in the eventual development of motion pictures.

The project began because of a disagreement between art and observation. Leland Stanford was a wealthy industrialist, a former Governor of California, and a dedicated horseman. He owned many horses, including standardbreds for trotting and thoroughbreds for galloping. Stanford noticed that most oil paintings of running horses were incorrect. Artists typically depicted horses with their legs fully extended, looking like flying squirrels in the air. Stanford believed the camera could be used to prove the actual position of the limbs during a stride. He commissioned Muybridge to find the scientific truth through instantaneous photography.

Muybridge’s early attempts in 1873 were difficult. He initially believed that capturing a horse at full speed was impossible. At that time, photography was mostly used for street scenes where subjects moved at a walking pace. To improve his results, Muybridge used white sheets as a bright backdrop. He even laid sheets on the ground so the horse's legs would be clearly visible. He developed a spring-activated shutter system with a 1/8-inch opening. Despite his efforts, his first results were merely blurry and shadowy images. However, Stanford was enthusiastic because the blurry outlines supported his theory that previous depictions were wrong.

In 1878, the process became much more advanced and mechanical. Muybridge used a complex system of 12 cameras arranged along a track in Palo Alto. He ordered specialized lenses from England and worked with San Francisco engineers to build an electrical shutter system. To trigger the cameras, wires were placed under the surface of the track. When a horse pulled a sulky, the wheel would strike the wires one by one. This broke the electrical circuits and caused each camera shutter to open in a specific sequence. Each shot was incredibly fast, lasting only about 1/1000th of a second.

The series included several different horses performing various gaits. On June 15, 1878, the horse Abe Edgington trotted across the track. Later, the mare Sallie Gardner was photographed running at a 1.40 gait. These images proved that a horse's legs actually move into "queer" positions that lack the grace seen in paintings. Most importantly, the photos showed that all four feet are sometimes off the ground at the same time. This occurs during a gallop when the feet are gathered beneath the body, rather than extended outward. These findings were later published in the 1887 book, Animal Locomotion.

The commercial and scientific impact of the work was significant. The cards were published by Morse's gallery and could be ordered for $1.50 each. In modern purchasing power, this is roughly equivalent to $49. The project resulted in many different editions, including versions in German and French. Muybridge also used his photographs to project moving images using a device called a Zoopraxiscope. While his Zoopraxiscope used painted discs and was not as advanced as later cinema, it was a crucial link. His work bridged the gap between the study of animal mechanics and the birth of the motion picture industry.