Pelvic Limb Stance and Swing

As with the thoracic limb, there are two phases to the gait cycle of the pelvic limb:
1. STANCE- The paw contacts the ground
2. SWING- The paw is off the ground

Swing:
1. Through early swing the hip, stifle and tarsal joints are all in flexion in order to lift the limb from the ground for advancement
2. Through mid and late swing the hip, stifle and tarsal joints are all in extension in order to place the paw forward in order to repeat STANCE

Stance:
1. Through all but the very end of stance, the hip joint retains in extension
2. At early stance, the stifle and tarsal joints begin in flexion, but switch to extension through mid and late stance until the very end of stance when they switch back to flexion
3. The forces on the hindpaw (and pelvic limb) are biphasic. Initially they increase steadily through early stance. The forces then decrease through midstance before increasing again throughout the first half of late stance. Forces then decrease during the last half of late stance.

Hip Bone Movement
1. Similar to the scapula, the hip bone also moves during walking
2. There is movement in the vertical axis (compare the blue and yellow lines in images 1 and 22)
3. There is rotation in the horizontal axis (to be discussed later)

Go through the image series and understand the above points.