Editing Gait (section)

==Overview==
[[Milton Hildebrand]] pioneered the contemporary scientific analysis and the classification of gaits. The movement of each limb was partitioned into a stance phase, where the foot was in contact with the ground, and a swing phase, where the foot was lifted and moved forwards.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hildebrand |first1=Milton |title=The Quadrupedal Gaits of Vertebrates: The timing of leg movements relates to balance, body shape, agility, speed, and energy expenditure |journal=BioScience |date=1 December 1989 |volume=39 |issue=11 |page=766 |doi=10.2307/1311182|jstor=1311182 }}</ref><ref name="TaschMoubarak2008">{{cite book|last1=Tasch|first1=U.|title=Volume 2: Automotive Systems; Bioengineering and Biomedical Technology; Computational Mechanics; Controls; Dynamical Systems|last2=Moubarak|first2=P.|last3=Tang|first3=W.|last4=Zhu|first4=L.|last5=Lovering|first5=R. M.|last6=Roche|first6=J.|last7=Bloch|first7=R. J.|chapter=An Instrument That Simultaneously Measures Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters and Ground Reaction Forces of Locomoting Rats |year=2008|pages=45–49|doi=10.1115/ESDA2008-59085|isbn=978-0-7918-4836-4}}</ref> Each limb must complete a [[period (physics)|cycle in the same length of time]], otherwise one limb's relationship to the others can change with time, and a steady pattern cannot occur.  Thus, any gait can completely be described in terms of the beginning and end of stance phase of three limbs relative to a cycle of a reference limb, usually the left [[hindlimb]].