"The House of the Scorpion" Five legged horse

In Nancy Farmer's novel The House of the Scorpion, she describes a "five legged horse". When she mentions this "five legged horse" she is saying that as one being everything must work together to get things done quickly and without hassle.And if it doesn't then nothing will get done. I think that she uses the five legged horse to describe the type of government known as communism. Communism is when everyone works together to get things accomplished and are all treated equally. Raul(one of the keepers) gives an example on communism, using a paddle boat. He starts to ask the children "What would happen... if ypu wanted to go one way and the other half another?" one of the kids responds as saying that they would" go in circles" this, I think is a really good example of communism.