What kind of saddle? And at what speed? If the horse is walking, which probably should be most of the time, I don't think that would be hard. A trot or gallop might hurt more. Not sure.
A western saddle is made to be comfortable for long rides. It doesn't require much of the ankle unless you need to change gaits (speed the horse up). For a good rider, that's usually just turning the heel into the horse and applying pressure, not the exaggerated kicks you see novices use.
And English saddle requires the rider to be more active in keeping their seat. You actually would use the ankle, the calf, and the knee to grip the horse. That might be hard to keep up for long.
But I've another perspective to offer. In January I fell off my motorcycle in remote country and broke my right foot in five places. I rode it the 100 miles home, despite it being the braking foot and my other (front/hand) brake lever having been broken off. It was bloody painful, and tiring (I spent most of the ride keeping weight off the foot) but sometimes situations push you to do things you don't expect...
When I broke my foot, I actually found that, at least when I wasn't putting weight on it, it hurt a heck of a lot less than it had when I sprained it badly. The doctors said they were sure it was a break as soon as they noticed the discrepancy between me not able to put weight on the foot but not being in pain as long as I was off it.
I'd add, what I can do with a sprain partially depends on what kind of shoes I'm wearing. I once sprained my ankle right before I had to go teach a math class. I laced my hiking boots up as tight as they'd go, so the ankle was more-or-less immobilized, and managed to limp through class (clinging to the little chalk-catching tray at the bottom of the chalkboard the whole time I was working on said chalkboard, but I made it).
So getting back to your actual question - if the MC has a pair of boots they can use to immobilize the ankle joint, I would expect they'd be able to soldier on through whatever pain they're in while they're riding.
I'm very impressed by BenM and Kitti's pain tolerance, and glad I have no personal experience in the matter--unless childbirth counts.
Melanie
Once, while in basic training, it was so bad that my ankle swelled up to the size of a grapefruit - my foot and lower leg swelled with it. I was still able to walk some, but I had somebody to lean on and a stick. I would think that as long as one is not standing in the stirrups, it would be OK.
[This message has been edited by philocinemas (edited November 11, 2009).]
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So, let's say you are giving my character a quick course in self defense, and you give her a knife. Is there somewhere on the horse or saddle that you would have her keep the knife that would be in easy reach?
Why is she trying to use the knife while on horseback? Assuming it's not a throwing knife, how is she going to get close enough to use a knife? Off the top of my head, I can't think of any cavalry that has gotten by with less than a sword. A spear. Certain types of bow (but you have to be careful, there. Not all types can be used while in the saddle.)
Most fighting while on horseback is going to require her to put weight in the stirrups--on that ankle. Well, pretty much any kind of fighting will, actually.
I've had several sprains. It usually (and it does depend on the severity) aches a bit when you're not on it, but can hurt or even fail to support your weight when you walk, etc. Compression and support are good. Obviously, she's not going to be able to elevate or ice it, which means it will take longer to heal.
[This message has been edited by Meredith (edited November 11, 2009).]
Also, you might want to pay attention to which foot is sprained, and how the character is going to mount with a bad foot.
I wonder which foot I've been saying is sprained...now I've got to go check.
[This message has been edited by Unwritten (edited November 11, 2009).]
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I guess she just needs to get proficient at galloping her horse in the opposite direction.
Not knowing anything about your story. What kind of horse is she riding? Where did she get it?
Properly trained, a horse can be a weapon, too.
I'm certainly not an expert. However, I have no reason to believe that it would be any easier--or quicker--to learn to fight effectively with a knife than with any other weapon.
I've given one of my female characters a sling. Just a thought.
Even when the horse is going in a straight line over distance, the rider will be flexing his ankles to absorb the shock of the horse's gait. The type of saddle has nothing to do with it. Try this little experiment for yourself: Stand on a level surface and space your legs out to where they would be if there was a horse between them. Point your toes forward and squat so your knees are directly over your feet and balance there for a few seconds. This is where a rider's legs and feet are when riding a horse. Difficult to do, isn't it?
It takes time to develop this stance and there has to be mild pressure on the stirrups or the rider will lose them. Any pressure on a sprained ankle is very painful. So, yes, riding a horse with a sprained ankle will hurt. That ankle will be moving constantly with the movement of the horse. Even if the rider left the ankle out of the stirrup, it would be hanging and moving with nothing to support it, and the longer the ride, the more painful it will become.
As for the dagger comment: I would think most knives or daggers would be belted to the rider's waist and not be kept somewhere on the saddle. If this person just happened to get separated from his horse, he would want his weapon with him and not running away from him with his horse.
I apologize with being late with this response, but I've been working long hours and just haven't had much time to be on the forums. I now have the time. Please feel free to ask me any questions involving horses, and I'll answer them the best I can. I gave riding lessons, trained regional champion show horses, and now just enjoy trail riding and nature.
I've never tried it, but I suspect that there's a pretty good chance of hurting yourself with a whip before you master it. A sling or slingshot, not so much. And again, unless she's been totally sheltered, a lot of kids play with slingshots or slings that don't need to. Or they might be the kind of thing kids would use to help out by keeping pests out of the fields.
Now that I think about it, riding without a stirrup could be more painful than riding with one. A stirrup would lend some support to the ankle instead of letting it dangle free, but the pressure put on the ankle to flex in the stirrup would be just as painful as riding with no stirrup at all. JMO
My character is thinking about attaching some sort of sling to her saddle that would act like a kind of "super stirrup" so that her foot wouldn't just be hanging there. I've stretched my story out so that she's not riding the horse until she's been healing for a week, but it can't stretch much longer without snapping. Drat that girl for being so clumsy!
I hate to relegate her to the wagon, since part of the purpose of this trip is to toughen her up and make her stronger. When she sprained her ankle and I realized she wouldn't be able to walk, I decided horseback riding would fill the same purpose. My magical character is being quite stingy with magic at the moment, so I've still got my fingers crossed that I can make the horse angle work.
kitti--My country is loosely based on a 17th century France, so unless there is a compelling reason to ditch them, they would have stirrups.
[This message has been edited by Unwritten (edited November 12, 2009).]
Your "super stirrup" would almost have to be stretchy so it would give under the girl's foot. Anything that would hold the ankle without any give would be the same as riding with a stirrup I would think. Is her ankle supported with a splint or some kind of soft cast? This would make a huge difference and ease the pain caused by the movement of the horse. And even the gentlest horse in the world would make a foot hanging loose down his side sway, stirrup or no stirrup.
Riding with a partially healed sprained ankle should definitely toughen up your MC. If she has a stubborn mindset to see this through, I see no reason why it can't be done.
Whatever you choose will be simple enough to make realistic.
First, poor Tess's sprain was about as bad as it can get, with a lot of exposure to the elements thrown in to boot, so she misses her original travel group.
Second, she gets a week to recover before this spot with a horse riding company comes available.
Third, there is this really cheesy scene where I try to force the magical character in the story to heal her ankle against his will, but it will get cut as soon as I don't need it for my Nanowrimo word count anymore. He really wouldn't heal her ankle--magic is too dangerous, you know.
Instead, her ankle will be alright in the mornings but really bug her in the afternoons. The first couple of nights it'll cut into her sleep dreadfully, poor girl.
Fourth, she doesn't take a weapon with her, but tomorrow night something is going to happen to make her wish she had. After that she'll start defensive training whenever she's off that horse.
It is a sweet horse, named after the one my grandpa pretended to give me when I was a little girl.
Anyway, it sounds like the story is off to a good start and Unwritten has the needed info to pull it off.
Good luck with your story, my friend.
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If, as implied, she can't wak and can barely stand, her training is going to consist of "and this is how you fight off an opponent while you are lying down!"
You have captured my dilemma very nicely. By the time she actually has a need to learn self defense, she's been on the road for a few weeks. Her ankle is her weak point, but she can walk on it again.
How many horses can two people reasonably take care of if that is all they do?
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Wouldn't that depend on where the horses are and what they are being taken care of for and being protected from? Horses can survive pretty well in the wild (take care of themselves).
True. It is your typical country setting, not a lot of predators around, and the people train and sell the horses, so I would think training would take up a fair amount of time.
As for how many horses two people could care for and train, it depends on many different factors, Like what sort of training you do. Some trainers spend hours one one horse. Others can work two or three an hour. Age of horse also makes a differnce. Some people spend a lot of time handling babies, others turn them out in a field and do mothing with them until they're old enough to start working under saddle or in harness. Are the horses stall kept or pasture kept. Stall kept part of the day gets spent watering feeding and cleaning stalls. Pasture kept you have time spent trekking in and out and depending on the size of the pasture you still need to feed and water if there's not a natural resource. IOWs So many factors can make this answer vary widely. Same as below. As long as you cover the bases, you have wide latitude on what is right.
Response to Unritten-- Would riding with a sprain hurt? Sure. Can it be done? Absolutely. The most major thing IMO would be which ankle is it? Horses traditionally are trained to mount from the left side so if it's her left foot, she's either putting all that weight on the ankle to haul herself into the saddle. Mounting on the off side,or relying on finding a surface to climb up and mount from. Just something to think about.
She'd want to ride with a long stirrup. A long stirrup decreases the angles the leg bends at. It also forces more reliance on the knees and upper leg to balance. Taking the weight off the calves and ankles but leaving you with support if the horse flips out for any reason.
Some horses actually trot smoother than they canter. It all comes down to build. You want a horse with a good slope to its shoulder and fetlock giving it a smooth gait. best bet--if a gaited horse. Talk about a smooth ride. An animal that drives off its backend and eagerly moves forward is going to cause much less pain to a person with a leg injury. A horse needing constant prodding she's either going to have to rely on a stick or a whip to keep the animal moving. So an awful lot of your dilemma boils down to what kind of horse she stumbles across, or if she's buying/stealing one does she know enough to pick a good one. Honestly, I've been on horses I wouldn't have wanted. to ride more than a mile with everything intact
As far as fighting from a horse...You wouldn't be standing in the stirrups to fight. Especially not with a dagger. You'd be laying on the horses neck making yourself as small a target as possible and praying your horse was faster than your enemies. Even if you have no choice but to fight, standing in the stirrups(even with two good ankles) is begging to be unhorsed, you'll concentrate on center of balance dropping your weight into your seat and rely on your knees to keep you where you want to be.
As to the training/caring for horses question; Most modern day trainers that work full time probably wouldn't be training more than 5 or 6 at a time, I would think. The horses would be stalled in a barn and taken out for training one at a time for a few hours a day. I should add that this would be one trainer training these horses. Though he(she?) might have a helper or an assistant to help care for the horses and assist in the training process under the supervision of the trainer.