posted
Just wondering if you guys have any horse info.
Tried google, but nothing came up.
How far can a horse walk in a day?
What is the average running speed of a horse? (Google told me that the best horses run about 33 mph or so... I'll have to convert that to KM's to get a better idea)
What kind of stuff do horses eat when they are being used for long travels? I surmise that they would just graze the grass and whatnot, but I want to make sure.
posted
A healthy, well-cared-for, and fit horse can travel about 30 miles in one day. A healthy, well-cared-for, and fit human can actually travel more than that.
I found a website that has a lot of good information on horses for writers:
posted
The IRON MAN MARATHON in the southwest, was originally a hundred mile horse race. One guy's horse went lame, so he ran the rest on his own feet. Now, they have a running race where people try to run one hundred miles in twenty four hours. the leaders do it every time. The native americans of the south west were difficult to catch by the soldiers. The indians would run a horse into the ground, take the blood, and continue running. They could run a hundred miles in a day with no problems. The reason a person could travel that far and horses cannot, is that horses have to stop and eat and drink. A human can carry food and water and keep going.
Most towns before the advent of the steam engine or cars, were about twenty to thirty miles apart. When you consider a person walks at about two and a half miles per hour, a ten hour walk (twenty five miles) is about all a person could be expected to go. Towns were always located about a day apart unless there was a junction or crossing earlier. From what I have seen, horses walk about the same speed as people, at least, when people were both on foot and on horseback, they traveled about the same speed.
posted
This really depends on what you're trying to accomplish and the condition of your horse. There are plenty of hundred mile endurance races. Lots of horses start them and more than a couple tend to finish.
I''m making the assumption that your horse has a rider who will be caring for him. Yes animals need to graze but depending on the era you're writing in there are many transportable feeds that can keep an animal going with out lengthy pauses, the key being high fiber.
Unfortunately in the days of most fantasy novel settings, while there was grain, which is a high energy concentrated ration,(depending on the mix of course) and it will keep your horse healthy and happy all by itself for short periods of time the animal needs roughage.
If your horse and rider were going to race a hundred miles to warn the populace that the British are coming it can be done. If they're going to run a hundred miles a day for three weeks without surcease the animal is going to die.
Water is by far and away the most important ingredsient in keeping an animal going on a long distance chase. Not stopping and drinking their fill on every creek, which would make them ill but a couple of swallows every time it's available to keep them hydrated.
If you're talking about continual travel thirty miles a day is an average if you're not trying to get anywhere fast or if you're in the midst of a wagon train. On average a horse's walking speed = 5-7 miles per hour. running speed varies considerably again depending on the distance you want to cover. Can't come up with any race stats off the top of my head as race horses are not my thing but figure at most 2 and a half minutes per mile and I suspect that's slow, but realize that mile's probably about as much as you're going to get. The gait most commonly used to cover distance because it is easiest for a horse to maintain is the trot.
Hope this answers your questions if not let me know, I'll take another stab at it.
[This message has been edited by spcpthook (edited March 14, 2006).]
posted
I did a lot of research on this topic, mainly because I was trying to prove a point to my co-author who was claiming horses travel slower than I thought they did.
There are three issues you have to consider: speed, endurance, and terrain.
On the average, a horse can walk 4mp/h (5-6km/h), trot 6-9 mp/h (10-12 km/h), canter 8-16mp/h (20-24 km/h) and run 40 mp/h.
Most horses can readily handle carrying a rider 25 to 30 miles in one day, but this is not normally done at a run. Most of the distance is at a trot, a gait which is not particularly comfortable for an inexperienced rider. Stallions in the wild are known to travel 40 miles in a day. Endurance horses can run 75-100 miles per day, but it requires special diet and training. Horses and oxen pulling a wagon over the Oregon trail traveled an average of 12-15 miles per day, which gives you an idea of speed plus encumberance. The Pony Express averaged 9mph over 25 miles. In 1886, Frank Hopkins (of Hidalgo movie fame) rode his horse 1800 miles in 31 days (average 58 miles/day). The horse finished in excellent condition, after traveling no more than 10 hours/day.
In contrast, people WALK at about the same speed a horse does. A woman of average size can walk comfortably at brisk speeds of 3.5 to 4 miles an hour, while the average-sized man can walk at 4.5 to 5 miles per hour. The benefit of horses are they can travel that speed encumbered with camping supplies, and they have greater endurance.
posted
Reputedly (and the evidence seems fairly strong), John "Swift Nick" Nevinson (an early highwayman) rode from Kent to York in the space of 16 hours; approximately 200 miles. On the one horse.
Sadly, his feat is usually ascribed to Dick Turpin. And it's really the horse that deserves the credit.
It's a hard life.
PS: Elan wrote:
quote: The benefit of horses are they can travel that speed encumbered with camping supplies, and they have greater endurance.
The other benefit (strictly from the point of view of the rider) is that it's a lot less tiring for them. The horse does the work instead of the person.
[This message has been edited by tchernabyelo (edited March 14, 2006).]
posted
In terms of what the horse would eat, I recently read that the French calvary (although hardly a model for the proper treatment of horses) used to equip scouts and skirmishers with forage nets--nets of hay or grass slung across the front of the saddle to provide the horse with a fiber source--and with 10 pound bags of corn. The forage in the net and the corn was considered a 1-day ration for the horse.
[This message has been edited by J (edited March 14, 2006).]
posted
A bit if usful/useless information. During the middle ages, a quarter acre of farm land could feed a family for a year, but it took something like five acres to feed a horse. Horses are expensive.
If one is crossing a wilderness, one might let the horse graze as it goes, which takes time. Find a field of grasses, hobble it, and let it loose.
If one has to provide food, the riders should either be reasonably wealthy, or in a large enough numbers, or personally look dangerous enough, to "pursuade" farmers to give up food for the horse.
posted
Another interesting fact I think I saw on Animal Planet or somwehere is that horses have the ability to dope their own blood. They store extra red blood cells until needed in their pancreas (I think) and can superoxygenate their blood when excertion is needed. I'm sure someone can correct me if I'm wrong.
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