Horse Questions, part I

I got a pm asking an excellent question--and bringing up an issue that has made me roll my eyes more than once, when reading a story with horses. I thought I'd repost my response here, with a pared-down version of the original question:

1. a) What's a reasonable maximum daily distance that you could expect a horse and rider to travel in a day, assuming that the same horse is ridden for a week or two straight and you don't want to ride the horse into the ground? ... b) Would riding double decrease that distance significantly?... c) Would bringing a remount increase that distance?

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That's actually a pretty complicated question, with a ton of variables that can make a difference. Terrain, size and breeding of horse, what kind of gear, stirrups or no....etc.

Figure for long distance stuff, in moderate terrain, a fast horse, pushing hard, will cover @ 15 miles an hour. An average horse will cover 8-10 miles an hour. The further you go, the more complicated it gets trying to hold your horse together, though. note: A short sprint is an entirely different pace!

A more leisurely pace would be completely understandable, for standard travel.--say cut the above times in half, and cover ground walking and trotting. In that case, if you do slow down, you have an easier time keeping your horse alive and sound (not limping) It would be entirely reasonable to ride 35-40 miles in a 8 to 10 hour day, with a break or two. Not for the faint of heart, though. It's gonna hurt, unless your riders are accustomed to all those hours in the saddle.

One rider, with gear, on a fit horse can cover 25-35 miles in about 4-5 hours at a fairly steady trot with some cantering and some walking, to break up the pace--figuring in at least one hour-long rest period...you can do that daily, without much trouble, indefinitely. Again, taking as given that the horse is fit, not a horse who has stood in the pasture unworked for months.

Your hypothetical rider will spend most of his time "posting" a trot--I can give you the history and a description of the technique, if you'd like. It's pretty much the most efficient gate for distance traveling. The Pony Express riders went much faster, but the horses did not have to go out on consecutive days.

Add a remount, and the rider can cover double the ground, without much trouble. If only travelling for 6-7 consecutive days, you could do that on two horses, resting when completely exhausted, and reasonably cover 80-100 miles a day, on roads and good trails. 50-60 miles a day, cross country, or steep terrain.

Add steep terrain, deer tracks to follow or no trails at all...you'll be lucky to make it 5-10 miles.

Add a 100 lb person riding double, you can probably get away with 25-30 miles a day, for 5-7 days...but you'll have a tired horse, trying to go lame, and getting cranky about being saddled. Also probably getting quite sore over the loins.

A horse bred to trot will go more efficiently and even faster, a standardbred or arab, say 25 miles in 2-1/2 to 3 hours-- 50 miles in 6-7 hours (that's riding time only, you'll have to figure in at least a brief rest for the horse every 2-3 hours, with a big drink (ideally) and something to eat, even if it's just a few mouthfuls of grass.

On a rangy, athletic, fit horse, bred to trot, it would be entirely reasonable to cover 40-50 miles a day (counting time to rest) for a week or so, in 7-8 hours, before needing to have some time off.

The horses bred for endurance can cover around 100 miles in about 12-16 hours (again, just on average) but cannot do so day after day--would need several days to rest afterwards, or you're risking metabolic failure or lameness. (carrying around 190-200 lbs)

A heavier horse (draft or draft mix, like you'd expect of a horse who carried a knight in armor, for instance, will take longer, and need more frequent rest stops. Also, a heavier horse won't stand up well to longer distances than around 40 miles.

Horse Question, Part II

2. When you stop for the night, what would you do in the way of horse care? Unsaddle, rub down, blanket (?), check hooves? High energy food if you've got it?

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Hydration is actually a big factor--horses will go into metabolic failure fairly quickly, if they become dehydrated and over-fatigued. So you're looking for food and water all day, along the trail. You don't pass water without drinking...ever. You try to let your horse grab a couple of mouthfuls of grass, whenever you can spare the time.

When you put him up for the night, you'll check him over for sores or galls caused by the gear, you'll wipe him down with water (warm if you can get it) to take off the crusted-on sweat and dirt. If you can't get a sponge or rag to rub him down, you're going to brush and curry and brush some more, until his coat is clean and smooth.

You'll check his legs for nicks, heat, swollen places, etc., you'll check his shoes for rocks, and to make certain they haven't slipped or loosened...(if he isn't shod, cut the above distances in about half--cuz he'll wear his feet off too fast, otherwise) note: there are, of course, exceptions to this generalization--the Comanches rode unshod horses for staggering distances. There's an old saying about how far a cowboy, a Mexican, and a Comanche can ride a horse without killing it.
Wish I could remember precisely how it goes.

You'll give him a high-energy ration, soaked, if possible...probably a mix of corn and oats (up to around 10-12 lbs), and then you'll follow with all the good clean hay he wants to eat, and likewise, you'll make sure he has free access to clean water all night. if you can beg a fistful of salt to throw in his grain, all the better.

Yep, if you have a wool blanket, toss it over him--unless it's hot enough outside that he'll sweat with the blanket on. It's that much less energy he has to expend to keep himself warm.

Wow. I've gone a bit long, here. Let me know if you have any more specific questions, or anything else you're wondering about.

And if you're curious and up for a little further research, check out: http://www.aerc.org/ or also:
http://www.endurance.net/

I hope this helps, and good luck!

how far does she have to get? If the two men are two or three hours behind her, and having to follow hidden trail, unless they are better-than-average trackers, they aren't going to catch up real fast...following trail takes a bit of time, you have to dismount, sort out footprints, etc.

Kids on horseback actually fare better than adults. If I had a five or six year old daughter (what's that 60-70 pounds?) and was an smallish-to-average-sized young woman, I'd ride double with the kid (she's old enough to ride behind me and hold on) leading one horse to trade off when the first got tired.

I'd also keep to either roads (where you can't very well sort one print from another) or rocky, hardpan sorts of surfaces. The creek trick you see in books and movies is all well and good, except sooner or later you must come out again, and riding down the middle of a creek is much slower time than on regular, firm surfaces, and hard on the horses' stamina. Where you come out will be fairly obvious, unless you have a handy gravel bank.

If the woman is a good rider, with a constantly more-or-less fresh horse, she could actually increase the distance between her and her chasers.

If she's used to riding, then she won't have to stop for longer than to water the horses, and she and her daughter can stretch their legs while the animals water and graze--say three or four 15 minute stops over the course of the day. The followers will also have to rest their horses and water, or risk having their horses drop out from under them.

With a two hour head start, and a spare horse? These guys are actually gonna play hell catching up, if she knows what she's doing at ALL.

Does she know she's being followed? Or is she hiding her backtrail because she's in IT?

by the way--the Rumor Mill article is okay...but not great. There are a few inaccuracies, but it's mostly good information.

But that's also horse people, for ya. We can quibble for days over the simplest things...

heh--it depends on the 5 or 6 year old...there are kids that young completing 50 mile endurance rides in competition--and a handful around that age that complete 100 mile rides.

Savage, tough little brutes.

But Fern's right. I also forgot to ask what your heroine is wearing, is she riding astride, or sidesaddle, etc...

If she knows her way around a horse, and is a practical and hardy sort with a two-three hour head start, then the two pursuers will play hell catching her--especially if she pushes on after dark. They'll have to stop when the light gets too bad to follow her trail. If they are very good, and push very hard, they might catch her sometime in the afternoon or early evening, the following day.

If, on the other hand, the plot requires that they DO catch her, then she just needs some bad luck to slow her way down--a lame horse would do it, unless she just cut it loose.

someone mentioned today I might want to consider having the woman and child riding mules instead of horses. Also, if I stick with horses, what kind of horses am I talking about? Are they mares or geldings?

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Mules are wicked tough, with endurance coming out those long ears. I see no reason not to put them on mules--also, they can keep pace easily with a horse, coming in a wide range of sizes.

Yeah, definitely mares or geldings--geldings, most probably. Usually I see writers put their heroines on "spirited little mares" in a sort of ridiculous identification between woman and horse--and it always makes me roll my eyes.

Unless there's a strong reason to put her on a mare--it's a gift from her tragically-deceased husband, or what have you--then geldings are most likely. It's the sort of thing that would only be mentioned when you're looking for a synonym for "horse."

If you'd like someone to beta-read the scene, I'm up for it! Good luck.

If she's travelling light, then she'd probably carry things you could eat cold--biscuits and dried meat, maybe.

Fern is dead on about the Spanish Mustangs--which would have ended up in the occasional horse sale, or enterprising young men would have caught, broke, and sold them.

Also, that's what the local Indians would have been riding. Southern OK--that would mean which tribes, in those years? Choctaw and Cherokee? I can't remember without finding a map.

Aconite--PMed you. I'm SO sorry I missed your question. My apologies.

...and in a similar vein, who can tell us where the term "posting" (to a trot) comes from?