EricD
April 29th, 2007, 06:13 PM
I grew up around horses. My dad was a horse trainer you see, I knew all about the different breeds, the gaits, how you should treat your horse. Now, it is apparent to me that many fantasy authors treat horses like sportscars, able to gallop around for days on end without rest. That's not right. Doing that would kill the horse. So i've put thought up this tip for writers regarding the noble steeds in their fantasy stories.
Use the different gaits. There are four, in increasing order of speed they go: walk, trot, canter and gallop. The walk is self-explanatory, the trot is about equivalent to a human jog, the canter is pretty much a slow, relaxed gallop and the gallop is a flat out sprint. Use these gaits, a horse can't gallop everywhere. Like I pointed out, that'll kill your horse. For long distance journeys, i'd suggest periods of the canter, sandwhiched between trots and walks for resting the horse. The gallop should only be used for short bursts of speed, like a cavalry charge or a horse race.
Use the different gaits. There are four, in increasing order of speed they go: walk, trot, canter and gallop. The walk is self-explanatory, the trot is about equivalent to a human jog, the canter is pretty much a slow, relaxed gallop and the gallop is a flat out sprint. Use these gaits, a horse can't gallop everywhere. Like I pointed out, that'll kill your horse. For long distance journeys, i'd suggest periods of the canter, sandwhiched between trots and walks for resting the horse. The gallop should only be used for short bursts of speed, like a cavalry charge or a horse race.