Hello, peoples! I know that a lot of people like to use horses in their writing, but horses can be a tricky animal to write about for someone who hasn't actually spent a lot of time with them. I know a good deal about horses and horse behavior, and since I'm more of an editor than an author (even though I do write), I thought that I would offer my editing services to anyone who wishes to include horses in their creations.

~Aisha

That's nice of you, Aisha.

Sweet. I may need some help once I'm done with my novel.

I might have a few scenes to send you once I get going on one of my stories, since one of the characters deals with horses a lot. Thanks for offering to do this!

You're welcome. Yeah, I know, my response is a bit delayed. My visitations to HolyWorlds are a bit sporadic. If anyone has something they would like me to look over, sending me a message would be a better bet than saying so on the thread - just to make sure I get it.

~Aisha

If this is still open, I have a bit of a thing I'm trying to figure out.

With my biform creatures, I have a few mixes with horses. I still don't have any idea how I'm going to make a hippokamp a decently functional creature, but the hippogryph is another matter. Since I have mixes of most birds of prey, I was wonder what body types of horses would fit best with them. Falcons are the faster birds, accipiter hawks can take quicker turns (like barrel racing), and the buteos and eagles tend to have better endurance. What body types of horses do you think would fit best with those?

If I may step in for a moment...

Rinny, if I were to generalize horse breeds and match them to what you're looking for, this is what I'd do... (as note though, these are generalizations. Horses vary depending on their heritage - parents, grandparents, ect - and also on their training and exercise)

Falcons are the faster birds -- Pair them with Thoroughbreds
Accipiter hawks can take quicker turns -- Pair them with Quarter Horses
Buteos and eagles tend to have better endurance -- Pair them with Arabians

Thoroughbreds are bred for racing (at least, they have been for years) and are known for their love of running. Fast, long, depends on their training. I'd recommend looking into their breed history. Thoroughbreds, a long time ago, were founded on a few different breeds of horse that have made them what they are today.

Quarter Horses, to note your mention of barrel racing, are the most common gaming horse. They, along with paint horses, are also the most common roping breed. This means Quarter Horses can also be quite intelligent and quick on their feet (chasing a cow is no easy matter).

Arabians are the first breed that comes to mind when you say endurance. Bred originally in the middle east, Arabians were meant to go long distances across the desert with less water than most horses. In fact, Arabian horses are still used for endurance rides today. As a side note, Arabians and Thoroughbred have been crossed before to create the Anglo-Arabian.

Thanks. I knew Quarter Horse would be one of them (my friend has one, but I couldn't remember which build it was).

In terms of build...

Thoroughbreds are between medium and light weight.
Quarter Horses are roughly medium weight.
Arabians are light weight.

For heavier weights you're looking for draft horses (heavy weight) or even some of the eventing horses such as warmbloods (medium to heavy weight - depending on the breed).

I don't think draft horses would fly too well.

I'm sooo taking notes. This is priceless information. Thanks!

So then, to take a different approach, I want to describe a certain horse in terms of how big it is and what it does. So how do these different breeds look?
Would a very large horse be faster because its gait (not sure it the term applies to horses) would be longer?
Would a "shorter" stockier horse be better in a cavalry charge?
What would be the biggest horse a normal person could ride?
Would a lighter weight horse that is built more for endurance have a more slender build, and could such a horse be used in battle?
(Is it overly obvious that I will be using a horse in battle at some point?)

Yay! questions (sorry for taking a bit to reply, I don't get on here much *grins*)

1. Are you asking how you would describe a horse? As in, what are key/important features that would be mentioned?
(if yes)
Natural strength that you don't have to work extra in order to keep. Mentally stable in the sense that they don't get spooked or excited easily (a calm horse). Good eyesight. Attentive and healthy. Strong feet (a horse with weak hooves is no good because they'll need extra attention in order to keep their feet healthy). Good temperament.
I could go into how each breed is slight different, but it'd be easier to look at pictures and note the differences...
DRAFT -- Thick neck, big solid head, large muscled shoulders and hips
FRIESIAN -- A little more refined, thinner neck, smaller shoulders, still strong
WARMBLOOD -- Definite shift in weight, thinner neck, less visible muscle, more refined and agile
THOROUGHBRED -- Similar to previous, staighter neck, more built-in power in shoulders and hips, flatter nose
ARABIAN -- Another weight change, curved neck, "dished" nose (the nose dips in between the eyes and nostrils), defined neck arching

2. Large horses aren't necessarily faster. In fact, many smaller, lighter (weight wise) horses are faster. Thoroughbreds are a medium weight horse and are fast because they have a great stride and because a jockey is so light they have freedom to really stretch out.
(NOTE: in horse terms, a gait is a pattern of hoof beats that defines a specific kind of speed - which varies from horse to horse. There are four general gaits: walk, trot/jog, canter/lope, gallop. Walk is, well, walking and is a four "beat" pattern. A trot is the next speed, it is a two beat pattern and tends to be quite bouncy - also varies depending on the horse - a jog is a slower, smoother version of a trot. A canter is another notch up and is a three beat gait. This is one of the smooth gaits a horse can have and most people define it as a rocking motion in the saddle. Last is the gallop which a horse's top speed and once again a four beat gait (as a side-note to a note, the invention of film was founded on a beat someone made about how at the gallop a horse will leave the ground completely. In order to test this, Leland Stanford hired a photographer to take pictures in quick succession. Result of his photos: [click!])

3. Stockier yes. Shorter... not so much. It depends on the rider. If you're writing about horses in battle from a middle-ages point of view most of those horses were heavy horses. Shires and Belgians or a mix of heavy and medium weight horses to create fast, strong mounts for knights. Something to keep in mind when you have a cavalry charge is the fact that full metal armor weights a TON (like, seriously). Knights needed to use heavy horses because those were the only horses that could run with all the weight. A horse like an Arabian wouldn't even be able to stand up with a knight on its back.

4. *coughs* How big are you planning on making your horses? Size-wise, horses are measured in terms of "hands" up to the horse's withers (the top of their shoulder blades). One hand is equal to 4 inches (ponies tend to average at 13.5 hands high). Currently, the tallest horse in the world stands at 6'4" tall (Guinness World Record page). There's really no limit to the size of the horse. The only thing you'll be limited by is the size of your saddle, your own body, and the temperament of the horse (I'd encourange you to look up the average height of whatever horse you end up using -- to keep from going over the top with how big your horses are).

5. Yes, lighter horses are, well, lighter. Their bones are lighter and more fragile (depending on breeding of course, you can breed stronger bones into a horse... breeding is an interesting thing all of its own). They wouldn't work well are mounts for your army. Perhaps as messenger horses though.



Well, that amounted to quite an answer... *grins* If you have more questions just post.