A subject that comes up again and again in historical novels is horses. In the pre-automotive era, a horse was essential transport. And, like cars, horses and horsemanship are often used as an aspect of characterization. Seldom does one see a Regency hero who is a horse klutz (any more than we’d see a contemporary hero driving a Plymouth Valiant, unless eccentricity is desired <G>), and it’s not uncommon for the ladies to also be bruising riders.
But horses are complicated critters, and for the majority of us who are horse ignorant, opportunities abound to make mistakes when writing about them. So horses seemed like a good blog topic. Though I grew up on a farm, I’m fairly clueless about our equine friends, but luckily, we have an expert close at hand: Our very own Whipster, Sherrie Holmes!
Sherrie is a horse owner and has competed in Endurance and Competitive Trail Ride contests. She has generously (and often hilariously) shared her experiences on Regency loops that we’re both on, and I’ve saved pages and pages of material she posted about riding, endurance, accidents, and horsy eccentricities.
She has graciously agreed to educate us on care and use of horses, plus answer some Wenchly questions. Sherrie, would you like to start by giving us a bit of your history with horses?
SH: Mom said the first word I spoke was “horsy” and the first picture I drew was of a horse. When I was a toddler, Grandma was babysitting one day and I went missing. To her horror, she found me in the paddock with my arms and legs wrapped around the front leg of one of Grandpa’s draft horses, sitting on his huge foot. That gentle giant, who was a working horse and not used to children, was patiently dragging his foot as he walked, being careful not to step on me. I guess you could say I’ve been horse crazy from an early age. *g* (That's Sherrie on horseback to the left.)
But I had to settle for collecting horse knick-knacks and horse books as a kid, because we couldn’t afford a horse. My dream came true when I bought my first horse at 22, and I’ve now owned horses for 38 years. (I’ll do the math for you--I’m 60.) Highlights: winning the State Championship 60 mile Competitive Trail Ride, and placing second (missed first place by 1 point!) in the 100 mile CTR, completing the ride in 20 hours with energy to spare.
I’m down to one horse now. Windigo’s Tempest is 23, but still the life of the party. 
He steals laundry from the clothesline, drinks pink Chablis out of a wine glass and Pepsi from the can, fell passionately in love with my old Boxer (they used to French kiss through the fence), loves to wiggle his lips over anything with texture, and if you don’t watch out, he’ll untie your shoelaces or unzip your coat. He sneaks the dog’s milkbones when nobody’s looking, and twice he’s come into my house during the summer when the slider was open. You have *no* idea how big a horse is until you have one in your kitchen, flapping a dishtowel! (That's Tempest drinking the wine. <G>)
MJP: Now here are the basic questions of interest to historical writers. How much ground could a rider reasonably cover in an average day of riding? What techniques would be used? (Can’t ride horses at top speed all day!) What kind of care and feeding would be required? What if the baddies are coming after him—how far and fast could he go with a decent horse? (That's Tempest again on the left. Handsome fellow, isn't he?)
SH: To arrive at the answer, here’s a breakdown of horse speed:
Walk: 3-5 MPH
Trot: 8-10 MPH
Canter/Lope: 10-17 MPH
Gallop: 30 MPH
A decent horse can walk and trot all day, but he can only canter or gallop for short periods--one or two miles. Also, the gallop is very tiring. The trot is the horse’s cruise control, his most efficient working gait and the most appropriate gait to use for covering long distances at speed, interspersed with breathers at the walk.
So, assuming an average rider and average horse over average roads, a conservative estimate for distance is 25 miles in 5-6 hours at a walk. A well conditioned horse ridden by a good rider over relatively even terrain can easily cover 50 miles in 10-11 hours, walking and trotting (but he’ll be one tired hoss).
If the hero is being chased by baddies, he might gallop for a mile to put distance between them, and then drop down to a medium or slow trot, or even a fast walk, to give the horse a breather while staying ahead. Then he could rev up to a fast trot and maintain that for a long time. And you could always have the baddie’s horse throw a shoe if you need to slow him down. Once a horse loses a shoe, he’s out of commission.
MJP: What about those stallions? Historical romance characters often have them to show how macho they are, but there are reasons why there are so many geldings in the world. <G> And what about the mere slip of a girl who can control huge stallions by the force of her perky charm and tossing hair? How likely is that?
SH: Not very likely! When I rode endurance and CTR, I *was* a perky slip of a girl. (Not anymore!) But I was also a knowledgeable horsewoman and a good rider. Stallions: (rolls eyes). There’s always the exception that proves the rule, and there are certainly nicely mannered stallions out there, but it’s more likely for a stallion to be obnoxious, fractious, dangerous, and quick to use his teeth. A friend of mine who’s an experienced horse trainer had her ring finger bitten clean off by her normally well-behaved stallion during breeding season. You never let your guard down around a stallion. And how fun is it to be riding a stallion in company when there’s a mare in heat nearby?
Historically, I don’t know how common it was to geld horses, however. Perhaps (just perhaps) there were more stallions back then, though I can’t imagine why anyone would bother with a stallion for a riding horse when mares and geldings are more tractable and less dangerous.
MJP: What about those covers with the heroine riding in front of the hero. Uncomfortable? Unlikely? Not to mention the occasional book that has them having sex on horseback. (I vaguely recall a book some years back where they not only had sex while galloping, but were being chased by Indians or some such!!!)
SH: I’ve always scoffed loudly at the very idea of having sex on horseback, let alone while galloping. Virtually impossible, I always said, unless you were a contortionist with a fine sense of balance. But then last year a horsy friend of mine told me that in her younger days she did have sex on horseback. More than once. At a gallop. So while I can no longer say it’s impossible, I still think it stretches credibility. Regarding heroines riding in front of the hero: see my answer to Pat’s question about riding double, below.
MJP: Any thoughts on riding sidesaddle? Though we modern folk tend to put that in the same category as corsets, I understand that it could be a very stable and secure way to ride.
SH: The biggest misconception about riding sidesaddle is that people think the rider sits sideways and then twists her torso to face front. That’s not so. She sits facing forward, so there’s no twist to the body. As far as stability in the sidesaddle, the rider’s seat wasn’t all that safe and secure until after the invention of the leaping horn, which is the horn that curves down, over the top of the rider’s left leg. Here’s a picture, to show the position of the legs and the body in a sidesaddle, including the leaping horn. There’s controversy as to when the leaping horn was invented, but the general consensus is that it was *after* the Regency.
MJP: Now for the Wenchly questions:
JO: Sherrie, this just came up today in my MIP. I have a coach and two riding
horses, but might be short one rider. Would it be better for the rider to lead
the spare horse, or to link it to the back of the coach? I'm thinking the rider
should lead it.
SH: I agree, Jo. I'd have the rider lead the spare horse, even though riding a horse and leading another is a pain in the posterior--the led horse often crowds the ridden horse or lags behind, dragging on the rider's arm. However, if the horse were used to being tied to a coach, there likely wouldn’t be a problem. It's just that horses are absolute magnets for trouble.
JO: Oh, and another. They're stuck in a place overnight where there's not much for the horses to eat. Plenty of water, but basically an empty barn with no grass nearby. (Though I can change that.) Would the horses be okay for a few hours work the next day or do I really need to find them food?
SH: They wouldn't die if they missed a meal, though they might grumble a bit. Water is important, however--they must have water.
JO: If there is grass and they want to let them eat in the morning (can't do it overnight) how long to eat and how long before they can be on the road?
SH: Grass would be good. It's the best horse feed, especially in the spring and summer when it's loaded with nutrients. If they have limited time, even 15 minutes of grazing would be adequate. Half an hour is better. Ideally, you'd want to give them time to digest (30-60 minutes), but in a pinch they could eat and then get right to work. But they need water. The average horse drinks 12 gallons a day.
JO: Ah, the problems of road books!
PAT: My big question is about saddles, especially when riding double. What’s the relative position of the person holding the reins compared to where the tagalong sits? And that depends on saddle.
SH: This is where poetic license (or suspending disbelief) comes in. It's so romantic to put the heroine in front of the hero, so he can hold her in his strong arms as he guides the horse, but in fact, it's a bunch of hooey. The pommel (the hump in front of the saddle) and the horse's neck would make such an endeavor uncomfortable and precarious. It's far more logical for the heroine to sit astride, behind the rider. However, if they’re riding without a saddle, it’s appropriate and more romantic for the heroine to be in front, one of the hero’s arms encircling her waist, and his other hand holding the reins.
PAT: And any kind of tackle question is usually nutsoid in the writing world. Stop the horses for the night and remove saddle? Remove bridle? (and then chase the critter down again in the morning)
SH: You always remove saddle and bridle for the night, and a good horseman (or his groom) brushes the horse down afterwards, and wipes off the tack (or tackle) and cleans the slobber off the bit. Most horses went into a paddock or pasture, or a tie-stall or loose box stall. And yeah, there'd be the occasional horse that would make you chase him all over the pasture, but usually all you had to do was shake a bucket of grain at him and he’d come running. Sort of like how a romance heroine glances provocatively at the hero, and he comes running. *g*
Thanks for all the great information, Sherrie! I'm sure some of our other readers are horse people. What are your pet horsy peeves in novels? Heck, even if you don't have a horse yourself, I'm sure you've got some opinions. So what are your romance likes and dislikes in respect to horses?
Mary Jo