How many horses...?

[glynndah]

I'm writing a story where the heroine lives in a horse-drawn caravan wagon. Fairly small and rather sparsely furnished. Could this be realistically pulled by one standard-sized horse or would she need two?

A from the good little witch.

 

[TxRad]

If you're talking along the lines of a gypsy wagon, one horse would do. Some of the heavier ones, like a medicine show wagon would take two. I'd go with two just for the extra power and speed. Not to mention wear and tear on the horses.

The terrain would have a lot to do with it also. Flat with smooth roads, one would be enough but rough roads or hills, go with two or even more if it is mountainous.

 

[cfuhrer]

The vast majority of such carts are pulled by two draft type horses. It can be done with two standard horses.

A Google search for "horse drawn sheep wagon" should yield some good examples.

 

[glynndah]

Thank you both. I was imagining two horses, but I wanted to be sure.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

In the 1800s wagon load determined horsepower. A stage or circus wagon needed 4 horses, maybe 6 for the animal wagons. Ditto artillery wagons, a light gun and casson needed 4 horses.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

http://www.dover.nh.gov/Assets/government/city-operations/library/image/Historical-Images/Circus/Circus%20wagon%204_WEB.jpg

 

[NOIRTRASH]

http://www.uky.edu/Libraries/images/PPA/Postcards/76.jpg

 

[NOIRTRASH]

http://www.bigskygypsy.com/Images/gypsy%20caravans.jpg

 

[glynndah]

Nothing nearly that big or that fancy. This is more like what I was picturing.

http://www.ju90.co.uk/ctfolk/DCDvan.jpg

 

[NOIRTRASH]

The wagon is empty, dear.

 

[oggbashan]

You can go on horse drawn caravan holidays in Ireland:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/clissmannhorsecaravans/

The caravans are on pneumatic tyres and the roads are good so only one horse. However most UK gypsies would have used only one horse. Lightly loading the caravan was essential.

Horse drawn artillery isn't a good comparison - speed was essential so more horses, and horses could be killed so there had to be more than one.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

It depends on how many horses your character can afford to buy and do upkeep on, more than anything else. Poor people were sometimes cruel to their resources out of necessity. If you get 15 years of service out of a horse because you overworked it, that's still cheaper than owning two and getting 25 years out of them.

If it's affordable, having two has all sorts of advantages, including not being stranded if your horse goes lame or bolts. You can travel on worse roads, carry more stuff and don't spend days detouring around mountains with high passes.

But freedom isn't cheap. "Eat like a horse" is a real logistical problem for people travelling long distances and alone. Having the horse pull its own supply of food is inefficient (you'll do it anyway at times, but the energy math isn't in your favor). Your character's range is likely to be limited by available water and grain. Horses require care, and while there's some economy of scale in the price of owning two, there's also extra time spent on each animal. All those problems are doubled when you have two horses. There's a reason smooth roads and automobiles caught on.

One reason I avoid writing historical romances, other than the fact that Literotica won't accept stories with realistic sexuality from older cultures who didn't care about 18, is that characters would realistically have spent an awful lot of time doing things we do effortlessly now. Try living without motors and running water for a week. It's life changing and not in a fun way. Now imagine you have to fetch water for the horses. Suddenly you're not going to be traveling too far from rivers and streams...

Yeah, I'll keep my modern and future-history tales. My characters have more free time to do the erotica thing.

 

[Nathan_Brazil]

Have you considered oxen?

 

[Carnevil9]

If you want to use reindeer, the standard complement is eight.

 

[Weird Harold]

If you want to use reindeer, the standard complement is eight.

Nine if you happen to have one with a red nose that glows.

 

[Hypoxia]

It depends on how many horses your character can afford to buy and do upkeep on, more than anything else.

This. The heroine's economics determine the horsepower. If she lives in a small sparse wagon, she can likely only (barely) afford one horse. Does she earn any income in her travels?

 

[NotWise]

I'm writing a story where the heroine lives in a horse-drawn caravan wagon. Fairly small and rather sparsely furnished. Could this be realistically pulled by one standard-sized horse or would she need two?

A from the good little witch.

I think you could use one, but not a "normal" sized horse. It would be a draft horse.

You could consider using a horse like this.

It's a Gypsy Vanner, bred by the gypsy's to pull their carts. They look like something out of a little girl's fantasy. A horsey friend of mine says they are extremely rare in the U.S., but appear in shows now and then.

 

[Handley_Page]

You could try a Shire Horse.

 

[Cruel2BKind]

It depends on how many horses your character can afford to buy and do upkeep on, more than anything else. Poor people were sometimes cruel to their resources out of necessity. If you get 15 years of service out of a horse because you overworked it, that's still cheaper than owning two and getting 25 years out of them.

If it's affordable, having two has all sorts of advantages, including not being stranded if your horse goes lame or bolts. You can travel on worse roads, carry more stuff and don't spend days detouring around mountains with high passes.

But freedom isn't cheap. "Eat like a horse" is a real logistical problem for people travelling long distances and alone. Having the horse pull its own supply of food is inefficient (you'll do it anyway at times, but the energy math isn't in your favor). Your character's range is likely to be limited by available water and grain. Horses require care, and while there's some economy of scale in the price of owning two, there's also extra time spent on each animal. All those problems are doubled when you have two horses. There's a reason smooth roads and automobiles caught on.

One reason I avoid writing historical romances, other than the fact that Literotica won't accept stories with realistic sexuality from older cultures who didn't care about 18, is that characters would realistically have spent an awful lot of time doing things we do effortlessly now. Try living without motors and running water for a week. It's life changing and not in a fun way. Now imagine you have to fetch water for the horses. Suddenly you're not going to be traveling too far from rivers and streams...

Yeah, I'll keep my modern and future-history tales. My characters have more free time to do the erotica thing.

So many historical romances get crazy trying to come up with reasons for why their pair of random fifteenth century nobles are clean and have good teeth.

 

[oggbashan]

You could try a Shire Horse.

Or a Suffolk Punch:

http://suffolkpunchtrust.org/

"T'was once said that a Suffolk Punch should have the face of an angel, body of a barrel and the backside of a farmer's daughter"

http://www.equorum.co.uk/MillenniumatNorfolk2004.jpg

 

[glynndah]

Thank you for all your help.

Provisions for her horse{s} will not be an issue. She'll be traveling as part of a group. The setting for the story will be around the turn of the twentieth century so basic hygiene will be a given.