To horse! A question for the equestrians

[Alex De Kok]

I need help! Not being a horseman, I wonder if the all-knowing here at Literotica can help.

I have an uncle chasing his runaway niece and her lover to Gretna Green, where they plan to be wed. The period is 1815, the location Northern England, specifically Southern Northumberland, just South of Hadrian's wall. The total distance is about forty miles, the first thirty or so would be along General Wade's Military Road of the late Eighteenth century, the last ten miles on typical roads of the period.

How quickly could an experienced horseman make that journey?

Assume the following:
He is an experienced horseman, ex-Cavalry officer
He keeps horses, and does not require that they be 'suitable for a lady', ie they will be sound, strong horses
He is prepared to ride one, and lead one or two others to swap to as the ridden horse tires

Can anyone help?

Alex

 

[Ray Dario]

Horse Speed

A good horse can run gallop at speeds of up to 40 MPH. Actually some race horses can go faster but I assume you're not talking a bred race horse. The horse probably couldn't keep it up for an hour though but stopping and changing horses would take more time than slowing to a trot for ten minutes to give the horse a breather.

About taking extra horses, remember that the extra horses are having to run right with you. They aren't carrying the extra weight of the rider but they are still running. Not much benefit in that really. And changing in mid-gallop is a sensationalist movie fantasy. There may be a few riders who could really do it without breaking their neck, but not many.

Another thing to consider is the weight of the rider. If he is an obese lard ass then the horse is going to go slower and tire quicker. If he is a petite person then the horse will go farther, faster.

You also have to consider the elevation changes in the terrain and remember that it is almost as hard to run downhill as up.

If the terrain is relatively flat, and the man is average sized, and the horse is good quality, then he could make it in an hour and a half on one horse without killing the horse. If the terrain is very hilly then it could take two hours or more. If he was a particularly vicious or evil man then he might make it in just over an hour with the horse dying minutes after he arrived. Funny thing about horses. They will run themselves to death and keep going, but eventually they just keel over.

Remember also that there is always a chance, when pushing a horse too hard, that the horse will come up lame. A rock can damage the hoof, they can get a shin fracture, sometimes they even fake it to make you stop pushing them. So if you want to spice up the story, you could do that to your hapless rider.

Hope this helps and if anyone knows better than me, speak up.

Ray

 

[TheEarl]

On a road, it would be dangerous to the horse for it to gallop. Therefore top speed drops to about 25 mph if he cares about the horses. Injuries will occur galloping on a road. I wouldn't have him going across the "typical roads of that period" as he'd probably make better time going across fields.

But then what do I know?

The Earl

 

[KillerMuffin]

Depends on if he wants to kill the horse or not.

They regularly do distance events with horses where they cover 100 miles in a day. A man covers 26 miles in under 3 hours these days. A horse can do it much more quickly.

He could conceivably do so in about 10-12 hours seeing that there are good roads. It may be more believable if you straddle it and have him arrive in the morning of the next day and don't mention what time he left. People will assume he left at a believable time, whatever that might be for that person. Some will think morning, others will think evening. You never know.

 

[Weird Harold]

I have an uncle chasing his runaway niece and her lover to Gretna Green, where they plan to be wed. The period is 1815

It occurred to me that the Pony Express was roughly contemporary to your vengeful uncle and equally concerned about making th ebest possible time on horeback.

According to http://www.xphomestation.com/ the first pony Express run:

Ten hours later, one of the successful job seekers at the St George Hotel was waiting in a rainstorm at the Alta Telegraph office in Sacramento when the Antelope docked. At 2:45 am, April 4, 1860, with little ceremony, William (Sam) Hamilton was given the mochila, stepped into the stirrups, swing into the saddle, and began the first overland leg of the Pony Express.

Ahead of him was a soggy, rain-soaked road through the heart of Sacramento, past Sutter's Fort, along the American River, and the plain beyond. At that time of night, there was no traffic, but it was difficult to keep to the dark and muddy trail.

He changed horses at Five mile House, Fifteen Mile House, Mon-non Tavern, Duroc, and Mud Springs. At 6:45 am, he arrived in Placerville, having covered 45 miles in 4 hours. Changing horses again, he was off for Sportsman's Hall, twelve miles away. He made it in an hour, and his first ride was finished.

Your Uncle wouldn't have the benefit of staged remounts waiting for him, so he'd be a bit slower, but the account above would be preety close to the absolute best time he could make.

 

[Ray Dario]

Weird Harold reminded me of another consideration and that is the type of horse. The old Pony Express riders rode cross-bred range horses, much slower than today's quarterhorses and other breeds, but still faster than say a clydesdale or shetland pony.

So you should consider breed. I don't know what horses they had in Scotland during that time period so you're on your own with that.

On a personal note I have ridden a horse (fullbred Quarterhorse) forty miles in just over 4 hours and I wasn't really pushing the horse, just really having some fun. I let it rest, even dismounted a couple of times to save my poor ass, and only let the horse gallop for short periods. But the terrain was almost entirely flat (west Texas).

Ray

 

[Alex De Kok]

My Thanks...

...go to Ray Dario, The Earl, Weird Harold and Killermuffin for their answers above, and to Quasimodem who replied direct. Between you I think you have answered the question I raised.

It never ceases to surprise me as to the depth of knowledge available here on Literotica. But then, that's why I raised the question here in the first place. Thanks again, folks.

And now, Major Faulkner, to horse and let us be after Lucy!

Alex