Mounts and Draft Animals / General Update

My life at the bottom.

I was doing research (or rather, refresher) on horses because historically, we didn’t really have breeds so much as horses and other animals were bred for a reason, and the breeds came later. Horses in the medieval era were typically very expensive, but they were designated by function. I know fantasy is more than the medieval era, but it makes zero sense for me in a random fantasy world to talk about my appaloosa, so two birds one stone.

Destriers, for instance, were the archetypical horses used by knights. They were highly prized and very large. They would be a poor choice of mount, however, for someone wanting to get from place to place very quickly – a palfrey might be more suitable; so a prince might have multiple horses – one for jousting, another for when he’s in battle, and another because he has to flee the castle post haste because everyone wants his head on a pike. This doesn’t always work when we’re telling stories – very few people have access to multiple mounts and, horses themselves were typically out of range for most ordinary people throughout history.

As stated in other posts, I’m working on a story that’s meant to be a little friendlier and like a fairy tale. I for one am fond of stories where characters like Wanderer (Shadow of the Colossus) or Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher) bond with their horse, and it becomes a constant companion in the quest if not characters in their own right.

For instance, in Book 2 of Puppet Masters, the character Riven gets a horse for moving around but once he finally goes home quickly takes over his dad’s old warhorse. He and the other horse still hang out (when said stallion’s not stolen by his sister) as this family and these characters are shown to be fond of horses, but if every squire or knight has 2 or more horses, most readers would get confused fast.

When should I pick what?

For the sake of this article, we will go with a mostly historical/realistic model. I can’t account for what fantasy ideas you want to put into your animals in your fiction.

As a fantasy aside, maybe your characters are smaller and ride something else. I have plenty of criticize about The Hobbit trilogy, but in the EE I enjoyed Dane showing up on a pig and, it makes sense that dwarves are riding ponies or goats or are unique from the elves, at one point Thranduil shows up on a deer. Perhaps your characters are smaller they could ride foxes or even sparrows. I love it when I see merfolk riding giant seahorses or a hypocampus, and you can be creative if your characters are riding other creatures, such as dragons, gryphons, etc.

An obvious choice would be to consider what sort of background your characters have, and what you would need the animals for. Camels, for instance, can go much longer in a hot climate without much water for longer than other creatures, but some breeds of horses, such as Arabians, were bred for those similar environments. Donkeys tended to be cheaper than horses, they are more sure of foot but not as strong, whereas a mule gives you that strength as well as sureness of foot – although sterile, the mule might be your choice of mount for a character going into the mountains.

Consider is the society and the role animals play in it. It’s one thing to have a horse, but there is a lot involved in taking good care of it, even if the horse is retired and frolicking in the meadows, as the seasons change they may not be able to just forage off the land and, suddenly the old grey mare costs coin your peasants don’t have to feed for the winter. Is the technology there for controlling these big, strong animals? Horses are herd animals, and often seek companionship . This doesn’t mean that they need other horses – maybe they’re content with their humans – but generally speaking, horses tend to congregate with other animals. I’m often amused when I’m driving through the countryside and you see a flock or small herd, and then there’s one animal who’s clearly the only one, but doesn’t want to be left out – I never took a picture, but on our way to do strawberry picking earlier this summer, there was one donkey in a flock of sheep. Adorable but also makes sense: the donkey isn’t a predator.

Using different animals among different folk from the same place also sets up who they are socially, and what they need them for.

In The Mermaid and the Unicorns, Larry sends the main trio up to Taralee with his oxen. They’re pulling a heavy wagon with supplies because, he’s a lumberjack and that’s not really a stretch to the imagination. They would be very powerful, but slower as a whole than draft horses, but you can google animals speeds and loads. The Sprites, meanwhile, are farmers and have a donkey-driven turnip cart. There’s no reason for them to have such big strong animals, as typically they need one driver and to pull a wagon load, and they sell their eggs, cabbages, whatever in a nearby town. I don’t go into the logistics, but they are friends with Larry, so if the donkeys couldn’t pull the plow he’d probably loan them an ox.

I recently went to The World Clydesdale Show in Brandon, MB. Clydesdales are draft horses; traditionally bred for pulling wagons, carriages, etc. I’ve been seeing shows like this since before I can remember.

Horses designated for different things is important, because while all horses can jump, or can pull a load, just because I have a horse doesn’t mean they can do the same as someone else’s steed, and if I were to try to use a horse that isn’t trained to do something, especially when it’s with a team, it may be rocky if it works at all. It’s a lot of work to teach the horse how to behave in an environment that runs counter to their behavior. Dogs run towards people when they’re afraid, horses run away. If I were to take a horse that wasn’t ready for it and charge him towards the sound of canon fire, he’s probably going to refuse and, last I checked, I can only ride something bigger and stronger than I am.

This is why well-trained cavalry is so expensive and impressive. These horses are charging towards things and even a horse by itself walking into people is enough to make them back up, let alone with some trained soldier clad in armor from head to toe swinging a mace.

There’s clearly more we could get into – but this is a start for considering what sort of animals to use in a story.

I enjoyed the last 12 days off, got to go kayaking and get a lot of personal stuff done, but never hit all my targets but whatever. I managed to talk someone else into beta reading Ballad, and I hit 50k on book 2 a few days ago. I probably could have finished the novella if I focused on it as opposed to doing both, but I feel confident enough that I can probably finish the rough of the novella for September. I managed to go through and edit the book again, at least the parts I had ideas to tweak; the entire thing needs more work but it feels like it’s flowing.

My goal as of right now is to try to get that duology mostly finished and then start work on that other Project for Champagne Books for November. Derelict Knights is going to take a backseat and I should get to work on the pre-edits for Titan’s Ascent.