Mistakes with horses in fantasy - WritingForums.com - Writing Forums, Writing Challenges, Critiques and Help for Writers

Femina scribit · 12-02-2008, 10:19 PM

Greetings.
I am a fantasy writer. My main character has a couple of horses dragging a wagon around with him. Now, I tried to do my best to explain how the horses ate, and I didn't have my hero galloping everywhere. However, I was hoping some people might be able to give me advice. When you read about horses, what makes you cringe the most? What mistakes have you made? tips? suggestions? I don't want my book to be about horses, I just don't want my reader wondering how the hell the horses are still alive.

WriterDude · 12-02-2008, 11:29 PM

If you mean medieval fantasy, it would take place long before the industrial revolution, and there would be a lot of grass and vegetation everywhere in the summer time. Wouldn't it be enough to mention that the MC rides for a long distance, can't you just say he/she had some stops along the way to they (he/she and the horse, as well as any other companions) could rest and eat?

It would be harder to find grass in the winter, of course, but in that case, you could mention that the MC simply brought some food for the horse as well as himself/herself. I really don't need to know how the MC eats, and I don't need to know how the horse eats. Its' enough to know that they both do.

One thing that sometimes bother me is that the horses are usually just means for transportation. That's it. Get on, ride to your destination and forget all about it. In real life, horses are very clever animals that doesn't like trouble, but will put up a fight if it has to. Why don't we see that more often in fantasy? It's pretty much alwasy "Hero attacked by enemies. Hero defeats enemies. Hero gets back on horse." Did the horse just stand there waiting for the fight to end? Why didn't anyone try to steal the horse? Why didn't it run away? Why didn't it fight back? And while I know the average life span of a horse in fantasy generally isn't long, a horse can be a very good friend if you let it. Dogs are not the only trusty animal friends, you know. I would love to see a realistic horse on a fantasy book, even if it's just once.

Dragonsoul · 12-03-2008, 12:02 AM

I love horses. I can tell you this, they are just as active and have as much personality of any human. They will snort, they will swish their tail, stomp their feet and even buck if you're not careful. And people who care for their horses (they're not just bought and sold outright) will pet them, comb their mane, clean them and feed them.

Newnonel · 12-03-2008, 01:05 AM

Depending on how close your MC is to the horse you could either expand the horses personality (above) or condense it the the story isn't about the horse and the MC. For me, I didn't really bother about horses since my MC's traveled on foot. There was this donkey however.. Its really about balancing between giving too much personality and too little, I guess.
-Newnonel

ash somers · 12-03-2008, 04:42 AM

i would aim to match the terrain, weather conditions and food supply with your horses ability to survive (in other words stamina ... not all horses are the same, different breeds are more hardy than others) alongside the more important and or deeper issues of storyline, plot blah blah blah etc, so as to make it believable, or at least not laughable ...

i.e. the route you travel and certain factors will need to be taken into account, thus influenced by available water supplies and as previously stated, grasses and the ability for your horse to cross rivers, rocks, snow, sand and so forth

an australian horse ideally suited to such conditions is 'the waler', i would research them if i were you, as they fought in WWII and large amounts or data is available on the topic

edit: keep in mind being fantasy opens the way for anything is possible - give them wings, magic powers and far out regal lineage at the onset, leaving the mundane matters of survival, trivial and redundant ...

... of course, all subject to the level of and relationship between horse and rider/character/s - write them in, write them out? ... write with conviction and you can make them do anything your imagination desires

seigfried007 · 12-03-2008, 06:31 AM

Ugh.... I have all the previous peeves.

Pick a mount appropriate to the job. That's why different breeds of mount and beast-o-burden exist. horses are not the only creature bred for human transport. Sometimes dogs, oxen, donkeys, mules, camels, elephants or even ostriches work better (or for more flavor).

In fantasy, I advise getting rid of anything like horses. Just don't have them. Pick a different animal entirely. Either make one up or pick a different chain of breeding. Say people latched onto cattle, camels, zebras or prehistoric animals to breed into suitable mounts for any terrain (much like horses, dogs and cattle are bred for different purposes and to fill many niches--from protection to transport to food.) If, over thousands of years, cattle were bred for mounts, what would said cattle look like? What about a riding dog? Or mountain-terrain camels?

If you make one up, base its care off that of horses and other real animals because--more than likely--your animal will have all of the same needs.

Concerning horses, I think they're treated too often as cars with minimal AI (I've seen cars with more personality than fictional horses). The horses needs get swept under the rug. It doesn't need to eat, sleep, breathe, rest, drink. It doesn't complain or catch a disease or become injured (and if it does get injured, it probably dies-by-monster fairly quickly so no one has to mercy kill it or hear it scream). It won't go into heat or get sexually frustrated and disobedient. It has no mind of its own or anything resembling a personality. And it will always go exactly where it's told to. And can gallop for days (leaving the hero remarkably well-rested because it's not like riding a horse could possibly be more exhausting or less comfortable than driving a car).

I think research is necessary before one attempts writing horses. While I've never cared for one personally, I had lots of cousins in 4H and have ridden one before. Personally, I'm rather scared of them up close. They're really big and not always in a pleasant mood (especially around strangers and people who are nervous around them unless they have a LOT of practice being around scads of people).

I'd advise reading the Assassin's Apprentice and Tawny Man trilogies by Robin Hobb for a good fantasy with horses. Outside of that, I advise reading Black Beauty and a lot of horse encyclopedias.

silverfoxgirl · 12-03-2008, 08:27 PM

If horses suspect they can push you around, they will test you. I had a horse named Bandit when I was nine, and when I tried to lead him away from a patch of grass he just stomped on my foot and continued eating grass. That same horse randomly burst into an very fast run and tried to buck me off when I was first learning to ride. I was so scared that I jumped off and broke my arm.

TheListenerAndWatcher · 12-04-2008, 12:17 PM

My friend...if you're ignorant, research.

google =D

seigfried007 · 12-04-2008, 12:33 PM

LOL silverfoxgirl! One of my few riding incidents was like that. I didn't jump off, but she frequently wandered off the road to eat (despite my protestations) and took off across a field... and reared when someone tried to rein her in for me.

JosephB · 12-04-2008, 01:37 PM

Quote:

I think research is necessary before one attempts writing horses.

As you can may have gathered, "horse people" are very particular. My wife had a horse (sadly hit by a car when he escaped from his stable) and every movie we see, she's always commenting on the horses and what's wrong with how they are ridden, cared for etc.

Other than that I suggest buying a Mr. Ed DVD. The best way to see how horses really think.

EDIT: You may want to consider posting a question like this in the Research section. I've gotten great help there with questions like this.

silverfoxgirl · 12-04-2008, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seigfried007

LOL silverfoxgirl! One of my few riding incidents was like that. I didn't jump off, but she frequently wandered off the road to eat (despite my protestations) and took off across a field... and reared when someone tried to rein her in for me.

haha, My horse also would just wander off the trail into the woods, away from the group, just to go explore and eat leaves. He also bit the horses in front of him, and some would rear up and knock their riders off.

Battlemage · 12-04-2008, 06:39 PM

I have written much fantasy with horses added. Horses are expendable in fantasy. They are ever getting ate, lost, stolen, left, abandoned, pitifully left to graze, faded from a storyline, or simply tailing it up all along but not mentioned.

Even 'old Sam' could not enter the Mines of Moria.

Riding a horse makes it too easy to....per say, do a quest. A man on a horse tends to get his way and appear fearless and bold. Take away the horse or mule, cast him into the wilds of an unknown land, and have his own legs be his source of overcoming, and you have a quest.

With a horse in tow, it is hard to climb that tree and get away from the goblins. You just can't climb back down, get on the 'unharmed' steed and gallop away. You can't take a horse into the little crawl space that enters the evil villians castle, and return to find the horse waiting to carry you to safety and not have been noticed.

Horses make noise. I was raised around them. They make noise. Hooves, blowing through their nostrils, shifting on their tremendous weight, hooves clacking on the cobblestone street of some midnight city. A thief can shift through the shadows on his own two feet and disappear into the recesses of the sewers without the aid of his saddled counterpart.

I do not like to get the reader hooked on a horse. People love horses. It is just a simple fact. Avoid the horse except for on the field of battle....

TheListenerAndWatcher · 12-04-2008, 06:48 PM

Epona would be there waiting to catch you, if she was your horse.

BoredMormon · 12-04-2008, 09:48 PM

I'm a completly non horse person. When reading about horses I pretty much believe whatever I'm told. Of course, I have read that many books that mention the use of them to expect a few things. And most of those have already been mentioned.

Its been mentioned in this thread that horses have more personality and better relationships with people then is poytrayed in fantasy novels. That is probably highly true with everyone who works with horses today, but I don't belive it was true when horses were the most common form of transport.

Let me explain my reasoning. Today there are probably about 5-10 percent of the population who just love their cars. They spend all week end tinkering, not because there is anything wrong with it, but because they enjoy it. They dream of building a hot rod in the garage. The type of people that would still buy and use cars in a couple hundred years, when they are completly redundunt (or drive and restore vintage cars today). Thats the current horse comunity, thats the type of people who have horses today. And the type that worked in the stables in the fantasy worlds.

But the vast majority are people like me. My car gets me from A to B. I put petrol in it when the light goes on. If something goes wrong more complex then changing a tyre I have to take it to my mechanic friend. When people ask me what type of car I drive I say 'blue'. If someone offered me a superior, more advanced transport option I wouldn't think twice about abondoning the car. These are the type of people your fantasy hero is most likely to be drawn from. Just follow the norms from the books you find most beliveable, and a few of the suggetions in this thread.

Of course, you could write a hero from the first group. But then the horses would be a major story element. And I don't think that was your intention.

BM out

Hawke · 12-04-2008, 10:50 PM

I've been a horse person since I knew what one was, owning, successfully training several from the ground up, and showing at all levels (flat only though). I'm also a carded horse show judge.

I'd say the opposite is true when it comes to the connection people felt for horses then as compared to now. Transportation, they certainly were. But horses were also the difference between life and staving to death (farm field work, cattle work). Not to mention a really good, sound horse could cost several months to a year's income. Heck, they used to shoot horse rustlers... not to mention why Livery Stables came into being—they made good money. That said, I'll wager that more than not cared for their horses better than they did themselves or their own families. Now, though, everything is dispensable; some folks change horses like socks.

If you're going to write about horses, please don't make them look like idiots or "cars." They're highly intelligent animals with a great sense of humor and their own way to communicate. You just have to know the language, is all. Like my dad used to say: "There's not such thing as a stupid horse, only stupid riders." Also, think of a horse as a deer, not a dog. Fight of flight, and all that.

"If your horse says no, you either asked the wrong question, or asked the question wrong." ~Pat Parelli

Hmm. Not sure if any of that helped...