Horse's Hearing

[Boneman]

So my hero's best friend is outside the city, and his horse (a Destrier Charger, weighing close on a ton) is inside. There are many guards in the way, but the hero and pal need the horse outside the gate and sharpish. I was hoping horses had the same hearing range as dogs, so they could do a silent whistle (so they don't give away where they're skulking, as everyone is after them) and the horse would gallop out, trampling anyone foolish enough to get in the way, but apparently horse hearing approximates very closely to Humans, so that's out.

It occurs to me that they could have a silent whistle, and the dog of a trusted colleague would bark, and the colleague stick a pin in the horse and away he goes, but can anyone think of something better? I haven't anthropomorphised the horse too much in the book, but he is devoted to the hero's pal. It would have to be a trained response, so the horse knows his master is outside, otherwise sticking a pin in would result in a swift kick. Any horse trainers with any good ideas would be much appreciated!

Thanks.

ps: it's a medieval world, no electricity, etc

 

[Kissmequick]

Wow that horse is HUGE!! Like mutantly huge. Even a big shire would only just top that, and they're way bigger than destriers (a charger would need to move a bit quicker than a shire!). Chargers weren't as big as you'd think (about middle weight) Consider that a modern army guy can carry more armour/weight than many guys in full plate.

Anyway, it's a bit iffy if a horse would hear an inaudible (to us) whistle. Their hearing is good, but I don't think that good. And the pin would likely not work very well either - startling a horse isn't a good way to get it to do what you want, even if it's well trained. If you can have the mate about, AND the horse knows where the guy is (how are you going to tell it?)AND it's been very well trained, you might be able to get it to go on a vocal command (wouldn't have to be a word, could be some noise/signal with hands etc. The owl hoot lol)

Thought: Does anyone know it's his horse? Because if they do, it charging off trampling all and sundry is going to be a giveaway...

 

[Boneman]

Thanks KMQ - the idea of a signal is a good one, and a natural one that wouldn't alert the guards could work well. They should be on the horse and away before pursuit can get itself together. I've taken a slight liberty with the destrier, allowing it to be a shire/dray, but bred for battle for a hundred years or so, so it is incredible strong...

 

[The Judge]

When they are outside, are there other humans around, apart from the guards? If there are, then just an ordinary whistle might work, as why should the guards target them as the whistlers? Or perhaps they can whistle and then run for cover nearby -- the horse wouldn't be able to pinpoint the exact location of the noise, so they'd have to reveal themselves to it as soon as it emerged through the gate anyway. Though whether the horse would hear that is another question -- whistles can be heard over long distances, but a city is a different affair from open fells, with the walls and competing noises.

The other alternative is for the horse to take umbrage at something a guard does, start laying about itself, that makes a lot of racket by the gate and it, of its own volition, races through the gate perhaps -- or he whistles then and he's not heard in all the commotion.


EDIT: there's a horse-y advert at the top of the page now!

 

[Biskit]

It occurs to me that they could have a silent whistle, and the dog of a trusted colleague would bark, and the colleague stick a pin in the horse and away he goes

Could the colleague just have a set of verbal commands for the horse? I only know cats/sheep/chickens/geese, and they all learn to respond to certain sounds or words.

On a still day, across the width of the field and with plenty of gorse in the way, the sheep know the sound of sheep-nuts being rattled in a bag or bucket.

As for our last cat - he knew the smells of things we might cook to go with tuna, and he recognised the word well enough that we took to referring to 'the T word'. Actually mention 'tuna' and he would be around your ankles, demanding his share.

The chickens recognise the squeak of the bolt on the feed shed.

OK... there's a common thread of food through all that, but most successful animal training contains a lot of response-reward conditioning.

 

[Kissmequick]

I've taken a slight liberty with the destrier, allowing it to be a shire/dray, but bred for battle for a hundred years or so, so it is incredible strong...

Fair enough - just remember, a horse that large is not really agile in any meaningful way -- it is, pure and simple a moving/pulling machine. Actual destriers were not really anything like a modern day shire (more like a heavyweight or middleweight hunter). I say this having ridden Shires- in driving parlance, riding a shire or similar would get you this on Top Gear: No acceleration, crap brakes, doesn't handle worth a damn, but it's great at pulling things. Kind of like a Harley!

As long as your horse acts that way, it'll be believable, if a rather odd choice on your guy's part. Though the guard's horses would soon outrun it in a chase!

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

And you also have to remember that chargers were not meant for casual, sustained travel. They were meant for short bursts of speed, and chargers and war horses were very expensive. Instead, for casual travel, you'd have something that would look more like a Shetland pony than a charger. Think of it as the old LOTR-style dwarf of horses. Can't remember any specific breeds, but casual riding horses were short, stocky, very strong, and most importantly, very high endurance. If you had to travel, say, thirty leagues relatively quickly, you'd want one of them, simply for the fact that anything like a charger would have to be rested almost constantly. I suspect if you tried to take a charger on a massive trip like that and not properly rest it, you'd probably break its wind, and that's the last thing any horse owner would want to do to it, since in severe enough cases, the horse would usually have to be put down.

 

[Boneman]

When they are outside, are there other humans around, apart from the guards?

EDIT: there's a horse-y advert at the top of the page now!

They've just busted out, everyone bar a few think they are traitors, and out for their blood, and I may resort to the hero's friend riding the horse out, cutting his way through.

I saw the advert - I'm going to start a thread on Michelle Pfeiffer, see what happpens....

Biskit, I know what you mean... You only have to think about special treats in our house and one of the cats comes running.

KMQ, he's a gentle plodder only good for short distances at speed, but wait until book 2 when a company of destriers completely flatten a regement of pikemen... PS: I own a harley!

Karn: the horse is set now (without doing another edit from start to finish) and you're right in what you say. He goes slowly, but doesn't come back quickly, and that's given me the idea that, having asked for all these ideas, he may have to be left behind, because he'd slow them down so much. Wouldn't be a dry eye in the cinema at that scene!

Thanks all.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

It wouldn't be hard to replace without a full edit-after all, I believe there were often stables and farms where the owner would be willing to sell a good horse? If nothing else, it shouldn't be hard to steal one...

 

[Kissmequick]

Karn: the horse is set now (without doing another edit from start to finish) and you're right in what you say. He goes slowly, but doesn't come back quickly, and that's given me the idea that, having asked for all these ideas, he may have to be left behind, because he'd slow them down so much. Wouldn't be a dry eye in the cinema at that scene!

Thanks all.

Isn't it great when research sparks an idea as well as making things more believable?

PS: Norwegian Fjord horse/Haflinger would be breeds that at least resemble more usual sorts of horses at the time (except for peoples with lots of money), along with native ponies. More finely bred horses would be very expensive.