jenniferrpovey:weasowl:catchymemes: Human vs AnimalsEvery year, in a small Welsh town, there is a ra
jenniferrpovey:weasowl:catchymemes: Human vs AnimalsEvery year, in a small Welsh town, there is a race between riders on horseback and runners on foot. Evidently he above subject came under some discussion in a bar, and a bet was made, which resulted in a challenge people have recreated every year since. The race features dozens of horses versus a similar number of runners, and while a horse usually wins, it is always pretty close, and SOMEtimes, sometimes a human runner wins.The race is 22 miles long. It is shorter than a standard human marathon. This is so that it is fair to the horses. A typical marathon is 26 miles long. A healthy distance for a horse to undertake in a single day for the purpose of travel is between 20 and 30 miles, but only if they walk at least part of the way. The years a human runner has won the race, the weather has been hot, as heat also favors human runners.Interestingly, if the race is only ten to fifteen meters, 30 - 45 feet, a human can also win against a horse, which takes longer than a human to get up to full speed.This fact of human capability for pursuit hunting and distance running is also part of why we have partnered with dogs for so much of our time on this planet. Dogs and wolves also engage in pursuit hunting, and sled dogs in particular can run miraculous distances due to some very interesting biological processes. This is important if you are measuring travel time in a medieval environment.Day by day, it is not faster to ride than to walk. It is easier, but it is not, especially in rough terrain, faster. Horses are much faster over short distances, but can’t beat a bunch of guys on a fast march for a full day travel.And if you are in bad terrain where your horse or mule can’t actually go faster than a walk, then it takes about the same amount of time. In fact, a string of pack mules moves at about 3 miles per hour, which is the same speed or even slightly slower than a human walking.It’s still easier on you to ride, though.Do I speak from experience?Quite possibly. -- source link