Page 4 - Bulletin 12 2008

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THE AGE OF THE HORSE:
HORSE TRANSPORTATION IN THE SOUTH PENINSULA

Mike Walker

Introducing the horse (http://en.wikepedia.org/wiki/Horse#cite_note-2;
http://en.wikepedia.org/wiki/Horsepower; http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_roads).

The horse (equus caballus) emerged from the Central Asian steppes and was apparently

fully domesticated by 3000 B.C.E. – much later than the dog (9000 B.C.E.), and also

later than cattle, sheep and goats. Until the invention of steam and internal combustion
engines, some 5000 years later, it remained the primary source of power in

transportation (carts, wagons), work (draught-animals, ploughing), leisure (travel,

horse-racing), and war (chariots, cavalry), and many of its uses presupposed the
existence of the wheel.

Although oxen can pull heavier loads the horse is unique in combining fine balance and

nimbleness with stamina and speed. It walks at 6,4 km/hr, trots at 13 – 19 km/hr, canters
at 19 – 24 km/hr and gallops at 40 – 48 km/hr. A world record speed of 88 km/hr over a

short distance has been recorded. In Roman times post-riders using relays of horses

could carry letters 800 km in 24 hours, placing Roman Britain within a few days’
contact of Rome, for example. In many respects this was an equestrian empire, as the

Egyptian, Persian and Chinese ones had been before it. Along the post roads milestones
were indispensable as route markers and measures of the progress. The efficiency of the

th
Roman postal service was not matched again until the 19 century.

Horses requires regular care: an average horse of 400–500 kg requires daily 7–11 kg of

food and 38–45 l of water, and the attentions of a farrier every 3–4 months. A well
cared for horse can live for 25–40 years. When the steam engine was invented its power

was measured against that of the horse. James Watt and Thomas Boulton in 1783
established that 1 hp equalled 745.69 Watts or 33,000 ft-lbs/min.