In the movies a horse can run forever at a full gallop.
I know it varies from horse to horse and condition just like humans, but what is realistic??
You have bank robbers chased for days in the movies. How long is a horse good for in a pursuit like that?
Thanks
At a dead run... I wouldn't ride any horse more than a few minutes.
At a slow lope, given some rest and time to cool off, you could get 3-4 hours out of one in good shape.
You can sure ride a horse to permanent injury or death pretty quick.
Yep, every thing he said.
A trot is the fastest way for a horse to travel in an energy efficient manner. Many, if in good condition, can trot for a couple hours, then walk a ways, and trot again.
When I wanted to go five miles or more quickly, and could put the horse away at the end, I cantered a 1/4 mile then trotted 1/4 mile, and cantered 1/4 mile, and trotted 1/4, etc.
But if you intend to cover ground, as in a 100 miles or more, you walk and trot and lead the horse. A young man in good physical condition can out travel any horse on Earth (a rider on his back exacerbates the situation), over the long haul. The horse must be given several hours each day to graze and replenish his energy reserves, where a man can carry enough staples at his waist to last him a week.
The native Americans often captured wild horses simply by walking them down. It might take a week, but it is entirely possible. Terrain in which you can hold the wild horse off of water makes the task easier.
In my teens, twenties, and early thirty, I could, on foot carrying my rifle and ammo, beat any horseman from camp up the mountain, (2500 feet elevation in six miles) to our favorite scouting position by about half the time it took them to arrive. And I could beat them back to camp as easily.
I brought a few horses home from a mountain lathered like they had just run the K Derby, and I never got in the saddle.
Horses are good for packing crippled old men, like I have become, or fat, out of shape flatlanders not used to elevation in the mountains. They are unsurpassed for carrying game back to camp. And they are wonderful for short fast sprints such as cutting off a cow trying to escape, running around a mountain to get ahead of game you saw headed that way, or for short, intense cavalry charges.
But about five minutes is all a horse can give you at peak performance levels. A quarter horse, about half of that. That is the reason horse races are limited in length, and endurance races are closely monitored.
A marathon might well be won by a trained athlete over a bareback horse, and definitely by the athlete over a horse carrying a 200 lb man, saddle, and bit of gear. An endurance racing horse typically averages about 7MPH, while the better marathon runner often exceeds 9MPH.
