# Question about horses



## RK-Summers (Feb 21, 2012)

Will a battle-hardy and war-trained horse get spooked and gallop away if a bolt of lightning strikes the ground right in front of it?


I know this sounds like a really stupid question, and it should be really obvious, but someone brought it up to me that two well-trained horses wouldn't get scared by a bolt of lightning. And I thought, 'well I'd be bloody scared if a bolt of lightning had just nearly hit me! Bugger the soldiers I'm carrying around, they can fight amongst themselves, I'm outta here!'


What say you?


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## Sheilawisz (Feb 21, 2012)

In the real world, horses have been terrified by artillery attacks and explosions, especially all the poor horses that died in the Great War- I am sure that in a Fantasy world they would be scared by lightning bolts just the same!!


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## RK-Summers (Feb 21, 2012)

Thank you! I can now go back to that nitpicking nitwit and say 'HA! I TOLD YOU SO!'


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## Ghost (Feb 21, 2012)

lol, someone told you it wouldn't? Good call on the all caps.


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## Telcontar (Feb 21, 2012)

Well, well-trained warhorses are pretty steady animals and they've certainly been trained to deal with clamor and noise - but a lightning strike is a bit outside the sort of things they CAN be trained for. 

So basically I'd say it can go either way. Depends on the animal, as it were. If I were to encounter that situation in a story I wouldn't immediately call bullshit.

Edit: Though it did just occur to me that in a world with magic-users who could help with training warhorses, they could certainly be trained to ignore that sort of thing.


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## Caged Maiden (Feb 22, 2012)

I'd agree, and though I'm no horse expert, I have been around at least a few normal horses, and some are calm and others are nervous freaks by nature.  Now, If I were breeding war horses, I'd cull the nervous freaks, but let's be honest, there's a reason people used oxen to cross the plains rather than draft horses, and it's mainly because they're dependable and calm.  
In a fantasy world you can invent your own breeds of horses and give them whatever traits you'd like, however; and I myself have invented special breeds of war horses, but I did model them after normal animals, which are unfortunately as flawed as humans.  You could make an ultra-heroic horse as easily as a heroic person.....but, for most animals in the world, lightning is a bad thing.  I'm not sure training will train all the instinct out of anything.


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## Caged Maiden (Feb 22, 2012)

Actually, if the source of the bolt is an actual storm, the problem could be bigger than that.  Storms make animals nervous and riders could be experiencing all sorts of problems calming their mounts.  In fact, horses are extremely perceptive to human body language and chemistry, their sense of smell being much better than their sight, and if the riders are nervous, afraid or frustrated, just the storm might be too much for the animals.


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## Ravana (Feb 22, 2012)

Find me someone _capable_ of acclimating a warhorse to having lightning striking the ground right in front of it.… 

Yeah, in fantasy it's conceivable. Though I gotta think his first task would be acclimating _riders_ to lightning strikes. Otherwise, it isn't likely to matter diddly what the horse thinks of the situation. 

It's possible to convince horses to enter situations most animals–the greater portion of _homo sapiens_ included–would never dream of facing. Cavalry charges would have died out centuries earlier if it weren't. ("Half a league, half a league, / Half a league onward.…") That's not the overwhelmingly best way to bet, though. And no matter how scary artillery shells eventually became, there's still a big difference between them and a lightning bolt–a natural one at least. 

The answer may also depend on what you mean by "right in front of it": feet? –sorry: multiples of 30 cm?  Meters? A shell blowing up five meters in front of a horse might startle it; a lightning bolt at the same distance would leave both it and rider at least temporarily and blind and deaf… startled or not. On the other hand, the lightning bolt is less likely to cause injury to anything it doesn't strike: it won't throw out fragments like an explosion does. 

(Really cool aside: try to find yourself a fulgurite sometime–sand (usually) that's been struck by lightning and fused together. Not visually impressive, necessary… just nifty to be able to hold and show off. Plus it shows you just how _narrow_ a lightning bolt really is.)

I'd say you're on far firmer ground having the horse freak than having it _not_ freak. The former I wouldn't even think twice about. The latter would stop me, at least momentarily, even if I decided I could accept it in the setting.


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## RK-Summers (Feb 22, 2012)

Thanks for the input, guys!  Just so you know the context, here is what I've got happening:

_A thick cloud formed overhead. Lightning crackled across the sky and struck the raised blade. Malik kicked his horse forward and brought his sword crashing down on his brother with a scream of self-loathing, but Monstrance parried just in time, his arm shuddering with the force.

The two horses cantered, trying to keep their riders next to each other. Malik grabbed his brother’s wrist and tried to throw him off his steed, but Monstrance held the reins tightly. He came dangerously close to falling, but managed to kick himself back up and settle back into the saddle. The air grew hot around them, and a bolt of lightning struck the ground, and Epona_ [Monstrance's horse]_ reared up in fright. Monstrance fell back, but managed to grab hold of Malik and drag him to the ground with him.

The two brothers landed heavily and groaned, and with no riders to steady them, both horses galloped away into the darkness. Malik staggered to his feet, dragging his sword up with him. He stood over Monstrance and prepared to plunge his blade through his heart, but Monstrance rolled away quickly and got to his feet, his body aching._


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## Ravana (Feb 22, 2012)

Hmm. Lightning "struck the raised blade"? Unless you mean "glinted from," Malik is fortunate to have been able to deliver the blow afterward… and the horses should have bolted then, not at the second one, so I'm guessing that was your intention. May want to clarify, given the nearness of the two events.


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## RK-Summers (Feb 22, 2012)

Well, Malik has the power to summon lightning, and from what he's told me, his horse is a little braver than others. Monstrance's horse isn't his, Epona belongs to the protagonist, Thomas, so she's not used to Monstrance's handling. Sorry, I'll make this easier:
Epona is an elvish horse.
Seelie faeries can speak to elvish horses.
Thomas is half Seelie, so can speak to Epona freely.
Monstrance and Malik are brothers and Unseelie, so can't converse with elvish horses.
Epona has never been handled by an Unseelie, so she's not used to Monstrance.

Hope this makes sense :-/


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## SeverinR (Feb 23, 2012)

The situation prior to the strike would also be a factor.
At baseball practice with an overcast day, but no rain. Thunder exploded seemingly right behind us, 6 peri teen boys scrambled in all directions.  If it had been thundering/raining it would have been less scary.

If the horse is in calm weather and lightning struck, it would be startled, and even the best trained horse will react instinctively if startled.  If they see something coming and have been desensitized to it, they will be harder to panic.  A horse alone is easier to panic, a herd of horses would follow thier Alpha's example.  If Alpha is calm, they will be more likely to remain calm.

Even wind can make a horse uneasy.  Everything is moving so seeing a preditor is harder. Everything is making noise, so hearing a preditor is harder. The wind whips up the smells of everything around...you get the point.  A horse's primary action is based primarily on surviving and secondarily the herd surviving.  They depend on everyone of their senses, when even one is lessened, they are nervous.  

Military horses in a magical world would have to be worked with to avoid a blind terror run from every magical battle.  But the instinct is there, even if trained.  
Being in the herd, and being able to have all senses available is what keeps a horse alive and not becoming a preditors family picnic.


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## Hans (Feb 25, 2012)

Ravana said:


> On the other hand, the lightning bolt is less likely to cause injury to anything it doesn't strike: it won't throw out fragments like an explosion does.


It won't throw fragments, but at least an electric lightning bolt can have pretty unpredictable results too. There have been reports of lightning striking near a cow herd. Some of the cows fell down dead even though others nearer to the impact were completely unharmed.


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## Sheilawisz (Feb 26, 2012)

Maybe this is a little off topic, but last Wednesday I watched that movie called War Horse!! It's a great movie really, and if anyone in this thread feels interest about the role that horses played in the Great War and how they react in battle conditions, I highly recommend that you watch it =)


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## SeverinR (Feb 26, 2012)

Hans said:


> It won't throw fragments, but at least an electric lightning bolt can have pretty unpredictable results too. There have been reports of lightning striking near a cow herd. Some of the cows fell down dead even though others nearer to the impact were completely unharmed.



lightning striking a tree will send bark at least 
20 yrds, not sure of how painful it would be if hit by fragments, one limb sunk into ground 3 inches of wet grass 2 yrds away frm tree.   lost previous computer with this strike.  

If lightning struck a raised sword of a mounted rider, horse would be part of the electrical path.  Flash of lightning would startle a horse in a real life, but if conditioned ???


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## RK-Summers (Feb 27, 2012)

Sheilawisz said:


> Maybe this is a little off topic, but last Wednesday I watched that movie called War Horse!! It's a great movie really, and if anyone in this thread feels interest about the role that horses played in the Great War and how they react in battle conditions, I highly recommend that you watch it =)



I cried watching the trailer, I don't think I'd be able to handle watching the full thing


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## SeverinR (Feb 27, 2012)

I know I couldn't.
I love horses, but I don't know a horse movie I could sit through.  Usually suffering and death of the horse is involved.


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## Caged Maiden (Feb 28, 2012)

I treat horses nice in my books.  In fact, My king loves his war horses, and there's a scene where a knight actually cruelly lames one of them, and his father is forced to pay a hefty fine (equivalent of $100,000) and the boy still goes under the scourge.  
When I was 15 I used to ride a Thoroughbred mare, in the hopes I could learn to jump, but she suffered an injury before I could get that far, and she was never jumped again.  I was disappointed, and I never really asked about it.....
Anyways, about the same time, I was looking for my first car, and I had fallen in love with a 69 Mustang at the local classic dealership.  He was asking $10,000 for it.  Needless to say... I didn't have the cash, but I got to talking to the rancher about this car I was all hung up on, and he sort of whistled (in that old man farmer sort of way), and called me nuts for thinking about spending so much on a car.  I couldn't help but retort, "You have a $250,000 horse in the stable, and you think I'm nuts for wanting that car?"
Which was when he smiled and said, "Yes, but I'll get fourteen foals from her, and I'll sell them for $1,200,000."

My point?  That horses are and were expensive.  Their upkeep and training must have been very expensive for an army, and I can't imagine them being terribly expendable in my world.  So maybe it's not very real-world of me, but I have made the distinction to differentiate war-horses from the sort of every-day animals people ride or use in the field.


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## Jess A (Feb 28, 2012)

Have you ever been right near or next to a cloud-to-ground lightning bolt? 

It is the loudest thing I have ever heard. It is like an earthquake. The ground quakes. It is an incredibly amazing experience (to me) and I enjoy it when lightning hits close by (and I am safe inside).

Not sure sure a horse would appreciate the blinding, deafening experience. However, this is fantasy...you can make it plausible.


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## Caged Maiden (Feb 28, 2012)

I was once in a major storm; not much rain, but the lightning was spectacular.  Also, for that particular event, I was CAMPING!!!
Wow, I don't know much about science, but the ground felt charged, and the air too.  It was so close, and you could feel it in the ground when it hit, through the sleeping bag and what-have-you.  I couldn't sleep, it was so exciting I was like a kid on Christmas.  The woods were all silvery-green, and the air all misty.  I've been through some storms, but that one will always stick in my mind, you know?  Something so spectacular you can't believe you saw it.

Yeah, there's some things that every animal I have ever seen in the situation, knows is bad (birds, deer, dogs, domestic cats, rabbits, quail, squirrels, and even bugs.  Fire would be one, tornado green another, and lightning is most definitely on the list.


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## Hans (Feb 28, 2012)

anihow said:


> Yeah, there's some things that every animal in the world knows is bad.  Fire would be one, tornado green another, and lightning is most definitely on the list.


Careful with a statement like that. You know what the most difficult thing with a burning cow stable is? (Sorry that I'm always talking about cows in a horse thread)
It's getting the cows outside. They do not panic or anything. Quite the contrary. They stay where they are. Once you get them out of that stable they keep walking back. Right into the flames.
I know what I'm talking about. I've seen it.


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## The Din (Feb 28, 2012)

Random question. Would lightning ever leave a crater? I remember reading a book once where it left big holes in the ground and threw people into the air... Can't imagine this happening in real life but was just curious.


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## SeverinR (Feb 29, 2012)

Horses are tough to get out, because of panic.  
Our horse and his herd, kept going back in because it was feeding time, food in the bins, and no visible flames to them, in a century old barn with hay ignited in the upper level.


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## Caged Maiden (Mar 1, 2012)

Hmm... I guess I was thinking about the forest fire type of thing.  I live where there are loads of fires.  True domesticated animals might be different from wild counterparts, especially in an isolated building fire.


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## Caged Maiden (Mar 1, 2012)

I did previously post that cattle are different, hence why they were the preferred method for crossing the plains.

I have edited my post, mentioning the animals I have SEEN running from one (but not all) of the aforementioned situations, including tornado green (before the tornado), a forest fire, or a lightning storm without rain.


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