How far a horse travels in one day

[Pryme8]

that would be tough, you would have to maintain just under 3 miles an hour all day with no breaks...

[William]

Very interesting. All this seems to fit with my own research, focusing on New World travel during the 17th-19th Centuries, mainly horse and foot travel.

Something else to bear in mind is weather. Rain-swollen streams, mud and muck, fallen trees due to wind and rain, snow, sleet, etc. Don't assume every day will be fair, sunny, and warm. People tend to travel through regions when the season is most cooperative, and water, food, and shelter most plentiful. In hot climes, the cooler seasons. In wet climes, the dry season. And in cold places, the summer. Prior to the late 19th Century, when you must travel "out of season," you were taking chances with your schedule, and your cargo, if not your life.

[kortleggur]

hi, are we using US-miles here?

So this should be a good table for converting, no?

US miles km
1 mil 1,6 km
70 mil 113 km Apaches warrior: 4-12 men raiding parties on horses (not on foot !)

20 mil 32,2 km Castle dispatch team max (with horses)
45 mil 72,4 km Karnazes Run (on foot/day, no sleep)
20 mil 32,2 km Adventure Group - low estimate
40 mil 64,4 km Adventure Group - high estimate

8 hour estimate

On foot	km	With horses	km	type
20 mil	32,2 km	40 mil	64,4 km	trails - Rolling
14 mil	22,5 km	30 mil	48,3 km	trails - Hilly
9 mil	14,5 km	20 mil	32,2 km	trails - Mountain
15 mil	24,1 km	30 mil	48,3 km	Rolling grasslands
12 mil	19,3 km	25 mil	40,2 km	Hilly grasslands
8 mil	12,9 km	20 mil	32,2 km	Forest/thick scrub
6 mil	9,7 km	15 mil	24,1 km	Hilly forest
5 mil	8,0 km	10 mil	16,1 km	Un-blazed Mountain passes
5 mil	8,0 km	10 mil	16,1 km	Marshland

Naismith's rule
3 mil 4,8 km One hour
Add an hour for 2000 feet / 610 m ascent

Roman legions
15 mil 24,1 km Legion (5 hours march a day)
25 mil 40,2 km Compramised Legion (more time)
50 mil 80,5 km Death marches (more time)


**
My local sources would indicate the following

"þingmannaleið" (max 37,5 km [or 23.3 us miles]) is the distance a civil servant (the parlementarian representative) will travel in one day on horse, and the way he will travel. The distance is four weeks (9,4 km [or 5.59 us miles]) or five german miles (7,42 km [or 4.349 us miles]). (http://lexis.hi.is/cgi-bin/ritmal/le...ingmannalei%F0)

"Ein vika/víkja sjávar" one week of rowing , it is the disance that a rower would rown on one site of the boat. afther that distance he would go to the other side of the boat, (it is about one hour). But the distance varies (7.4 km [or 4.35 us miles]), (8.3 km [or 5.15 us miles]) or (9,4 km [or 5.59 us miles]). The word "week" is here refearing to the act of making way for the other rower.

When planing a daytrip with a horse, you can plan to travel 30-50 km per day [or 18.64 - 31 us miles], the "Þingmannaleið" is well within that limit (37,5 km [or 23.3 us miles]). Traveling on horses for long distance will ask for 3-4 horses per traveler, and use the younger horses early in the day. (http://www.ismennt.is/not/hbrynj/hestar/ferdalog.htm).

[Midgardsormr]

Good info; thanks! And welcome aboard!

[ravells]

Wow, an apache foot warrior could travel 70 miles in one day? That's amazing.

[kortleggur]

Wow, an apache foot warrior could travel 70 miles in one day? That's amazing.

no, that was a mistake, they did use horses

I looked up the source

see: Richard M. Gaines. (2000). The Apache [Juvenile Non-Fiction]. Edina, MN: Abdo Pub

They loved to take horses.

[Larb]

That would exhaust the horse though, surely. Could they keep that pace up over more than one day?

[Chick]

That would exhaust the horse though, surely. Could they keep that pace up over more than one day?

In the old endurance races, contestants averaged 50-70 miles/day for 2 weeks. http://www.thelongridersguild.com/chadron.htm
More modern endurance riding usually consists of 100 miles in one day.
The movie Hidalgo was mostly fiction, but that kind of riding did exist. The movie Bite the Bullet was a more realistic depiction of the contests. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072705/

[kortleggur]

In the old endurance races, contestants averaged 50-70 miles/day for 2 weeks. http://www.thelongridersguild.com/chadron.htm
More modern endurance riding usually consists of 100 miles in one day.

I read this, it was fun... Here are some quotes

"[THE HARD WAY] Those in the know, and plenty in Chadron claimed that honor, said the winner would have to set a pace of 50 – 60 miles a day to win the race. Old Joe Gillespie, aged 58 and weighing the heaviest at 185, wasn’t given much chance. Little Davy Douglas was still a lad in his early teens and thought to have a slim chance too. [...] Though there were no mountains to cross the mileage involved made it impressive. [...] Folks back then talked about how a hose had a “deep bottom,” referring to his staying power. [...] During the heat of the Nebraska summer days the cowboys averaged four miles an hour. During the cool hours of early morning and evening, they doubled the pace. [...] [THE WINNER IS] however, [he] was the “sorriest, sleepiest and tiredest” man anyone had ever seen. He had averaged seventy miles a day, covered the last 150 miles in twenty-four hours, and been in the saddle eight hours short of two weeks. During the next 48 hours the rest of the riders struggled in."

There are many things in this quote that is useful.

Heat is a major variable: "The rider will move 4 miles an hour (~ 6,5 km/h) if it is daytime heat, otherwise he will travel double, or 8 miles per hour (~ 12,9 km/h)." so if we look at the Chadron, Nebraska, June Average low-high daily temperature it is "53.1 - 80.5 °F (11,7 - 26,9 °C) based on 1981–2010 data from NOAA"

But this is without adventure equipment like feed, swords and armour, and other treasures. like one of the riders wasn’t given much chance because of age and "weighing the heaviest at 185 (pounds?, that would be then 84 kg)" The rules of the contest stated saddles weighing should be at least 35 pounds (16 kg) and rider, saddle and blanket are to weigh not less than 150 pounds (68 kg).

It is also worthy to note that topology is mention: " Though there were no mountains to cross".

So for a simulation it could be something like a formula for max horse speed in endurance based on this would be 8 miles per hour (~ 12,9 km/h) / ((Weather or heat modifier, what is max heat for a horse?) + (Burden modifier, max 400-600 lb) + (Topology modifier, scrubs and elevation )) = ?


Then there is also the risk of injury for the horse when going to its endurance level.

[ravells]

But this is without adventure equipment like feed, swords and armour, and other treasures.

Bags of holding should be sold as standard with horses