I used to ride my cousin's horse years ago because my Aunt had land. However, I never really got the hang of it because I always felt rather clumsy on top of a pony. If I ever had enough land and the money to afford it I'd get myself the biggest Shire I possibly could so that I could have a "horse that fitted me"
Actually riding isn't the issue -- you can tie anyone to the back of a horse! It's whether you can understand the care and maintenance of the tack required to ride the horse/harness it.
Lots of horses round here; it's mostly pasture. Plus they were practically being given away at the recent horse fair here.
There are a couple of locals who still go around on a horse and two-wheeler.
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
I suspect that working horse usage will surge as oil becomes scarce. Pampered ponies will decline rapidly.
The relative land usage between feeding a horse and biofuel crops for a tractor probably favour the tractor slightly - you only need to feed a tractor when you use it, and no amount of horses will do the work of a really large tractor. However, horses have low embedded energy, and spare parts are not an issue. They may require more man-hours to maintain them, but that won't be a problem. The capital investment for a foal is lower.
Horses as a means of transport will not return on any scale until the roads deteriorate to the point where lightweight electric vehicles (or similar) become impractical.
RalphW wrote:Horses as a means of transport will not return on any scale until the roads deteriorate to the point where lightweight electric vehicles (or similar) become impractical.
That maybe quicker than many people expect!
Oh yes, horses can be surprisingly quick.
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
My cousin (evil bastard) basically did that with my dad once (he's very very scared of horses)
horses can be surprisingly quick.
That's what he found out!
There are a couple of locals who still go around on a horse and two-wheeler
Theres a guy round the corner from me who's kids ride round the streets on one of them.. apparantly they keep the horse in the back garden of their terraced house!! Obviously that is a terribly cruel thing to do but it brings up another point. There is a difference between the amount of land physically needed to keep a horse and that which is needed to keep one in comfort (they must still bring in food for it of course). Could these equine jailers be a taste of things to come?
MrG wrote: Obviously that is a terribly cruel thing to do but it brings up another point. There is a difference between the amount of land physically needed to keep a horse and that which is needed to keep one in comfort (they must still bring in food for it of course). Could these equine jailers be a taste of things to come?
As far as cows, pigs, chickens are concerned these things happened decades ago.
extractorfan wrote:Last time I went I trotted around the arena thing (forget the term for it). The next day it hurt my back and neck more than my arse!
RalphW wrote:.....Horses as a means of transport will not return on any scale until the roads deteriorate to the point where lightweight electric vehicles (or similar) become impractical.
That maybe quicker than many people expect!
Won't that depend on the price and availability of fuel as well as the wealth of the country. If the wealth of the country declines quickly we won't have the money to buy oil or electric cars by the time they become available. With a quick economic crash horses and carts, made from scrap wheels, could become the transport of the future on roads that have not had time to deteriorate.
Actually I was trying to say that the roads would deteriorate quicker than people expect. As on another thread, the US is already tearing up tarmac roads back to compacted gravel.
Tarmac is made from (the dregs of) oil.
I was in Poland before the EU money rebuilt all the roads. Modern cars aren't designed for that depth of pot hole.
HGVs cause most wear and roads are designed according to the number of HGVs expected. Once heavy goods traffic is off the road, the roads will last a lot longer. How long depends on the type of winters we have. Hard frost breaks up the surface causing pot holes while snow lying on none frozen surfaces protects the surface from extreme temperatures.
Poland gets much lower temperatures than we do so their maintenance load would be much higher.
Electic cars = no - see previous posts re: resources
Horses = no - only for agriculture
Bikes, Trikes, Recumbents, foot = yes
Micro electric assist cars = hopefully
Diesel = yes for essential deliveries and military ...for the moment
