(no subject)

[jadecat]

Yesterday was terribly thrilling. I actually left work at 1 pm- using vacation time! To go and sit in Dentist waiting rooms while the doctors worked on the husband. Yes, that was plural. See, we went to his dentist and after a bit of work she decided that no, he really needed an oral surgeon. So we headed up the road to the oral surgeon's office his dentist contacted. So I got to sit in another waiting room, however all told it was only 2 hours total for both places. Hubby is recovering quite well, and enjoying his vicodin. ;)

And how did I use this time o' waiting? Actually caught up on my correspondence, and got some writing done for The Librarian! Though this actually leads to something of a quandary. Maybe some of ya'll can help me out.

See, I need a horse. Or more specifically, Ama needs a horse. Here's where it gets tricky- she needs a horse that is fairly solid and not prone to spooking- as Ama is agoraphobic. However, she's also now with a band of traveling people- so she needs a horse that can keep up with all of them. My thought was basically a light war-horse that was trained but perhaps never actually in combat. Thinking that such a horse has got to have fairly strong nerves and not panic at every little thing, and would have the speed to keep up. Continuing along those lines, writing it in that the horse was injured (flank slice or something similar, either in training or battle) so that while he (a gelding) recovered he's not able to bear the full weight of an adult man (never mind one wearing armor). The injury, and inability to bear too much weight, would explain why he's available and not out soldering somewhere. Ama being little and light weight would be well under his maximum carrying capacity, but would a healed leg wound slow him down? My only worry is would a light warhorse be too high strung? Though I do admit I've pictured this horse in my head and I'm getting fairly attached to him. :) Oh, and I'm also thinking warhorse as Ama is an utter pacifist and might need help from someone/thing tougher than she is. ;)

Thoughts?

Okay, so home last night with the hubby (in a numb than vicodin haze) watching the first couple episodes of Season 4 of the Britcom- Coupling. It's been awhile since we've watched that show and I somehow forgot just how funny it is. Though, I do admit that I'm already missing the Jeff character. But still, there was much laughter to be had. :) Followed that with more Season 2 Gilmore Girls, and it was all in all a good night. :)

Comments

[firesign10.livejournal.com]

I don't think a warhorse would be too high-strung, what with the learning not to panic at everything (with the fighting and the noise and all). And I like the recovering facet, so that's why he'd be available and all :-)

What did they end up having to do to hubby? Hope he isn;t too uncomfortable while he heals!

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

That was kind of my thought with the horse. :)

Oh, he ended up needed to have a tooth extracted. We suspect that he had to go to the oral surgeon simply due to the original dentist not being strong enough to manage it. The OS said most of the work had been done already by thte time hubby saw him.

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

Even a light warhorse is going to be big. Think Lippizaner or Fresian.

Generally, warhorses were more cold-blood (draft-type) than warmblood, so they would be calmer than a hot-blooded thoroughbred or Arabian type. Warhorses (such as the aforementioned breeds, and also Andalusians and other 'ancient' bloodlines) generally 'spook' by standing still, staring at whatever is making them nervous, and 'puffing' themselves up. They will snort and paw, and generally try to make whatever is scaring them afraid.

They also develop an intense loyalty to their rider, to the point that many warhorses will give their lives for their rider.

Urm. My thoughts on the injury- A slash would have to be awfully serious for it to prevent riding, and would probably be so serious the horse would be put down. Minor tendon injuries to the lower leg can cause problems that even when fully healed (which takes about 9 months to a year) will allow a horse to be ridden but in the case of a warhorse they might not want to have it ridden by a full-armor wearing rider. (Perhaps the horse bowed a tendon and they sent him to a parade-type area, intending to use him for 'showyness'- if he's 'pretty' that would have been done by knights. They wouldn't ride him in battle, but they'd use him for show.)

Also, just as a historical note, whether you choose to use it, I leave up to you. :) The majority of warhorses were stallions, not geldings or mares. This is illustrated in the current breeds- Lippizans, Friesians, and Andalusian stallions are amazingly docile and imprint quite readily on their human companions (see dancinghorse for more info- she raises Lipps and is a writer herself). Mares are nearly impossible to ride when they are in heat, and geldings are nearly useless when it comes to the necessary protective instincts. Much of that is due to testosterone- direct from ye olde stallion-bits.

*hugs* :D

[sylo-tode.livejournal.com]

Perhaps with the injury it could be more about the timing than the nature of the wound.

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

*facepalm* I wasn't thinking. Yes, that would definitely work- they'd want to be careful if the animal was injured, but even a serious injury needs to be exercised to prevent scarring and the like. D'oh!

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

*beams* I was so hoping that you'd respond! :)

I have more thoughts to bounce off ya now. :) The size doesn't worry me too much- in the initial conversation I wrote, the hostler who is selling him jokes about hoping the rider isn't afraid of heights. Ama is small- but long on leg and arm, moreso than other humans, in part due to her heritage and the way closed societies end up with certain traits being more common than others. She's also a climber- she can climb nearly anything so stronger in arm and leg then her size implies. The girth might be an issue though... I'm sure my character (who is smarter than I am. ;) ) can work a way around that. This is definitely a fantasy world, and in it I kinda stole the Arabian breed and called them Merles. Very pretty, kinda flighty, and not suited for the terrain this group will be traveling through.

I was wondering about some sort of tendon wound, but I wasn't sure how those came about. Would a knicked tendon perhaps cause too much of a wound? The main goal is to set up a situation where a really good horse would be available (at all) to this particular character- and not cost an arm and a leg.

As for the rest, he's put together really well- but he's not showy or in possession of a lovely colored coat- it's kinda grey, kinda brown. So as a parade show kinda guy he just wouldn't work well. As loyal and dependable he works very well.

As he is just an average kinda guy, though with a good to excellent conformation, I was wondering if they would have gelded him after his injury? He wasn't special enough for them to really want as breeding stock- and they might not want to allow the general public access to warhorse breeding stock. Does that make any sense? If it's too out there I can always have him be a stallion... might actually make things more interesting from the protective point of view. ;)

Thank you so much!! :)

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

*giggles* Give me horses to talk about, and I'll babble your ear off! :)

Tendon wounds generally happen from work rather than an actual impact injury- think twisting your ankle. It's much the same with horses. Essentially, the warhorse trips, slides, or falls and the tendon in his lower leg- between the knee and the fetlock- 'bows' out, hence the term. Though they weren't that common, because the knight was VERY careful with his horse, it could happen- and perhaps you had a lazy or careless knight, who was very wealthy, and/or who didn't like this particular horse because of his unattractive coloring, so the horse wasn't treated properly.

And if you had a quasi-ugly horse that got hurt and they said 'eh, he's not worth waiting to fix, just geld him and sell him,' it likely would be because of a careless or lazy knight or squire. Either the horse wasn't prepared properly- poor bandaging of his legs, or a careless blacksmith (though the careless blacksmith is REALLY REALLY rare, considering all they have to go through), or the practice field was slick and the knight didn't pay attention to the footing enough, etc. That's the most likely, I think- poor footing, the horse slips, and BAM, he's lame.

You'd also have to have some kind barn rat treating his injury- putting cold compresses on it to help it heal (cold, anti-inflammatories- which I'm guessing they wouldn't have- and rest are basically the only treatments proven to work healing a bowed tendon) or have your new owner be smart enough to realize that he could treat it, heal the horse, and sell him as long as it wasn't for heavy duty.

(And hey! The Wiki entry isn't off the mark, though it's awfully technical.)

The gelding thing *does* make sense of the knight was selling him off- they wouldn't necessarily have wanted a warhorse stallion going to some random person. Warhorse bloodlines were protected like crazy by their various and sundry breeders, and getting a hold of a warhorse stallion or a mare with warhorse blood was generally impossible for the general populous- it was an honor reserved for nobility, etc. Even having a gelding sold off is an iffy thing for most warhorses- but again, if he was considered sub-par for some reason, it might've been ok.

Hee. *bounce* Yet another one of my loves. I *so* wanted a 'Warhorse' of my very own when I was little.

[sylo-tode.livejournal.com]

What are the odds that a careless knight would be arrogant enough to say, "Kill it!" after a minor injury?

A sympathetic [insert occupation/title of a caring individual that knows enough about horses to know the horse will recover and is in the necessary loop to allow him or her to save the horse but is too "close" to the knight to keep the horse] saves the horse from unnecessary death. The knight probably wouldn't have enough interest to need to see the body.

[miintikwa.livejournal.com]

*nods* And said knight would be too busy with New Horse to care about the old one, really.

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

Okay, how's this sound? The horse in question was actually part of a military cavalry unit- so belonging to his rider, but not really as he also belongs the unit the rider is assigned to. Now, due to stupidity on the part of the commanding officer, they're working through some maneuvers in nasty terrain- which in large part causes the accident that causes the injury. The rider is assigned a new horse and the hostlers take control of the injured boyo. The unit quarter master doesn't want to put him down- not if he can make some money off the issue. A dead horse costs money, selling a lame horse means you at least come out ahead. So boss hostler convinces quartermaster to allow them to do what they can, geld him, and try to sell him. Which is where the son of my guy comes in- he sees an opportunity and snatches up the injured horse- taking him to his father's barn, babying him all the way there. By the time my buyer comes into play the boyo is almost totally healed- and able to travel- as long as any rider is fairly light.

Does this make sense?

And this is kind of funny, I'm spending a lot of time on the backstory for this horse- and it won't be anything more than a short explanation in the grand scheme of the book. ;)

[sylo-tode.livejournal.com]

Backstory is always important. Not that I've read many, but everything I have read about writing mentions the importance of backstory.

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

This is what I thought too. I wanted to make sure that it seemed utterly reasonable that my character could come by this horse (someone extremely sheltered - she's heard of this outside place, but has never seen it- who is exiled to another country and in the hands of traveling party- who are getting paid to keep an eye on her).

Thank you very much for your input. :) S'very helpful.

[mightyafrodite.livejournal.com]

I wish I could help. I know as much about horse stats as I do about birthin' babies.

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

No worries. :) I'm more in the state where I know a bit, but not quite enough to be sure of what I'm doing. Which is somewhat frustrating.

[tears-embrace.livejournal.com]

Vicodin = HAPPY!!!
Hehehe, the deadliest medicine for me! I got to a point, before quitting, where I was taking that stuff like candy. I'd pop around 8 pills at once, usually 4 or 5 times a day. It's a miracle I'm still alive.
I don't know why I told you that..... hehehe. Glad to hear your hubby's mouth can start to feel better now. Best wishes to him!

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

Heh, Vicodin does nothing for me. Sad huh? When I had my wisdom teeth out I had to have Darvocet prescribed because the Vicodin didn't help my pain at all.

Thanks. :)

[tears-embrace.livejournal.com]

By the time I had gotten up to where I quit, it was doing nothing for me either. Neither was Percocet, Lortab, Oxycontin.... nothing. My body built a tolerance I guess. *shrugs* I hope that if I ever do REALLY need them again for any reason, they will work. Otherwise I'm so screwed.... Lol ;)

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

I take Excedrin for headaches- the main ingredient in that being in vicodin as well. So that kind of explains, to me, why it doesn't affect me much.

I would imagine that the longer you're off the prescirption drugs the more likely they are to have an affect (should you ever really need to take them again). Because yeah, your body does build up a tolerance- but like the low intial tolerance- it's not a static thing.

[tears-embrace.livejournal.com]

I didn't know that about Excedrin! That explains why my friend was telling me the other day that Excedrin makes her all loopy. I thought she was just crazy! Lol :)

[jadecat.livejournal.com]

Well Excedrin has Acetominphen, Aspirin and Caffiene. If your friend doesn't normally drink much caffiene- that could be an issue.

Acetominiphen is also the non-narcotic aspect to Vicodin.

Heh, when it comes to headaches, I know lots. ;)