# Could you train a horse to live on the moon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 18, 2025, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485 "2025-05-18T00:24:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/21 "2025-05-18T14:24:35Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > horsetronauts Equinauts? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/22 "2025-05-18T14:29:54Z")
Astrohippos? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/23 "2025-05-18T14:32:59Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Why would anyone even want to take a horse to the moon? I remember reading a SF story about a person who grew up on the moon and at one point they mentioned having seen a horse in the zoo. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/24 "2025-05-18T14:39:24Z")
> Could you train a horse to live on the moon? No-place else than the SDMB…never did I imagine I would read that phrase. I bet Heinlein or Clarke could have written a good story based on that, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/25 "2025-05-18T14:40:38Z")
Issue–how do you rig a couch for acceleration out of Earth’s one G? Without killing the horse, or crippling it? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/26 "2025-05-18T14:45:55Z")
Sedate it, lay it on its side on a soft-ish surface, and away we go. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/27 "2025-05-18T15:03:42Z")
By the time we have a permanent colony on the Moon, we might have an orbiting space station, either a [Von Braun Wheel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotating_wheel_space_station) or a [Stanford Torus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_torus). Why stop at a single ring? It could have an outer ring, simulating Terran gravity, and an inner ring, simulating the Lunar gravity. There could be several intermediate toruses (tori? torodes?) where people (and animals) could gradually acclimate to lower gravity. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/28 "2025-05-18T15:10:33Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Issue–how do you rig a couch for acceleration out of Earth’s one G? > Without killing the horse, or crippling it? Maybe transport a horse embryo in an incubator. That way the horse is born on the moon and grows up in that gravity. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/29 "2025-05-18T15:13:40Z")
Who are you going to get to gestate the embryo? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/30 "2025-05-18T15:14:54Z")
I’m assuming that horses on the moon is just part of the plan to eventually get [whales on the moon](https://youtu.be/U8V2U7vTys0?si=eKDU1GlVjALzeciw&t=7). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/31 "2025-05-18T15:19:13Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Who are you going to get to gestate the embryo? Hey we have a lunar colony. We can build an artificial horse uterus. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/32 "2025-05-18T15:23:00Z")
Shame we never had a chance to put [Whitey](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Whitey_(horse)) on the Moon. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/33 "2025-05-18T15:47:51Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I remember reading a SF story about a person who grew up on the moon and at one point they mentioned having seen a horse in the zoo. It sounds like Heinlein’s [The Menace From Earth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Menace_from_Earth). Like most of his short stories, I found it quite good, much more so than his novels. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/34 "2025-05-18T17:46:34Z")
There is a horse rehab center in Ohio that has a long water trough that a horse can walk in that partially supports their weight. I have seen photos of it but it is not featured on this website but I’m not sure it is the same place. Also a giant X ray table where they can lay a horse on its side. [https://meridianequinevet.com/services/](https://meridianequinevet.com/services/) ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/35 "2025-05-18T18:13:28Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Sedate it, lay it on its side on a soft-ish surface, and away we go. A horse laying on its side in even Earth-surface gravity (gee) for more than a few hours is at risk for organ damage and reperfusion injury. Under launch acceleration of multiple gees (the Space Transportation System a.k.a. “Space Shuttle” had a peak acceleration of ~3 gee) a horse would almost certainly experience internal injury and difficulty of the heart pumping blood efficiently even if it were sedated and fully supported. > [@mixdenny](#): > > [https://meridianequinevet.com/services/](https://meridianequinevet.com/services/) Horse chiropractic and acupuncture? 🤨 Stranger ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/36 "2025-05-18T18:32:05Z")
To heck with the nag, how about a kangaroo on the moon? ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/37 "2025-05-18T18:35:11Z")
Horse chiro/body work (mostly facia stuff, various massage modalities) are used a lot and can be very beneficial, as can acupuncture. With horses you don’t get a placebo effect. They tell you pretty quickly if something has made a difference or not. And yes, a horse recumbent long term is NOT a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/38 "2025-05-18T18:40:36Z")
Can I saddle up a kangaroo? If not, can I ride in the pouch? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2025, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/39 "2025-05-18T19:00:01Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > To heck with the nag, how about a kangaroo on the moon? That would be…intriguing. A kangaroo actually uses its own weight to load up the legs fora jump; under the reduced gravity that might scale somewhat in proportion but they also use their powerful tails to push forward, so depending on the traction they get they might be propelling forward further than on Earth. Whether they could learn to compensate is an unknown > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Can I saddle up a kangaroo? I would buy you Ko-Fi to see you try that. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2025, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485/40 "2025-05-19T13:49:33Z")
Considering the logistics and difficulties of getting an animal t the moon and then trying to persuade it to walk there, especially when that’s going to get the in trouble with their expectations, it seems to me that there’s really only one way to proceed. Bring the animal to the moon while an infant or (even better if you can manage it) while a fetus. That’d require all sorts of advances and inventions, but it might be easier overall. In any event, if you bring an elephant or a horse or a kangaroo to the moon while it’s really young, it will be a lot smaller and easier to transport. Then it will grow up in lunar gravity. It won’t have to unlearn the experiences of a lifetime. It’ll just have to overcome instinctual behaviors. If you decide to bring a baby bovine to the moon, you’d have the first “moon-calf”. Shakespeare and .G. Wells would be proud. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-train-a-horse-to-live-on-the-moon/1018485.md?page=3)