It seems to be a staple of books, movies, and other dubious sources that the best thing to do when charged by a herd of horses or cavalry is to lie flat on the ground; that a horse won’t step on a person for fear of breaking a leg. Is this true? Does anyone have any evidence, or is this just a Hollywood invention?
Hollywood invention. If a horse isn’t panicking, it will usually try to go around an obstacle, and most horses will jump small obstacles. But a horse that’s distracted, frightened, or crowded on either side will happily plow through (or over) whatever’s in front of it.
My dad once told me that he was riding a horse on an icy road. I don’t remember the particulars, and it’s too late to ask him now. Something about a girl. Perhaps the horse was slipping on the ice and she fell off. Dad said that the horse was skidding and skittering on the ice and seemed to be paying the utmost attention to the girl in order not to tread on her. He was convinced that a horse would take pains not to run over a person.
But that was just his perception. I’ve never had reason (until now) to question it, but I suppose that the horse (Vaughn Bode just popped into my mind – ‘whorse’) was just trying to keep its footing (hoofing?) on the ice and its appearance of trying not to step on the girl was coincidental.
Horses don’t like to step on unstable ground. (And as grazing herd animals, they are pretty good at sighting unstable ground.) Soft, squishy humans are unstable ground. And they are generally moving and making noise, two further reasons to avoid stepping on them. So horses will indeed attempt to avoid stepping on a human.
That is probably instinctual. Modern, domesticated horses also learn to be friendly toward humans, especially their frequent companions. (They know where their daily oats comes from!) So that is an additional reason that they attempt to avoid stepping or otherwise harming their human companions. They will even take actions to protect their humans, sometimes at some risk to themselves. There are many stories of this. Horses will do this to protect members of their herd; many seem to consider their human companions as part of the herd.
But this is only in normal situations. As cwthree says, horses in a panic, in a crowded & stampeding herd, etc. will not be able to avoid trampeling on a human. In fact, they might run down other members of their own herd in such a situation.
The movie example that comes to mind is the scene in Gandhi. There the horses were not panicking or stampeding, though it was a tense moment because the riders were urging the horses on anyway. How realistic was that scene, specifically?
My Dad explained to me that was because the horses in question were cavalry mounts – and Gandhi knew such were trained not to step on people. (Because otherwise they might trample their own army’s wounded.) But I don’t know if that’s correct.
FWIW The Worst Case Scenario: Survival Handbook suggests that laying flat on the ground is a good way to avoid being trampled by a charging elephant. Apparently they will go to considerable lengths to avoid stepping on a prone person.
Does this mean warhorses weren’t trained to trample or otherwise dispatch unfriendly elements?
Were they never so trained, or did that end with end of the era or plate mail?
My experience is that horses don’t like stepping on people much the same way as they don’t like stepping in puddles (though rolling in stinky, muddy puddles is apparently great fun :rolleyes: ) or onto any footing they’re not sure of. However, it’s just a preference. They certainly will step on you if they’re panicked. Likewise, you can pretty easily make a horse walk through puddles even if they’d prefer to walk around them.
I don’t remember the scene in Ghandi. Did the horses refuse to walk over people? That’s interesting because a skilled rider should be able to make a well trained horse walk over just about anything. However, I didn’t know that cavalry horses were trained not to step on people. That could be the reason. It could also be that the riders weren’t totally sure they wanted their horses to trample anyone. If a rider is unsure about what they want, they often don’t give clear, strong aids and make it pretty easy for a horse to refuse. For example, if a rider is headed towards a jump that scares her, she’s likely to stop riding aggressively towards the jump, often without realising she’s doing so. If the horse is at all unsure about it himself (or just not in the mood that day), he’ll likely stop. (Been there. Done that. Got the bruised to prove it.)
I don’t know, but the military purpose of a cavalry mount is mainly to provide the warrior with a mobile elevated platform from which to fight. (And, in the case of a medieval knight, to pack a lot more momentum into the lance-point.) I’ve never heard of a horse being trained to actually, you know, fight.
I also don’t think it would apply to medieval warhorses, who were trained and bred to be hostile and aggressive – but I’ve been wrong before.
I’ve read that medieval warhorses were trained to be extremely aggressive. Biting/stomping/kicking anyone who was not there usual rider and handler. This is because these horses were often in close melee with the enemy, and the rider needed a horse who won’t accept handling from strangers.
Modern cavalry horses were trained to not panic from the sound of weapon discharges and explosions, but were not expected to fight. Being a stable platform was important.
Both types would be trained to be accustomed to the sounds and smells of the wounded and dead. Fast reactions and coolness under fire are useful to any creature in combat conditions.
The elephant guy at Riddle’s Elephant Sanctuary says they tend to trample small things on the ground, including people lying down.
On a related topic, when I was doing a good bit of ostrich work, dropping flat to the ground was what was advised to deal with a charging agressive bird. They kick forward, and their sharp toenail can disembowel you. If you are flat on the ground they can still trample you, but you are likely to survive.
As mentioned, horses do not at all like unsure footing. I have an Arab (a breed know for goofiness) who will lay down on ice and in water. When he is unsure of the footing, he will just lay down which is very weird when you’re sitting on him.
Anyway, horses will avoid stepping on stuff (like folks) if they can because of the footing. However horses, like any other prey animal, will run if startled or threatened. They will run over anything in their way, and thus my friend ended up with a steel plate in her head.
I used to have a job helping to break horses. Once they were “green broke” (meaning that the initial step of getting them to permit a person on their back was accomplished) they would be turned over to me to finish the breaking process. I would ride them for hours, getting them used to commands and the like.
As you can imagine, I got thrown quite a bit, but being a clumsy person, I know how to fall without getting really hurt. (I would also ride the “new guys” in a boggy pasture where the ground was soft.)
Never once did I get stepped on. There were a couple horses which would premit a person to ride them in a walk, but if you tried to urge them to a canter or faster, they would panic and buck, throwing me off, and then trying to rid themselves of the saddle. I always thought that they were aware of me and cautious not to step on me, because they would shy away from my prone body even during energetic kicking and writhing.
One horse was deathly afraid of snakes and would go wild if he saw a stick in the road. He would throw off his rider (me) and then rear and stomp and thrash, but even if I was on the ground behind him, he never stepped on me. (After he calmed, he would butt me with his head to see if I was still alive.)
This “fact” also plays a bit of a plot point in the John Wayne movie “El Dorado.” Mississippi (James Caan) dives under a bunch of charging horses so he can get a shot at the fleeing bas guys. He tells the Duke “A charging horse will not step on a prone man.” After seeing the look on Wayne’s face…“Will he?” “He will.”
Take that for what it’s worth.
I got thrown from a horse my one and only time about 8 years ago. My wife was riding her Arab and I was riding my SIL’s Morgan. My SIL’s horse is very high-spirited and bolted when we got into an open area. There was nothing I could do to get him to stop and he started bucking at full gallop and my saddle came loose and I flipped off while my foot was caught in the stirrup. After being drug for a little ways, my shoe came off and I was free.
The problem was that my wife’s horse also took off to chase the runaway and was running on the same path although he was a little slower. I heard the hooves galloping right behind me and braced for a trampling. My wife’s horse saw me on the ground and stopped, jumped up, and to the side to keep from trampling me. My wife, who is a very experienced rider got thrown violently as well.
All of this happened in a matter of seconds and my wife said that she had never seen a horse stop so fast and jump like that to avoid stepping on something.
I once had a quarterhorse who, for whatever reason, liked close contact with me. If I was grooming or bathing him or just hanging out in his space, he wanted to be right next to me. He (accidentally) stepped on my foot more than once, and at 15 hands and close to 1100 lbs, this was not a pleasant experience. He was very affectionate as horses go, but it can be dangerous having an animal that large who wants to sit in your lap. Anyway, he was a little too comfortable around humans and wasn’t always careful where he stepped.
Just wanted to add that an out of control horse is completely unpredictable. I was taught that if a horse is charging at you, you should wave your arms over your head (or your jacket or hat if you have one) and yell as loud as you can.