Horse Power

[allenlondon]

Glancing at Westerns on TV, sometimes they show lone horsemen (rarely women) failing to keep up with six-horse stagecoaches, or even light wagons pulled by a couple of horses.

What’s the truth of horse power? Wouldn’t a single horse always overtake a vehicle?

A

[Ken4155]

Don't know the definitive answer to that, Allen, but the horses in westerns appear to travel much faster than any horse i've ever seen on a race-track. Even with big fat cowboys in the saddle :-/

[vulcan42]

In a lot of westerns the lone cowboy knows a short cut that isn't.

[youngmafbog]

//they show lone horsemen (rarely women)//

Well yes, because that is how it was. Or should we display 'history' differently to comply with your right-on view?

As for the horses, my guess is you would need to look at the power to weight ratio,

[allenlondon]

ymb. I once saw you described as an offensive b***t**d.

Surely not?

[barry1010]

youngfmb, cowboy films also show cowboys accurately shooting at injuns whilst holding the gun in one hand and the reins of a galloping horse in the other, whist bouncing around at a ridiculous speed. Is that accurate, too?

[woofgang]

archers can do it

[Ken4155]

^
Not with one hand, they can't :-/

[woofgang]

and they let gurlzz do it too

[MartinMillar]

A stage coach pulled by 4 horses approximately 10 miles per hour possible to do more but depends on the weight of what is being pulled and the type of road on.
A single horse can do up to 20 miles per hour again depends on the factors.
What you also need to know is that is max speed flat out and cannot be maintained also depending on how fresh the horses are.
Finally and probably most importantly it’s a film!

[Ken4155]

MM; the average speed for a racehorse is 40 mph. The ones that can only attain 20 mph are the ones carrying my money :-((

[AuntPollyGrey]

// cowboy films also show cowboys accurately shooting at injuns whilst holding the gun in one hand and the reins of a galloping horse in the other, whist bouncing around at a ridiculous speed. Is that accurate, too?//

Yes, and cowboys can rope cattle while riding flat out. There is even an event, which I would show you if I could figure out how to download videos, where you gallop down a line fo balloons on a horse and have to shoot each balloon with a gun firing blanks.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FG6CUhLamsw/maxresdefault.jpg

[New Judge]

//Don't know the definitive answer to that, Allen, but the horses in westerns appear to travel much faster than any horse i've ever seen on a race-track. Even with big fat cowboys in the saddle :-/ //

Yes I've often noticed that, ken. You seem them steaming along at the same rate as thoroughbreds in a 5f dash for hours on end!

[Ken4155]

^
Must be the way the cowboys use their reins on either side of the horse's neck, NJ :-)

[Ken4155]

APG, what's the point in firing blanks at balloons? Is there someone stood by the balloons, popping them to pretend the riders are sure-shots :-)

[allenlondon]

Nah, woofgang, it's all done by mirrors (if the little darlings can stop putting their make-up on for a minute).

A

[retrocop]

You get a blank firing pistol,in close proximity to your face, being discharged and you will understand how the balloons pop.
The Met Police used to hold a Police Horse show where tent pegging etc was in the competition. The blank firing pistols were also used.
Today those type of blank firers are not sold as the blast came through the barrel. Modern blank firers have to discharge from another open port.

[bhg481]

and don't forget the wheels on the stagecoach don't rotate, so that must cause some drag. Sometimes they even rotate backwards.

[retrocop]

//Blanks can be dangerous under some circumstances. For one thing, the exploding gunpowder produces a focused blast of air and gas that can leave the barrel of the weapon with great force–think of it as a small, directional bomb going off. Though the blast disperses quickly in the open air, at close range there can be a lot of destructive energy.

The unfortunate showbiz personality you’re thinking of is probably Jon-Erik Hexum, a star of the early 1980s series “Cover Up." For reasons that have never been made clear, on October 18, 1984, the 26-year-old Hexum took a .44 Magnum revolver loaded with blanks, pressed the barrel to his head, and fired a single shot. When Dirty Harry Callahan extolled the power of the .44 Magnum, he wasn’t exaggerating–as the owner of a .44 Magnum myself, I can attest that the recoil and concussion from firing it are impressive. In the case of Mr. Hexum, the force of the blast alone shattered his skull and badly injured his brain, killing him shortly thereafter.//

[douglas9401]

To say nothing of the Injun arrows thicker than porcupine quills, bhg. :-)

[AuntPollyGrey]

they use blank firing single action revolvers and have to get near enough to the target for the black powder granules to pop the balloons.
https://americanshootingjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/PHOTO-2-Power-horse-1024x1007.jpg