It is written, but Allah alone is all knowing...
Some time back I was researching the Crusades and found an article about a battle that was supposed to happen but didn't.
The European Chivalry favored stallions as heavy warhorses. I suppose that mares don't and geldings seldom get the size that's required for a Crusader in full arms and armor. Besides, every bit of "m" that you pack into 1/2 m (v**2) concentrated on the tip of a lance is to the good.
The Arabs do not geld their riding animals. They consider stallions to be violent, unpredictable, dangerous and more than half crazed. The Arabs are not incorrect. By process of elimination their knights rode mares.
Like many other mammals mares' estrus cycles entrain. If you have a bunch of them they are likely to go into season at about the same time.
The day of the battle the Frankish cavalry was downwind of the Arab encampment, an encampment full of mares who wanted to be bred. The stallions obeyed a command more deeply rooted than anything a horse trainer could implant.
You can guess what happened next.
After several days the stallions were beat up, bruised and exhausted. The mares were pregnant. The grooms and foot soldiers on both sides were probably sick from laughing. The Arabs were happy. After all, they got all the foals. And everyone pretty much agreed to go home and pretend the whole thing never happened.
Such is the Fog of War.
Some time back I was researching the Crusades and found an article about a battle that was supposed to happen but didn't.
The European Chivalry favored stallions as heavy warhorses. I suppose that mares don't and geldings seldom get the size that's required for a Crusader in full arms and armor. Besides, every bit of "m" that you pack into 1/2 m (v**2) concentrated on the tip of a lance is to the good.
The Arabs do not geld their riding animals. They consider stallions to be violent, unpredictable, dangerous and more than half crazed. The Arabs are not incorrect. By process of elimination their knights rode mares.
Like many other mammals mares' estrus cycles entrain. If you have a bunch of them they are likely to go into season at about the same time.
The day of the battle the Frankish cavalry was downwind of the Arab encampment, an encampment full of mares who wanted to be bred. The stallions obeyed a command more deeply rooted than anything a horse trainer could implant.
You can guess what happened next.
After several days the stallions were beat up, bruised and exhausted. The mares were pregnant. The grooms and foot soldiers on both sides were probably sick from laughing. The Arabs were happy. After all, they got all the foals. And everyone pretty much agreed to go home and pretend the whole thing never happened.
Such is the Fog of War.
