Posted by Judgelet on November 23, 2008, 3:03 am, in reply to "ohh"
76.108.98.0

I'm sorry but I work horses on a daily basis. Live them, breathe them, watch their behaviours in a semi-feral turn out situation between 6 horses who fight, play, and do other bizarre things. It would be NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE for you to hit this particular region of the foot due to how A.) A horse stands UNDERNEATH himself, the chest and shoulder is in the way and you would have to collide with all that plus the neck (which is infront of the horse) and the head inorder to "stand on" that area. B.) NO horse is just going to stand still while someone comes bolting at them like a bat out of hell. Horses are flight animals. They're also curious animals. Attack at a run and 9xs out of 10 they'll run OR they'll spin around and kick out at you depending on the horse, regardless they always flee the scene whether with heels flying or not. So it's in my honest opinion that's just not a very powerful attack. However, in the off chance you do his something else like the ankle or a knee or something... I'll be nice and give you the benefit of the doubt and award back a point there. +1 Then... a Roll back is NOT a slow movement at all. I bring evidence as I ride reining horses for fun and up until two months ago had the pleasure of having a 2x world champion Ap mare at my barn with her rider/owner/trainer and was happy to watch her. I also watch cutting horses every chance I get since I love those crazy critters. Example A.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rn28M_j_zQ Note, after the slide the horse takes two or so steps back, then litterally picks up the forehand and pivots quickly back around. Example B.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flwXIoxPuzs&feature=related Example C. (rollback at a trot/halt/walk)) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uxqXFOUtEQ&feature=related Again, it's a quick more pivot motion and you were pretty much mostly moving at a canter regardless. Note how he barely takes a step back before pivoting to come around and break right into a canter? That's exactly what I thought of when reading your post. I HIGHLY DOUBT your horse is going to execute a canter pirouette which I suppose is, in a wonky way, a slow english version of a rollback. Especially when you're going off about the schooled trot. In all my years of riding and studying equine behaviour from fence pacers to feral horses 9xs out of ten any horse I deal with will trot away instead of canter. UNLESS I send him or her away in a round pen. In fact I have a harder time getting horses to maintain their canter and have to constantly get up them to move back into a canter from a trot and this includes former feral horses I've worked in a holding pen for the BLM. Now this is just from MY personal experience. ESPECIALLY since I've NEVER seen a horse out and out canter towards another horse and actually made contact. I've seen canter/galloping at another horse which resulted in the victim horse spinning and taking off and a chase beginning, but never standing there or remaining even remotely in the same location just waiting for someone to rear up at them. Now also keep in mind that any vet/lameness specialist will always have a horse put out on a lunge line or worked in hand at a TROT. I bring you from Wikipedia: The trot is a two beat diagonal gait of the horse where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time. There is a moment of suspension between each beat. From the standpoint of the balance of the horse, the trot is a very stable gait, and the horse need not make major balancing motions with its head and neck. This is a common gait that the horse is worked in for dressage, due to its many variations. from Leslie Desmond: The Canter: As the horse slips up a gear from a fast trot, he trades the superior balance of the trot for extra speed and greater reach in the canter's three-beat stride. Link: http://www.lesliedesmond.com/index.php?id=118 From HorseRidingLessons.co.uk: Trotting The trot is the next speed up from the walk. It is also what is known as a two beat gait because there are two steps – or two beats of the horse’s feet hitting the ground – in every stride. In the trot, the diagonally opposite legs work together. When the horse is changing between the pairs of legs going forward, there will be two instances every stride where he is completely off the ground. The trot is really the most stable gait and one which the horse will use the most often. In fact, the trot is used in dressage events for this exact reason, because it is well balanced and looks elegant. Riding a canter is harder and more advanced than riding the trot as it is important for the rider to really feel the beat because it is less balanced. Link: http://www.horseridinglesson.co.uk/WalkingTrottingAndCantering.html So you see I really do know what I'm talking about... sometimes. Now... You CANNOT assume your foe is crippled or badly maimed or say for a fact you hit them. You just can't. Yes you can't "dodge" but there's different elements in injury etc etc. Then: Clock's first attack you barely take any damage aside from an open raw patch of skin or something similar. At the end she's flailing around howling in pain. Almost a bit over done. I think what I was getting at is that YOU need to be consistent. You're a powerful writer, almost writing like your horse is complete ionvincable but the opponent's horse if it doesn't go according to plan you write something in parenthesis that's somewhat degrading like "how on earth could she blah blah blah" honestly I'm too tired to go look for it, but it's there in bracket things (blah blah blah). Now, at your canter, do you honestly think that it's only going to take a second to burn through the frozen earth in the .05 of a second or so that your hoof is down? In shying, regardless of whether or not the top layer of soil is freed up, it's the ground frozen solid many many leagues under. It's still going to be hard upon impact even if it's soft upon you leaving. See what I mean? You can't "preheat" or hit a defrost button. So no... No two points back there. So all in all I believe you get +1 which still doesn't make all that much of a difference or if it's a tie I'll rejudge in the AM after I've gotten some shut eye. You're both really really well written. I mean REALLY well written, there's just certain things that you wrote in that post that A.) aren't true and B.) don't make sense and C.) just don't work out in your favor. I'm not here to make you upset. I'm here to judge things as I see them. And yeah it was a VERY close fight. It's not like Clock won by a landslide. Plus remember, not everybody on this game works with horses on a day to day basis beyond riding well schooled and well trained horses. They don't get the horses in the raw that some of us are lucky enough to work with. Riding hunter jumpers and school horss and trail riding ponies really don't count. It's when you get them in a herd setting and are able to watch several horses of both genders out together with several different sizes and colors and breed types and watch them sort eachother out that you really get a grasp on what the horse is capable of. That's not saying that you don't have a firm grasp. Unfortunately we can't always win all the time. Sometimes we just don't get that lucky though I wish we did! OH! From memory I only docked Clock the -2 or so points for multiple attacks and powerplaying. I don't think I hit you for any. But if I did I'm sure they were well warranted as I'm a stickler for that.