How far a horse travels in one day

[Chick]

That would exhaust the horse though, surely. Could they keep that pace up over more than one day?

In the old endurance races, contestants averaged 50-70 miles/day for 2 weeks. http://www.thelongridersguild.com/chadron.htm
More modern endurance riding usually consists of 100 miles in one day.
The movie Hidalgo was mostly fiction, but that kind of riding did exist. The movie Bite the Bullet was a more realistic depiction of the contests. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072705/

[kortleggur]

In the old endurance races, contestants averaged 50-70 miles/day for 2 weeks. http://www.thelongridersguild.com/chadron.htm
More modern endurance riding usually consists of 100 miles in one day.

I read this, it was fun... Here are some quotes

"[THE HARD WAY] Those in the know, and plenty in Chadron claimed that honor, said the winner would have to set a pace of 50 – 60 miles a day to win the race. Old Joe Gillespie, aged 58 and weighing the heaviest at 185, wasn’t given much chance. Little Davy Douglas was still a lad in his early teens and thought to have a slim chance too. [...] Though there were no mountains to cross the mileage involved made it impressive. [...] Folks back then talked about how a hose had a “deep bottom,” referring to his staying power. [...] During the heat of the Nebraska summer days the cowboys averaged four miles an hour. During the cool hours of early morning and evening, they doubled the pace. [...] [THE WINNER IS] however, [he] was the “sorriest, sleepiest and tiredest” man anyone had ever seen. He had averaged seventy miles a day, covered the last 150 miles in twenty-four hours, and been in the saddle eight hours short of two weeks. During the next 48 hours the rest of the riders struggled in."

There are many things in this quote that is useful.

Heat is a major variable: "The rider will move 4 miles an hour (~ 6,5 km/h) if it is daytime heat, otherwise he will travel double, or 8 miles per hour (~ 12,9 km/h)." so if we look at the Chadron, Nebraska, June Average low-high daily temperature it is "53.1 - 80.5 °F (11,7 - 26,9 °C) based on 1981–2010 data from NOAA"

But this is without adventure equipment like feed, swords and armour, and other treasures. like one of the riders wasn’t given much chance because of age and "weighing the heaviest at 185 (pounds?, that would be then 84 kg)" The rules of the contest stated saddles weighing should be at least 35 pounds (16 kg) and rider, saddle and blanket are to weigh not less than 150 pounds (68 kg).

It is also worthy to note that topology is mention: " Though there were no mountains to cross".

So for a simulation it could be something like a formula for max horse speed in endurance based on this would be 8 miles per hour (~ 12,9 km/h) / ((Weather or heat modifier, what is max heat for a horse?) + (Burden modifier, max 400-600 lb) + (Topology modifier, scrubs and elevation )) = ?


Then there is also the risk of injury for the horse when going to its endurance level.