Bryan asks about Sledges
>But then I notice the lack of mention of carts and wagons too. The
>merchant key word suggests that most goods are carried directly on
>mules (or thralls). I'd assumed that this was mostly a comment on
>the state of the tracks and trails, but now I wonder if the
>Heortlings just aren't good with harnessing horses? Maybe don't have
>very good collars, maybe don't have the experience in training horses
>to pull, maybe more mythical/magical reasons that they don't put them
>in harness?
Some of it may certainly to be to do with the state of the trails/nature of the terrain. There is no point in being able to travel 80% of your journey by cart if you end up being unable to complete without abandoning the cart.
But there may be more to it, although the heortlings ride horses they use oxen to pull ploughs - so maybe what carts they use are also pulled by oxen. Is it because the Ox is the "Workers" animal and the Horse the "Nobles" - You'd no more ask your Horse to pull your cart/Sleigh than you would ask weaponthane to do so?
Or is it the presence of the Grazers? They can accept riders, but to make a horse pull a wagon or sleigh may offend them (more so than just the presence of non-grazers...)
Heortlings know of Chariots too, but don't appear to use them - again this might be because the terrain is unsuitable, or for the other reasons for not harnessing horses.
>David Thompson covered a couple of
>_thousand_ kilometres one winter by dog sled
Of course Dog Sledges are right out for Heortlings too, and Cats are far too sensible to pull anyone else through the snow!
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