Horse people!

[telophase]

Who know anything about draft horses. XD Does this make sense, or would you look at it askance? (I frankensteined the description from a webpage on draft horses.)

As the bargemaster handed Calli into the Pretty Pelia, she noted that the tow horse was a large draft sorrel, with a deep, strong foot, not the mule she expected.

From what I gather, most horseboats are pulled by smaller horses unless they're pulling heavier loads, but I have the bargemaster explaining they're picking up a load of limestone after the passengers get off. I mostly needed something to hint that Calli knows a bit about horses.

Comments

[jenett]

I'm having adjective order issues.

Something like "She noted that the tow horse was a strongly built sorrel draft [mare/gelding], maybe a little [sickle-hocked, pick your conformation flaw] but with sturdy pasterns, not the mule she expected."

(https://therubbercurrycomb.com/2013/11/05/conformation-part-5/ has the hock info with a convenient diagram, other parts of the horse in other articles in the series.)

[telophase]

Cool, thank you! :D

[helen_keeble]

I was about to comment on the adjective order too. It’s very easy to spot if you swap horse terms for eg cats - “a chonky ragdoll black” looks weird, while “a chonky black ragdoll” makes more sense. :-)

[jreynoldsward]

Yes, second this.

[adafrog]

Are mules not well thought of where you're writing? Where I live they are pretty awesome. Maybe nag, or some other word? When I read mule I just wonder why they would think a horse would be a mule.

Also, https://lantairvlea.dreamwidth.org actually trains and drives drafts.

[telophase]

They’re very well thought of—practically ubiquitous, which is why she’s surprised not to see one.

[adafrog]

AH.

[green_knight]

This is a flavour thing, but in my experience, 'sorrel' is used almost exclusively by Western Riders, and even there I'm hearing 'chestnut' frequently in recent years.

A 'deep, strong foot' makes no sense to me, though: while mules generally have somewhat smaller (and more upright) feet, you need to get up close and personal (and it's always 'feet', not 'a foot'). Things to notice from further away might be leg markings, a lot of hair (including on the legs, the so-called 'feather'), head shape and -markings, straight shoulders, cow hocks.