A Pet Peeve

As I prepare for the second draft on Prisoners of the Wailing Tower, one thing I’m really researching is… horses. Some of the mages are mounted on horses, and a bit of combat breaks out. What I’m trying to figure out is if the loud noises and such will spook the horses.

So I reached out to some of my friends who spend a lot of time around horses. Opinions are divided between “those horses would bolt in under a minute” and “no sane mage would go into combat on a horse that isn’t trained for that sort of thing.”

(Who said the mages in Skaythe are sane?)

Seriously, I agree that the mages would train their horses if they have time. It’s not going to change the outcome, but I do want to have reasonable details and reactions.

One of my pet peeves is when animals show a humanlike understanding and intelligence. I think of it as “the Lassie Effect.” The beautiful collie dog is smarter than most of the humans in her show, and regularly saves the day.

I have nothing against animals. They are beautiful and have senses beyond what humans possess. But they don’t reason like we do.

Now, it’s different if the animal is specified as being a spirit beast, or a witch’s familiar, or blessed by some divinity. My peeve is when animals are treated as humans who happen to have fur and paws.

Anyway… back to more “horsing around” for me!

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