horse population in 2000

[Olefin]

Found this online which gives the numbers of horses throughout the world and breaks it down by general area including number of horses and number of horses as a proportion to the general population - the 2000 numbers would be very applicable to the original game whereas the 2008 numbers are more for the 2013 game

In 2008, there are 58.7 million horses in the world, South America dominating (15 millions) followed by Asia (13.8 millions), North America (9.8 millions), Latin America and Caribbean (8.7 millions), Europe (6.3 millions), Africa (4.5 millions) and Oceania (0.41million).

http://www.fao.org/tempref/AG/Reserv...dka_Thesis.pdf

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Olefin

...the 2000 numbers would be very applicable to the original game...

ONLY in those few areas not impacted by the war. Most of Europe (excluding perhaps France), much of the US, USSR and China would be decimated with horses (and other animals) likely having suffered even even more than humans. Disease would have ripped through herds, radiation killed, many, many more (they can't take shelter from fallout anywhere near as easily as humans), and famine/lack of fodder not just starves them, but turns them into a very attractive food source.

Then we add in those killed in the actual war zones, and horses are very likely to be in very short supply.

Even well away from war zones horse populations would take a hit - no fuel prevents large scale fodder production and transport, medicines become scarce or not available at all, etc.

Yes, some breeding would continue, but to be successful you need a fairly decent supply of food, and you won't have a (barely) usable horse anyway for about 3 years (gestation alone is 11 months, plus time for them to mature, then training).

So even if large scale breeding was begun at around the same time as strategic nukes were used (latter months of 1997), you're only just starting to see a result at the time the game is set. Given it takes time for the need to be recognised, I'd be inclined to add at least six more months to that, probably even more for the northern hemisphere as you really don't want new foals born while there's snow on the ground.

[Olefin]

Oh I am not saying that horse populations wouldnt be affected - but the data does show you how many horses there are, where they are distributed and what would be available for cavalry and transport

part of what it does show is for the places that didnt get affected that much by the war but are short on fuel - i.e. there you would see horses being transitioned back in as transport animals again - which includes most of South and Central America. Also keep in mind this doesnt include donkeys in the numbers cited which are used for transport in many countries already

Given the numbers you can see that there are sufficient horses to support the cavalry unit sizes we see in the canon even with a large scale reduction in the amount of horses (along with humans) - even if you lose half the horses in North America - i.e. from the 2000 numbers - you are still looking at almost 3 million horses - so could the US by 2000 still have a significant amount of horses for transport/agriculture/armed forces use - the answer is yes - i.e. the horse numbers are simply too big for even a catastrophe on the scale of Howling Wilderness to reduce them to where they are in such short supply that you wouldnt be seeing them pulling plows and wagons and transporting soldiers

[swaghauler]

I know that in the early '90s there were around 250,000 wild horses in the US and Mexico. That number has dropped to around 60,000 or 70,000 now.

Unsurprisingly, about 4,000,000 horses are in the hands of the Amish in the US. Most of these would probably survive since they are still used for plowing, logging, construction and as basic transportation. I can imagine the US Military "enlisting" Amish as "drovers" or "cargo handlers" just because they have the horses and wagons to haul large loads. Kind of like the Army going to civilian ranchers out West to help them set up that new School for handling Pack Mules a few years back (Special Forces Pack Handling Course, Ft Bragg) or the Marines opening a course in pack handling at their Mountain Warfare School.

[Vespers War]

4,000,000 seems surprisingly high for the number of horses owned by the Amish in the United States.

Their population is only around 330,000 and the average household size is 7, so that would imply ~12 horses per person or 85 horses per household. A typical household actually has 7 or 8 horses (usually 6 draft and 1 or 2 light horses for buggy work), which in turn implies roughly 355,000 horses owned by the Amish.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Vespers War

4,000,000 seems surprisingly high for the number of horses owned by the Amish in the United States.

I'm guessing there's one or two too many zeros on that figure.
Can't really see the Amish joining the military either, even against their will. Probably better for them to be recruited into positions teaching others how to handle animals and farm without modern machinery and chemicals.

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by Vespers War

4,000,000 seems surprisingly high for the number of horses owned by the Amish in the United States.

Their population is only around 330,000 and the average household size is 7, so that would imply ~12 horses per person or 85 horses per household. A typical household actually has 7 or 8 horses (usually 6 draft and 1 or 2 light horses for buggy work), which in turn implies roughly 355,000 horses owned by the Amish.

Yes, it should be a total of 400,000 (for 2000, not 2018 too). stupid auto correct causes keystrokes to not register when I type on my smartphone then adds them in as I post my reply (all the ad popups?). I also have trouble calling up a keyboard in tapatalk on occasion. This doesn't happen when I use my laptop though?

The totals now (2018) are over 1.1 million horses but I guess that's not unusual considering the explosive population growth in the Amish community since 2000. They have almost doubled in number during the last 20 years.

The Army wouldn't "recruit" Amish drovers, they'd hire them. This would be just like the truckers and construction workers the DOD hired to work in Iraq and Kuwait during the War on Terror. Hell, I've hauled military equipment as a trucker here in the US.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by swaghauler

The Army wouldn't "recruit" Amish drovers, they'd hire them. This would be just like the truckers and construction workers the DOD hired to work in Iraq and Kuwait during the War on Terror. Hell, I've hauled military equipment as a trucker here in the US.

Why would they go? Aren't the Amish fairly insular and anti just about anything to do with the modern world?