Cavalry in Twilight 2000

[Olefin]

Food for thought by the way for those who think that horses may be in short supply due to "starving hordes" in the US

the US general public sees horses as either pets, work animals or race horses - but one thing they dont see them as is food - consumption of horsemeat in the US is very very low among Americans as compared to other places in the world - it would be the equivalent of eating the family dog or cat for most Americans

also by the time starvation really began to take its toll in the US it was late 1998 to early 1999 - by which time MilGov and CivGov would have known that they had to have horses as they saw gas stocks decline and disappear in many places - thus they would have grabbed as many as possible and guarded them

and Last Submarine notwithstanding most military units are very well placed to stop starving hordes from grabbing vital military items - thats why they get issued machine guns, mines and Claymores - and if people say that they would stand aside or not open fire - after the first few executions by firing squad or hangings for such behavior they would definitely follow orders and open fire.

Plus there are a lot of farmers who know how vital horses would be without gasoline - and they would be doing just as much shooting to protect those horses as the military would be doing.

Take down a starving group of people to save an old cow or some piglets - no. Take down a starving group of people to save your breeding stock or the horses that mean you plant enough to feed yourself and your family versus starve - most farmers would only pause long enough to reload in a situation like that. And given how long the US was at war by late 1997 I would think many farmers would have a lot of ammo and rifles ready and available.

[Legbreaker]

Which will be eaten first - horses, or rats?
My money is on the former.

[Olefin]

There wont be anyone defending the rats with shotguns, rifles and pistols or in the case of the US military, machine guns and Claymores and mines.

There will be plenty of defenders for the horses.

I will put my money on the rats going first.

[Legbreaker]

And that'll be the same even when those "defenders" are the ones starving will it?

[Panther Al]

*sigh*

You two. Chill. Seriously.


Leg: Here in the states, horses are simply not seen as food. So while I don't say that rats will be on the menu before horses, by and large, most anyone would do anything they can to make sure they don't have look at a Horse and think, "Mmm.. Big Mac."

Olefin: Leg is right, when it comes down to Eat Trigger, or starve, Trigger is about to be a Big Mac. Even though it would be piss poor planning as to long term survival, the short term will more often than not be viewed as somewhat more important.

[Legbreaker]

Exactly! Of course they're not JUST food, but when it's eat your horse or die of starvation, the choice is obvious.
And there's plenty of historical examples of just this very thing happening.

My mother bred horses. I have a lot of experience with working with them and know very well the personal bond which can develop - each and every animal had it's own name and certainly their own personality. Some I would absolutely HATE to have to slaughter even if it my life on the line, others, "pass me the knife, that bitch has got to DIE!"

[Olefin]

horses are going to be seen as military assets by MilGov and CivGov - especially one the Mexicans invade using cavalry units and once they are short on gas to get things like guns and ammo up to their forces

and no military will sit idly by and watch their assets get destroyed in the name of feeding civilians - so will there be a reduction because some willl be used for food by desperate people or die from radiation or from starvation themselves - for sure

but reduced so far that their arent enough to be used by the military for both mounts and for hauling guns and supplies - not gonna happen - maybe if you only had a couple million - but not with the sheer number of horses there are in the US - which doesnt mean that maybe by 2001 we are down from 6.5 million to one million or so horses - but the ones that are left are going to be very well guarded and not to be used as food by then

plus in this case we have canon to back up that statement - the availability of horses for the Texas module shows that they do exist and exist in good numbers - I doubt if there was a huge shortage that the characters would have been given horses so easily and told they could keep them when they were done - that alone shows that horses are still relatively plentiful by early 2001, at least in Texas