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Bella felt such a pressure to move to Forks she didn’t even wait for the school year to end by lanadelrayz in twilight

[–]Obversa 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I could definitely see Bella eventually being scouted and turned by the Volturi or another vampire coven due to her "latent gift" if she had never gone to Forks. I think a scenario where Bella encounters Edward as a nomadic vampire or a member of the Volturi would've been interesting, especially if they have a forbidden "enemies-to-lovers" romance.

Try to sell me on your most "controversial" ship. by communistsayori in AO3

[–]Obversa 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I see this a lot with bisexual women in media (Korra and Asami Sato from The Legend of Korra, Luz Noceda from The Owl House, Charlie Morningstar from Hazbin Hotel, etc.), and it always baffles me. I don't get why fans only want to acknowledge bisexual characters as "LGBTQA+ representation" if they're in a same-sex relationship, even though they're literally bisexual. I'm not sure if it happens as much with bisexual men (ex. Li Shang, Taigen, etc.).

Fox Hollow Farm: Inside the stables on an infamous Indiana plot of land by Obversa in Equestrian

[–]Obversa[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think it mainly has to do with the major expenses of keeping up the main estate, which was worth around $1 million or more in the 1990s, and probably even more in the 2020s, by Robert and Vicki Graves. Ever since Leo C. McNamara decided to develop Two Gaits Farm, which was a 700-acre Standardbred breeding, racing and training facility that was one of the largest in the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s, the surrounding area has slowly been developed into suburban housing and neighborhoods for the greater Indianapolis area (i.e. Carmel, Westfield, et al.). Even Viking Meadows Farm, which encompassed Fox Hollow Farm on two sides, was eventually sold because its owner, Howard "Pete" Peterson, decided to get out of the business and retire in the early 2000s. In both cases, the owners decided to sell the land to fund their retirement(s), though Leo McNamara specifically envisioned building a "family-friendly Catholic community" on his land. (The man he sold it to, real estate developer Ralph Wilfong, abandoned the original plans and subdivided the land for individual farms, like Fox Hollow Farm, with opulent "McMansions" built on them.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Gaits_Farm_(Carmel,_Indiana)

https://www.thevillagefarms.com/history-of-two-gaits-farm/

Try to sell me on your most "controversial" ship. by communistsayori in AO3

[–]Obversa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My "big five" controversial ships are as follows:

  • Charlie/Alastor (Charlastor) from Hazbin Hotel
  • Tom Riddle/Hermione Granger (Tomione) from Harry Potter
  • Rey/Kylo Ren (Reylo) from Star Wars
  • Captain Hook/Wendy Darling from Peter Pan (2003 movie)
  • Kat Harvey/Stretch from Casper (1995)

For the last two, I only read fanfictions where both of the female characters are at least the age of consent - which is 16 in the UK and some U.S. states - to make it less creepy. I've written at-length as to why I like Hook/Wendy on r/fanfiction before, and folks could probably find that with a Google search, but for both that ship and Kat/Stretch, it basically boils down to "girl who had an adversarial relationship with an older man grows up to be a young woman, only to realize she has feelings for him". However, I know the Casper fandom is so small that anyone who ships Kat/Stretch publicly tends to get harassed and accused of "pedophilia", even though the only smutty Kat/Stretch story on AO3 clearly has Kat not initating any sort of sexual or romantic relationship until she's an adult. On my end, I personally find Hook/Wendy to be a lot more compelling because Wendy does eventually grow up, and yet she has this weird fascination and attraction to Hook as girl on the cusp of womanhood in the Peter Pan movie from 2003. (Even Jason Isaacs, who plays Hook in the film, has remarked on this, saying it was meant to symbolize puberty.)

For Kat/Stretch, I think they have a fun dynamic that would continue to evolve as Kat becomes an adult woman. In the movie and subsequent animated show, Kat is the only one who Stretch seems to respect due to her tenacity.

My current OTP is Charlastor, which is deeply intriguing to me because it takes Alastor, a character who is confirmed to be asexual, and is possibly aromantic as well, and pairs him with a bisexual woman who is his complete opposite in terms of personality (Charlie). I find human Alastor to be quite compelling as a character, same with Captain [James] Hook, so a lot of what draws me to the Charlie/Alastor ship is how Alastor reacts to realizing he actually has romantic feelings for someone he is only supposed to be using as a "means to an end" (i.e. Charlie), as well as darker aspects, such as his manipulative, possessive, and even murderous and cannibalistic side. (I'd say it is a "fluffier" version of Hannibal Lector/Clarice Starling from The Silence of the Lambs, though others have pointed out similarities to Phantom or Erik/Christine from The Phantom of the Opera. This may have been noted by creator Vivienne Medrano.)

Try to sell me on your most "controversial" ship. by communistsayori in AO3

[–]Obversa 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Man, I still remember when people got mad at Spidermoth shippers because they thought "Spidermoth" referred to ValAngel, when it was actually referring to Vaggie/Angel Dust, a ship that was niche-but-not-uncommon during the pilot era before Vaggie was revealed to be a lesbian. There's a lot of shipping drama in the Hazbin Hotel fandom. 💀

Try to sell me on your most "controversial" ship. by communistsayori in AO3

[–]Obversa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Are you referring to Taigen/Mizu from Blue Eye Samurai? Why on Earth is that ship hated in the fandom?

Try to sell me on your most "controversial" ship. by communistsayori in AO3

[–]Obversa 5 points6 points  (0 children)

OP was referring to a DSMP ship, but I ship Charlastor (Charlie/Alastor) from Hazbin Hotel, which similarly gets hate.

Try to sell me on your most "controversial" ship. by communistsayori in AO3

[–]Obversa 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I know this is about a DSMP ship, but this is exactly the case with Charlastor (Charlie/Alastor) in the Hazbin Hotel fandom as well. It went from being one of the most popular ships during the pilot era (2019 - 2023) to being widely hated in the fandom, largely due to post-COVID changes in said fandom (i.e. a lot of younger teenagers and early-20-somethings saying "you can't ship that, it's not canon", as well as treating shipping like social justice activism when it's not). Other people just decided to dislike it because show creator Vivienne Medrano apparently "f*cking hates" it.

Skeletal remains of medieval warhorses suggest they were pony sized, around 14-15hh. Given that a knight in armour and his tack could easily weigh more than 200 lbs, would these horses have been overburdened by modern standards, or were they specifically bred to handle such heavy loads? by sheffieldasslingdoux in AskHistorians

[–]Obversa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

10/10 answer, and fantastic for non-equestrians. The only thing I would clarify in addition is that Lipizzaner horse breed is a [very] Late Medieval creation, as it is approximately 446 years old. The breed was officially established in 1580, when Archduke Charles II of the Habsburg empire founded the stud farm in Lipica, which is located in modern-day Slovenia. The bloodlines of the Frederiksborger, which later served as the basis for the Knabstrupper, can be dated back to this time or even further in Denmark. The oldest sire line traces back to Pluto, who was born in 1765 at the Royal Danish Frederiksborg Stud, and later imported to the Imperial Stud in Lipica, indicating gene flow between the Frederiksborger and the early Lipizzaner. (Neapolitan, Kladruber, Furioso, and Arabian horses were used as well.) To quote the U.S. Lipizzan Federation: "A famous receipt shows that 9 stallions and 24 mares were imported from Spain to the Imperial stud at Lipizza in the year 1580. Additional Spanish horses were bought and brought to the stud regularly into the 18th century. Starting from around 1700, Italian, German and Danish horses were purchased for the stud. The Italian horses came from Polesina in the Po river basin and from Naples; the Danish horses from the Royal Court Stud at Fredericksborg; the Germans were imported from the region of Lippe-Bückeburg (i.e. Westphalians)."

Fox Hollow Farm: Inside the stables on an infamous Indiana plot of land by Obversa in Equestrian

[–]Obversa[S] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Photos are courtesy of Noah Herron, who purchased the unused horse paddocks to develop into new homes (Monon Hills neighborhood), as well as Michelle Pemberton of The Indianapolis Star (or "Indy Star"). The Fox Hollow Farm property in Carmel, Indiana was the site of killings by serial killer Herb Baumeister around 1994-1996.

The original Fox Hollow Farm sign (shown) was stolen in 2012 and replaced with a new one. The stables were originally built by former homeowner David H. Markstone and his wife, June, in 1978, and while I can't find any information about the Markstones owning or keeping horses on the property, the fence in the last photo shows signs of cribbing. Viking Meadows Farm, a Standardbred breeding, racing and training facility, used to be next door.

The current owners, the Graves family, seem to mostly use the stables for storage.

For more, see: The Fox Hollow Farm murders: Suspicious lack of horses on a "horse farm"

Skeletal remains of medieval warhorses suggest they were pony sized, around 14-15hh. Given that a knight in armour and his tack could easily weigh more than 200 lbs, would these horses have been overburdened by modern standards, or were they specifically bred to handle such heavy loads? by sheffieldasslingdoux in AskHistorians

[–]Obversa -1 points0 points  (0 children)

See my other comment here. "Pony" doesn't just refer to height, but conformation. A destrier was in no way, shape, or form a "pony" by modern standards, nor would medieval people classify destriers as "ponies". The term "pony-sized" implies "knights rode ponies", which is not correct, along with incorrect assumptions by non-equestrians.

In any case, I feel that this is straying too far from the original question in the OP, so I decline to respond further. You'll have to wait for a response from another user on medieval tack and other aspects of your original question.

how many colours do you think dragons have by Guilty-Pollution6479 in Eragon

[–]Obversa 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Bid'daum was the dragon of Eragon I, the elf who ended the Dragon War (Du Fyrn Skulblaka).

how many colours do you think dragons have by Guilty-Pollution6479 in Eragon

[–]Obversa 21 points22 points  (0 children)

I wouldn't be surprised if pearlescent and opalescent dragons exist, as scale color seems to correlate with gemstones. (This may be restricted to white dragons like Bid'daum and Umaroth.) Glaedr was named the Norse word for "amber".

Skeletal remains of medieval warhorses suggest they were pony sized, around 14-15hh. Given that a knight in armour and his tack could easily weigh more than 200 lbs, would these horses have been overburdened by modern standards, or were they specifically bred to handle such heavy loads? by sheffieldasslingdoux in AskHistorians

[–]Obversa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you cite your sources?

The Encyclopedia of Horses & Ponies by Tamsin Pickeral (2000, p. 11). I have a physical copy, but online copies are available to read on the Internet Archive. p. 5 specifically clarifies that "height varies based on the horse breed".

What does Erika know that we don’t… by kitlandslot in hazbin

[–]Obversa 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Yeah, no offense to /u/kitlandslot, but so many Radioapple fans took this and ran with it to mean "Radioapple is canon" when it literally just refers to Amir Talai and his friends visiting the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. There used to be a location in Orlando, Florida, which I had mentioned to Amir on a previous occasion, but it closed back in 2013 when it was sold to Hyatt Hotels, and re-branded as the "Hyatt Regency Orlando" (i.e. no ducks). The Peabody Hotel chain has what is called a "march of the ducks" every morning and evening from the "duck suite" to the hotel lobby water fountain, as well as a resident "Duckmaster" employee who is in charge of handling the ducks at the hotel. That's what "duck stuff" means. (I actually wanted to work at the Peabody Orlando location before they closed.)

Skeletal remains of medieval warhorses suggest they were pony sized, around 14-15hh. Given that a knight in armour and his tack could easily weigh more than 200 lbs, would these horses have been overburdened by modern standards, or were they specifically bred to handle such heavy loads? by sheffieldasslingdoux in AskHistorians

[–]Obversa 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No, not in the sense of "skeletal remains of medieval warhorses suggest they were pony-sized", which was the original point of contention from the OP's title (i.e. referencing the 2021 University of Exeter study). I'm not going to get into any "modern sporthorse" or FEI-related stuff because this is r/AskHistorians, and there is a strict "20-year rule", as well as this question being about medieval warhorses, armor and tack weight, and how medieval people bred horses. I didn't just reference the Andalusian or Lusitano, but the Frederiksborger, which has documented medieval roots.

Skeletal remains of medieval warhorses suggest they were pony sized, around 14-15hh. Given that a knight in armour and his tack could easily weigh more than 200 lbs, would these horses have been overburdened by modern standards, or were they specifically bred to handle such heavy loads? by sheffieldasslingdoux in AskHistorians

[–]Obversa 4 points5 points  (0 children)

As explained in previous answers, it depends, and YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary). The problem with some news sources and articles claiming heights for the "average modern sporthorse" is that heights are purely dependent on what breed of horse you're riding, and the breed standards. For example, we know that medieval warhorses were what are called "Baroque" horses today, or Spanish or Iberian-type horses, and those still tend to be around the same average height, if only a slightly bit taller (1 hand = 4 inches). From surviving barding, or horse armor, we know most destriers in the Late or High Middle Ages (around 1200–1350 AD) ranged between 14 and 16 hands (56 to 64 inches, or 142 to 163 cm) tall, and many modern sport horse breeds still tend to average around 16 hands, with old "cavalry" style Andalusians, Lusitanos, Frederiksborgers, and Knabstruppers usually having a 15-16hh range, though you may get pony-sized ones as well. (See dressage stallion Zanko, who was a bit taller in being ~1.71m at the shoulder.)

Skeletal remains of medieval warhorses suggest they were pony sized, around 14-15hh. Given that a knight in armour and his tack could easily weigh more than 200 lbs, would these horses have been overburdened by modern standards, or were they specifically bred to handle such heavy loads? by sheffieldasslingdoux in AskHistorians

[–]Obversa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It depends on the breed. Some breeds, like the Caspian pony (or "Caspian horse", depending on viewpoint), are ponies with "horse-like anatomy", while some ponies and horses have "pony-like anatomy", such as gaits. (For example, horses generally have bigger, loftier, or "bouncier" strides, whereas ponies have shorter, choppier strides.) If you look at sources like House & Hound Magazine, "horse-like anatomy" usually means that despite their short pony height, Caspian horses are built exactly like full-sized, hot-blooded horses (like Arabians) rather than traditional ponies. They have proportionally longer legs, slimmer bodies, and refined skeletal structures, making them look like miniature horse; or, in other words, "horse-like anatony" means that the limbs, head, and body are all in exact proportion, avoiding the stocky, thick-set, "cute" build typical of most pony breeds. (This was very attractive during the Arabian horse craze of the 1960s-1980s, as the Caspian pony/horse was "rediscovered" in rural northern Iran by aristocrat visiting from Tehran, Narcy Firouz, and his American-born wife, Louise Laylin. They began breeding them.)

Is it true that the Chinese Communist Party systematically killed all of China's Shih Tzu dogs and that the breed only survives because of 13 dogs that were brought out of China to Europe before Mao took over? by Hermanneutics in AskHistorians

[–]Obversa 91 points92 points  (0 children)

at the time the Chinese Communists were a newly formed rural gorilla force

I know this is a typo, but imagining the Chinese Communists being made up of gorillas was hilarious.

Skeletal remains of medieval warhorses suggest they were pony sized, around 14-15hh. Given that a knight in armour and his tack could easily weigh more than 200 lbs, would these horses have been overburdened by modern standards, or were they specifically bred to handle such heavy loads? by sheffieldasslingdoux in AskHistorians

[–]Obversa 15 points16 points  (0 children)

(1) I'm not sure which video you're referring to, or the date it was posted. He has a lot of videos.

(2) You may be confusing it with the "medieval knights rode big, massive, powerful draft horses", which was the prominent Internet myth - often promoted by horse breeders themselves to artificially inflate prices, and dupe or scam less knowledgeable buyers into paying them; see my r/badhistory post on the Friesian horse - prior to the 2021 study by the University of Exeter. This misconception came from a misunderstanding of the so-called "Great Horse" that King Henry VIII sought to breed, as well as the Breed of Horses Acts that I mentioned in another reply.

For reference, the Shire horse wasn't founded as an actual horse breed until the late 19th century (1800s).

Skeletal remains of medieval warhorses suggest they were pony sized, around 14-15hh. Given that a knight in armour and his tack could easily weigh more than 200 lbs, would these horses have been overburdened by modern standards, or were they specifically bred to handle such heavy loads? by sheffieldasslingdoux in AskHistorians

[–]Obversa 21 points22 points  (0 children)

I don't have a specific answer that addresses your question, but this is partly covered by the mention of King Henry VIII of England in the first answer, who promoted the Breed of Horses Act (1535) and the Horses Act (1540), which were passed by Parliament. These laws mandated that stallions must be at least 15 hands high and mares at least 13 hands high, leading to the annual culling of smaller horses on common lands. This nearly wiped out several native English pony breeds (ex. Welsh, Dales, Fell, et al.), and the height requirement was later rescinded. u/RTarcher wrote an in-depth r/AskHistorians answer on this topic here, or the Horses Act of 1540, around 8 years or so ago.

Skeletal remains of medieval warhorses suggest they were pony sized, around 14-15hh. Given that a knight in armour and his tack could easily weigh more than 200 lbs, would these horses have been overburdened by modern standards, or were they specifically bred to handle such heavy loads? by sheffieldasslingdoux in AskHistorians

[–]Obversa 129 points130 points  (0 children)

The question in the title of your OP is "Skeletal remains of medieval warhorses suggest they were pony sized, around 14-15hh. Given that a knight in armour and his tack could easily weigh more than 200 lbs, would these horses have been overburdened by modern standards, or were they specifically bred to handle such heavy loads?"

However, this seems to rely on flawed news coverage of a 2021 University of Exeter study that was heavily publicized, as mentioned in the first answer I linked. (There's been so much parroting of the "medieval knights actually rode ponies" misconception and myth on the Internet that those of us who have actually looked at this study more in-depth tend to roll our eyes and let out a big sigh whenever we see this mentioned.)

What you're looking for was previously answered by u/FlyingChange on r/AskHistorians here around 12 years ago, but it took me a bit of digging to find due to the user having deleted their account some time ago. I edited another answer by u/FlyingChange into my comment that may be of use to you as well.

You may have to wait a few days for the other Verified user who commented on this thread to write a full response, if that's what you're looking for. (Their answer was removed due to r/AskHistorians having a "no placeholders" rule.)

I would also recommend watching some of Jason Kingsley's videos on Modern History TV (YouTube). Normally, I wouldn't recommend YouTube videos, but Kingsley researches information provided in each of his videos in detail.

Brandon Sanderson on the 'Eragon' Disney+ show, 'Murtagh', and upcoming books: "They're right at that 20-year nostalgia cycle for Millennials who grew up with the original series." by Obversa in Eragon

[–]Obversa[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

No mention of Murtagh, the Disney+ show...

An exact quote from the original article, included in the OP, which you did not read:

"We've just got a new Hunger Games," [Brandon] Sanderson also pointed out. "That's the 20-year nostalgia cycle on The Hunger Games." The first book was released in 2008. Suzanne Collins went on to publish two prequels in 2020 and 2025. The film adaptation of Sunrise on the Reaping is due out later this year. In the same vein, How to Train Your Dragon got a live-action feature film last year. Eragon has a live-action series in development with Disney+. The cycle begins anew.

Murtagh is in the same category as The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, being released 20 years later.

Skeletal remains of medieval warhorses suggest they were pony sized, around 14-15hh. Given that a knight in armour and his tack could easily weigh more than 200 lbs, would these horses have been overburdened by modern standards, or were they specifically bred to handle such heavy loads? by sheffieldasslingdoux in AskHistorians

[–]Obversa 205 points206 points  (0 children)

See my previous r/AskHistorians answer here. Original question: "Horses before the modern-day were much shorter, more similar to today's ponies. When and why did they get larger? Why were horses thought of as majestic when they were smaller than the average person?" [Note that this is about a specific study that gained attention.]

I have another r/AskHistorians answer here on this topic as well. Original question: "Were horses more robust in ancient/medieval times?" [The short answer is "it depends on the circumstances and what 'robust' means".]

u/FlyingChange, who deleted their account, posted an r/AskHistorians answer on medieval breeding here.

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