A Gift from Celestia: Chapter 2 Notes · 2:45am May 5th, 2014
First, a huge thanks to my pre-readers!
Metallusionismagic, AShadowOfCygnus, Punintended Consequences, and Yrfoxtaur.
The place where the running of the leaves took place is called Whitetail Wood in the transcript, and White Tail Woods on the Wiki. I went with what the transcript—and episode—said.
In the show, harnesses for plows and wagons are overly simplified, to the point where they wouldn't actually work in real life. I could either shrug and say, 'well, it's magic, I don't gotta explain,' or I could describe them as real harnesses, and just assume that they simplify them in the cartoon. I prefer the second choice. Now, I still can't exactly explain how a pony would go about putting all the tack on, so I'll assume she needs some help, but probably once it's all fitted properly, it's designed in such a way that the pony can work the buckles to put it on or take it off on her own. Of course, they don't have to bother with reins, bit, blinders, or halter (unless they're into that kind of thing, and who am I to judge?), which makes it simpler.
Lazy straps go on the back and hang down by the flank. (#25 in the above image)
When most people think of a 'barrel roll,' they're imagining an 'aileron roll,' but the two aren't the same. Now, I could call Ditzy's roll an aileron roll, but ponies don't have ailerons, so that's kind of silly terminology. As such, I'm just saying 'roll.' And, in the interest of full disclosure, I got it wrong in the text, so don't feel bad if you didn't know the difference.
The Isle of White is, of course, a pun on the Isle of Wight. I came across it in Going Up by Chris, which is a really cute story about Derpy and Carrot Top that's well worth the read.
Dr. Philly is a pun on Dr. Phil.
It is 100% true that you can store carrots (and some other root vegetables) in the ground through the winter, so long as you make sure that the ground doesn't freeze. Generally, this is done by piling compost on top of the carrots, so that the decay heat keeps them warm.
Oh, if's jift Funderlane.
Go ahead and bite on your hand, and say "It's just Thunderlane." See what it sounds like.
You know, 90% of the harness set up is obviously for controlling the horse. I agree, that the in-show harnesses wouldn't work at all, but actually, what would work is Big Mac's yoke (which apparently doubles as a floatation device). I'm no horse expert, but I am pretty good at basic physics and engineering. And the part around the shoulders, I believe it's called the hame (No. 11), like Mac's yoke, is really about the only part through which force is transferred from the wearer.
If anything, the cartoon version could be modified slightly so that instead of a simple arched band sitting on top of a pony's back, (which obviously wouldn't have much grip to the 'driver') it would be more like a yoke-shaped loop (actually just a yoke/hame), permanently attached to a cart, that they sort of crawl under and slip their head through.
That'd pretty much do it.
Also, a lot of that gear is secondary stuff, the lazy strap for example, is clearly just to hold the trace line up, so the horse doesn't trip over it. And the whole back (ass) harness (18-22) obviously exists for the sole purpose of holding up the Trace via the lazy strap. It's even called a 'Trace Carrier' (18). For ponies, I bet it could seriously be trimmed back to just the hame and the trace.
I'm definitely going to be demonstrating my ignorance here, but what is this 'transcript' you keep referencing in connection to the Whitetail Wood? Was it the scrapped episode involving the pony who thought it was a deer or summat?
2078245
They need a little more than that, depending on what they're doing. For a cart harness, the breeching strap (the one around the rump) is mandatory, unless they don't ever want to stop the cart. The backband and lazy strap are, I think, to help keep the harness straps out of the way of their hooves when they turn. They'd also need straps to help them angle the plow, which they don't need IRL horses don't need because there's a human on the plow handles.
Obviously, you're right that half that harness is used for the human to control the horse, so they wouldn't need those parts--but especially the cart harnesses, as drawn in the show, would accomplish little more than breaking ribs. And you're half right: the part around the shoulders is the yoke, and the hames are attached (semi-permanently) to it.
image0-rubylane.s3.amazonaws.com/shops/1052416/mirr4.5L.jpg?41
(the hames are the wood and brass part, I believe)
I'm not an expert, either, so I've just been going with what we have, rather than sit down and completely redesign the wheel, so to speak, since there are centuries of research and development that went into these harnesses.
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Transcripts of all the episodes are available online. I don't know if they're official, or if it was just someone sitting down at a computer and typing out what the characters said, but I've used them on more than one occasion to see what characters do or do not say.
I made huge gDocs of the first three seasons, so I can easily ctrl + f a word or phrase--although, I have to know what that word or phrase is first.
2078281
Huh. Clever. A good reference sheet, to be sure, but it certainly puts a great deal of faith in whomever took the time to type it all up.
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Well, if I'm not sure, I can also watch that part of the episode, once I've located a particular quote. For example, I searched for "Whitetail Woods" in the transcript, and found it wasn't plural. I also watched that part of the episode, and it wasn't plural there, either.
2078270 So, hame/yoke, same shit then. It's one piece anyhow. And yeah, but as for stopping, and as ridiculous as this sounds, I bet stopping wouldn't really be a prime concern in most applications. Think about it, your ordinary cart going at an ordinary speed on a dirt road would probably just roll to a quick stop by itself. Barring an abnormally heavy cart, abnormally smooth road, or travelling excessively downhill (or perhaps city driving), the part of the yoke behind the neck would probably be sufficient to do most oridnary stopping. Provided the cart is pulled by rigid arms. Unless doing a lot of stopping would hurt the driver's neck...
Now that I think about it, I've just invented a method of braking for a sentient-pony driven cart. The rigid arms coming off the cart and attached to the harness could be attached to the harness via a very short (4" or so) chain. Along each rigid arm would be either a cable or metal rod, both of which would also be attached to the harness, albeit much more closely than the actual arm. Each cable or rod would be able to slide forward and back slightly, a couple inches, so that when the harness is pulled forward by the driver, the rods/cables would be pulled forward first and then the cart would be pulled afterward. A mechanism would be underneath the cart, that they might be spring loaded. When at rest in the rearward position, a brake on each wheel would be fully applied. When being pulled forward (as the driver begins forward), the brakes release and cart pulling begins. This would also double as a steering aid, turning to one side would increase the braking on that side only, providing a sharper turn. However there would have to be some sort of provision to allow reversing. Perhaps a mouth-operated lever on one of the cart arms near the driver.
The brakes themselves would also have to be weak enough to never lock, otherwise slowing down would probably jerk the driver to a halt. And the sping and levering system would have to be tuned just right so that it's not more difficult to pull the braking system than it is to pull the cart. And also so that the brakes would only really begin to apply when almost all the way at the rest position, providing for some leeway in acceleration and decceleration.
Damn I'm good.
2078337
So you've essentially invented surge brakes for a cart.
Perhaps the lever could move the rods further back, so that the brakes wouldn't make contact when the rods were compressed as the wagon backed up. The only other problem I see is that it might be too lurchy on uneven ground.
Based on my research, most light carts didn't have brakes, and were entirely reliant on the breeching strap to stop them. Heavier carts, and carts used in hilly terrain, often did (controlled by the driver, of course). In another, as yet unpublished story, I added a mouth-controlled lever to one of the shafts, so that Berry can set the brakes on a downhill grade (like retainers on a train, kind of).
2078380 That's pretty much what I did, yes. Drawing up plans as we speak.
I think lurching could be fixed simply by giving the braking rods significant travel distance. Perhaps up to 1 foot. For reversing, I think some manner of input would have to be done. Perhaps it could be as simple as a lever or hook up to lock the rods in the released positon at the harness location, saving some extra mechanicals under the cart.
Anyway, that's what I meant, a brake-less cart would rely on the breeching strap. But to simplify, wouldn't it work to put force on the back of the neck, rather than on the ass? For ordinary light applications, anyway.
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Short answer is I don't know.
Long answer is I don't know, but I do know that the harnesses were designed the way they were for a reason. Back in the days when everything was hand-made rather than mass-produced, you didn't build something unless you actually needed it for a utilitarian product like a horse's harness. Given normal horse anatomy, I can see the yoke simply being pushed up the horse's neck as the horse stopped and the cart didn't--after all, it's not connected behind the forelegs, it's just looped around the neck. The way they're drawn in the show, that's less certain.
Reading up in my forgotten arts and crafts book, I find that the saddle and belly band is designed to take the weight of the cart (the yoke can't do that, based on horse anatomy), so you'd have to have that. It also holds the shafts down if the cart is tail-heavy. The crupper, which rides on top of the horse's spine to his tail, keeps the whole works from moving forward and backwards as the cart moves. The collar or yoke has to be loose enough that the horse can breathe. For very light loads, there is a thing called a breast plate harness--it puts the load on the horse's sternum, and is much simpler. It won't work for heavy loads, though, because it puts too much pressure on the chest and the windpipe.
asteriskhorsecollars.com.au/images/plough_harness_w_breastplate.jpg
2078447 Hmm... indeed.
---
The only thing I know about compost is; it produces roughtly the same amount of energy - volume for volume - as the Sun does.
2080304
Maybe that's what Equestria's sun is made out of.
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Here are two articles on harnesses and such for horses and donkeys (basically the same thing). I haven't had time to do much more than skim through them, but I'll read up on them when I get a chance. Both are PDFs.
Link one
Link two
2080911 I suppose there are more forces at play than I orginally assumed. Still, I insist that a harness rig could be made that a pony could simply slip into.
2080304 I somehow doubt that. Teeming with bacteria as it might be, compost is still going to be, by volume, 90% dirt / dead organic material. So I doubt there's any way it could create as much energy, by volume, as the sun. Unless you count the volume of the bacteria alone, but without their food, they couldn't work anyway, so it's kind of a moot point.
On the subject of flight terminology in MLP, have you read Wild, Sweet, & Cool? As well as being a fun story which is worth the read, it's got some interesting looks at how airshow-style flight might work. Kwakerjak had the aileron roll named after the in-verse character Aileron, who codified the best technique. Presumably the original reason was to make it easier for readers, since there's already enough terminology being tossed around, but it's still a pretty plausible explanation.
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Actually, it's true even including the soil - in fact, pretty much anything living will rival or outdo the sun. Stars are hideously slow nuclear reactors; the reason they shine is that they're just so freaking huge that they make it up by sheer volume. That's a big part of why we don't have break-even fusion yet - controlling a reaction at a few million K is (relatively) easy, but at that low a temperature you'll release energy faster by combusting the fuel in a furnace.
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Not yet, but I just added it to my 'read later' list. Ditzy winds up doing a fair bit of acrobatics in the story, and anything I can read to give me ideas how to describe it is worth a look.
I would love to see a thoughtful blog post/forum thread/whatever about how pegasus flight might work. If such a thing exists, please send me the link.
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I'd imagine there's stuff out there, but I can't remember any offhand. If you find it before I do, consider putting up a post on it - I'd be interested in it, and I suspect a lot of other people would too.
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I'll be sure to--I haven't found anything good yet, but I'm sure it's out there.
2490177 hax.
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I know it sounds crazy - I did a double-take when I first learned that. Still, the math checks out; intuition simple isn't very useful in areas outside of our daily experience.