Any horse-and-buggy experts? (accident and injury) http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131 Whes Hello! I have a character in mind who was in a horse-and-buggy accident which killed both his horse and his sister but left him only superficially injured and scarred. I'm not familiar enough with horses and buggies, though, to trust that any scenario I come up with is actually plausible, so I'm asking for expert opinions and advice. In particular, I want my character to have certain scars, as I'll describe below. It's a fantasy setting, so any type of buggy that achieves what I want would work, but for reference, their family is not wealthy enough to have anything fancy, and the setting is based on the ancient Mediterranean. Here's what happened: MC and his sister were riding in the buggy to the woods outside the city, and MC was driving faster than he ought to have been. They came upon a dead tree fallen across the road, and the horse jumped it, but the cart caught, throwing MC and his sister forward. MC was thrown into the jagged end of the broken hitch (???), cutting up the side of his rib cage, under his arm, and also had his face cut by a branch. Apart from bumps and bruises, that's the extent of his injuries (and therefore his scarring). His sister tumbled over the tree and landed at the horses' feet, where she was trampled. The horse, panicked and unable to break free of the buggy, broke its foot and fell, possibly dragging the cart over the sister. MC carried his sister back to the city, leaving the horse behind, but she died before he could get there. The horse, when someone was finally able to go retrieve it, was too injured to help and died later. As far as MC's scars go, I just want one clean cut on his face, plus some other kind of scarring on his body (easily hidden by clothes with short sleeves and short pants). Some kind of private scarring you wouldn't see unless he stripped. That's why I came up with the hitch idea, but I don't think that makes sense in terms of actual buggy construction and the circumstances of the accident. I'm also not sure a horse would jump a tree in that situation, though MC had trained the horse to jump when he rode her alone. Thanks for your help! Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:10:13 +1300 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1132446 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1132446 Dav1d You might want to explain what you are thinking when you say hitch? To my mind if the hitch breaks, the buggy is no longer connected to the horse, so the horse will not continue to pull the buggy... You seem to require the hitch to both break and the buggy remain firmly connected to the horse. The buggy to come to a complete stop behind the log for the MC to land on the hitch, and the horse to move the buggy over the log from a dead stop, when it couldn't overcome the log at a run... Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:26:58 +1300 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1132502 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1132502 Whes Ha ha! XD See, this is what I'm talking about. I guess I was thinking either there are <em>parts</em> of a hitch that could break and hurt my MC, or else the horse is attached both by the hitch and by some kind of back-up device, like chains on a trailer behind a truck. Or maybe I had two ideas, one where the hitch broke and one where it didn't, and I nonsensically combined them into one. XD But! Rather than try to explain that nonsense away, let's just start over and see what else we can do, huh? Thanks for your comment. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:42:28 +1300 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1132575 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1132575 Dav1d Okay let's start with the buggy? What kind do you have in mind? Are you thinking the big old Amish four wheel kind, or can it be the smaller buggy kind like this one? <a href="http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/9677/dogcart.jpg" rel="nofollow">See here</a> Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:54:41 +1300 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1132626 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1132626 Whes Smaller buggies are great. I envision a two-wheeled design. It could also be the cart they use to transport goods to market, I guess... I feel so silly. o///o I don't know anything. It's not fair of me to ask without knowing anything. I should have researched better. DX Google Images shows me some possibilities... <a href="http://www.mcguire.com/post_images/0637/7564/horse-buggy_large.jpg" rel="nofollow">1</a> <a href="http://www.maxingout.com/images/Jordan/Petra%20horse%20cart.jpg" rel="nofollow">2</a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/steffe/2242035988/in/photostream/lightbox/" rel="nofollow">3</a> <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Russian_Wounded_NGM-v31-p369-B.jpg/300px-Russian_Wounded_NGM-v31-p369-B.jpg" rel="nofollow">4</a> And looking at them, I think my original scenario makes no sense at all. XD Oh dear. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 17:21:56 +1300 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1132914 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1132914 Dav1d In my opinion there are no silly questions, just dumb answers. Most old buggy have very large wheels if you notice. Generally speaking from my days as a biker, ones wheel can overcome an obstacle upto a quarter of the wheel diameter, without too much difficulty. When that happens you are going to get thrown up in the air. (many buggies have roofs that limit your upward travel - the two wheel kind are less likely to be cover- but they are more likely to have fixed post~ the poles connecting to the horse.) but the buggy under you is continued to be pulled along, in effect you tend to move backward in relation to the buggy under you... Now me I could see the two getting thrown far enough up that the horse has time to pull the buggy out from under them, (a lot easier to do if the buggy only has two wheels instead of four) and they land on the fallen tree... Perhaps the female lands on a broken limb that impaled her? Perhaps the male lands a little farther up in the fallen tree, where the limbs are not so thick, and the branches tend to cushion his fall? Horses are dangerous animals and many an experienced rider has fallen off of a horse and hit nothing more than ground, and died from it. Trees come in all kinds of sizes, and some trees have far more limbs and branches than others. I think what I'm trying to suggested is you can make this believable. Good luck... Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:09:22 +1300 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1133202 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1133202 Whes Thanks, I'll think about it some more. Your input is really helpful. &lt;3 Mon, 13 Feb 2012 04:32:04 +1300 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1133644 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1133644 DefyGravy This is a video showing a driving class where multiple horses spooked. There's lots of buggies flipping/flying around/getting dragged behind horses. These buggies are tiny and certainly a lot smaller than anything your characters will probably be in, but I figured it might be helpful to see anyway. :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03YcT74h5Mg Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:04:54 +1300 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1137056 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1137056 Irukazab Every once in a while an Amish person has a wreck with the buggy. It always makes the news. Maybe research those? Surviving a buggy crash can be as simple as being tossed to the other side of wee the vehicle is falling. Wed, 15 Feb 2012 03:13:33 +1300 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1138987 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1138987 scheherazade There was an accident like this in Ontario this week. Might want to read more about that. http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1133938--opp-quick-to-name-civilian-in-mount-forest-ont-horse-and-buggy-accident-but-not-officer-in-another?bn=1 Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:50:10 +1300 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1157150 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/reference-desk/threads/50131?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1157150