Couple of Questions about Sailing Ships (and Horses)

I would love to help but was wondering what time period is your piece set in? The food and lifestock provisions are much different today then they were in 1860 for example.

well yes. This is how horses get transported from one continent to another. Generally you put the stalls in the part of the ship where the rolling is the least acute, and you don't give them any windows, it freaks them out. You'd probably pad the stalls in case you encounter heavy weather.

Now, in the modern era, you probably wouldn't transport a horse in a sailboat; You'd transport him in a large freighter, which barely roll at all during normal weather. These would also be faster and get the trip done quicker, which is important for the health of the animal.

Human food shipboard in the modern era would be largely canned, dry or frozen goods. Except for no fresh foods nothing you wouldn't find in your supermarket. Instant potatoes, instant eggs, bacon and so forth are favorites. Powdered milk, virtually anything.

In a large vessel, you'd have a substantial galley possibly with buffet style serving. You could bake fresh bread daily.

Going back to my nay experience, fresh eggs and milk were the first to go. Then lettuce, and other fresh greens disappeared. We had fresh/frozen meat at every meal and the milk and eggs were powdered. Bread was baked fresh every day.

We didn't carry any horses, so you'll have to rely on the other posters for that info.

Modern day horses are flown. Cost of transport is high, and the higher cost of flying isn't that much bigger than the cost of by ship. Stalls are usually, but not always, walk-ins or straight, but some high value horses travel in box stalls. At least one groom travels with the plane.

Before modern flying, horses would travel on ships. Preference would be for a box stall, so that the horse could align himself in a position of comfort. Unless the ship was set up for transporting livestock, horses were loaded in a sling. Remember that a horse can not get seasick, as they can't vomit. Hay storage was a problem, as the moist, salt air really can create mold quickly.

The horse latitudes, according to some, were named because ships became becalmed there and run out of water. As a result, the horses had to be killed.

Horses were usually shipped in a hold, preferably where the ship rolled the least.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

With a constant following wind favouring the direction a sailing ship wants to go, it will lean one way. However, if travelling against a wind or in variable wind, a sailing ship will tack and constantly change the angle it leans at. Result could be a very traumatised horse. Especially bearing in mind that it is incapable of vomiting.