History Main / AutomatonHorses

** In [[Videogame/RedDeadRedemption2 the prequel]], horses require a lot more maintenance. This time around, SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome happens, which means you need to feed them in order to keep their Health and Stamina up as well as grooming them to keep them clean (which affects stamina). You also need to strengthen your bond with your horse by praising and petting them in order to increase their stats as well as unlock new moves, tricks or abilities for them to do.

* The ''Literature/TortallUniverse'' averts it: Horses are always treated as animals, and in the later books, such as ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'' and the ''Literature/BekaCooper'' trilogy, knights have more than one horse, a warhorse and one for riding. In ''Mastiff'', Beka is even annoyed when Lady Sabine and her warhorses are added to their hunt, as she's concerned the horses will slow them down too much.

* Creator/DavidEddings, despite peddling fantasy tropes "like dope", averts this. In the ''Literature/{{Elenium}}'' universe, some of the horses - especially Faran, Sparhawk's loyal mount - are distinct characters in their own right and their needs are mentioned. Actually discussed at one point by the antagonists, when one of them rides a horse so hard it dies and he has to go and steal another. Meanwhile, in the ''Literature/{{Belgariad}}'', equine limitations are not only mentioned but play a major role in the plot by limiting how far and fast the characters can go, and in one instance pushing the horses too hard results in some of said horses actually collapsing under their riders, forcing the company to slow to a crawl and baby them until they recover. In addition, at one point the entire journey comes to a halt so that a mare can deliver her foal, and the two animals can recover from the birth.

* Creator/DavidEddings, despite peddling fantasy tropes "like dope", averts this. In the ''Literature/{{Elenium}}'' universe, some of the horses - especially Faran, Sparhawk's loyal mount - are distinct characters in their own right and their needs are mentioned. Actually discussed at one point by the antagonists, when one of them rides a horse so hard it dies and he has to go and steal another. Meanwhile, in the ''Literature/{{Belgariad}}'', equine limitations are not only mentioned but play a major role in the plot by limiting how far and fast the characters can go, and in one instance pushing the horses too hard results in some of said horses actually collapsing under their riders, forcing the company to slow to a crawl and baby them until they recover.

* ''Literature/TheToughGuideToFantasyland'': Discussed:
-->"[Horses in Fantasyland] are capable of galloping full-tilt all day without a rest. Sometimes they do not require food or water. They never cast shoes, go lame or put their hooves down holes [...] Horses can be used just like bicycles, and usually are."

* Averted big time in ''ComicBook/TexWiller''; anyone with a lick of sense treats their mounts well, so if we see someone push their horses, it's a sign they're idiots who will pay for it soon or [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness the situation is just that desperate]].

In real life, it should go without saying that horses aren't automatons, they're animals with needs.

* Averted big time in ''ComicBook/TexWiller'': anyone with a lick of sense treat their mounts well, so if we see someone push their horses it's an obvious sign they're idiots who will pay for it soon or [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness the situation is just that desperate]].

* Averted in ''Film/{{Quantez}}'': after escaping a posse, one of the gang's horses has to be put down, and the rest have to be cooled down, fed, watered, rubbed down, and rested for at least a night before they are fit to ride again.
* Averted in ''Film/{{Gladiator}}''. After killing his (would-be) executioners, Maximus takes two horses to race back to his family. He is shown alternating which one he is riding, slowly stripping away his gear and the horses are even visibly sweating at some points. He eventually rides one as fast as he possibly can...and it eventually collapses from exhaustion.

* Played straight with Valadan in the ''Warhorse of Esdragon'' books, especially ''The Wind-Witch''. Druyan and her family, being avid horse-breeders, know perfectly well how to care for horses and what they are and aren't capable of -- but Valadan himself, being sired by the North Wind, breaks all the rules. He can and will run Druyan across half a continent in a single day to warn the Duke of an oncoming viking attack. After one especially hard run Druyan spends an hour walking and rubbing down Valadan as she would any other horse before admitting to herself that it's totally unnecessary. For every other horse in that world, however, it's an important plot point in ''The Wind-Witch'' that none of the other Riders can match Valadan, and they have to play some shell-games to keep them in the saddle at all, as they keep exhausting and foundering their mounts trying to keep up.

* {{Exaggerated|Trope}} in ''Videogame/AssassinsCreedIII''. Horses can get shot by a musket volley, lay down on the ground for three seconds, and then get back up and ride normally as if nothing happened. The only time when a horse actually dies in the game is in a cutscene.

In real life, horses aren't automatons, they're animals with needs.

* Calvary horses in the early days of ''VideoGame/Battlefield1'' were notorious for being these. They had the ability to [[MadeOfIron soak up bullets]] (and even ''cannon fire'') without any form of crippling effects, gallop indefinitely and even leap over vehicles or onto buildings. Occasional wonky Frostbite Engine physics also sometimes allowed them to win a head-on collision against ''armored cars''.

* Horses died by the thousands during World War One; first because most of them had been confiscated from civilians and weren't used to dragging artillery out of the mud, and second because the conscripts put in charge of them seldom had horse wrangling skills, so rode them into the ground. This was a contributing factor in the failure of the Schlieffen Plan, as the Germans could not move up enough supplies and ammunition as a result. Worse, while the Allies could order more horses from their colonies or the United States, the Germans could only replenish their stock by capturing them from the enemy. They ran into the same problem in World War 2 (most of the German army was still horse-drawn, contrary to the popular image).

* ''Videogame/AssassinsCreedIII'' takes this UpToEleven. Horses can get shot by a musket volley, lay down on the ground for three seconds, and then get back up and ride normally as if nothing happened. The only time when a horse actually dies in the game is in a cutscene.

*** That being said, as of the ''Champions' Ballad'' DLC, horses in ''Breath of the Wild'' are officially more automaton than an '''[[UpToEleven actual automaton]]'''. [[spoiler:The unlockable [[CoolBike Master Cycle Zero]] has a limited amount of fuel, which needs to be replenished when it runs out. Contrast with any given horse, which can travel at a continuous canter indefinitely and travel at a gallop for 90% of the trip with well-spaced spurring.]]