Rest horses for 10 minutes in every 90 minutes of travel and for a full hour at midday with feed and water, rest oxen for 15 minutes in every 60, and rest porters for 10 minutes in every hour of walking under load. That leaves horses moving 89% of the time, porters 83% and oxen 75%, which is why oxen cover less ground per day. Choose each camp for water, grazing or space for hay, flat ground for parking, wind shelter and firewood.
Part of Logistics & Load Planning
The rest intervals for working animals and porters, and the water, forage, ground and supply caches that make a good staging area.
Rest Intervals Are Part Of The Travel Rate, Not A Loss
The parent article gives the intervals. Horses: a 10-minute rest every 90 minutes of travel and a full hour at midday, with feed and water. Oxen: a 15-minute rest every 60 minutes, because they overheat faster than horses. Human porters: 10 minutes per hour of walking under load. A staging area needs a water source reachable by every animal, grazing or space to feed carried hay, flat ground for parking and unhitching, shelter from wind if the stop is overnight, and firewood if cooking. On regular routes, the parent suggests caching water, feed and firewood at staging points so each trip carries less and the payload rises.
What You Need
- A timekeeper — someone who calls the rests.
- Water access for every animal at once. See Water Sources & Planning.
- Feed — grazing or carried hay and grain.
- A map of camps along the route, with distances.
Method: Run The Rests
Step 1: Call the short rests At the interval, stop on firm, level ground, ease the load, check harness and loads.
Step 2: Midday halt Unhitch, water and feed the animals, and eat. The parent gives a full hour for horses.
Step 3: Choose the camp by the checklist Water, forage, flat ground, wind shelter, firewood.
Step 4: Inspect at night Look over animals, feet and harness, and repair.
Step 5: Cache for next time On a route you will repeat, leave water, feed and firewood at camps.
Worked Example: How Much Of The Day Is Moving
Inputs: the parent’s intervals.
- Horse: 80 minutes moving and 10 resting per 90-minute block, so 80 / 90 = 89% moving, 11% resting.
- Ox: 45 minutes moving and 15 resting per 60 minutes, which is 45 / 60 = 75% moving, 25% resting.
- Porter: 50 / 60 = 83% moving, 17% resting.
For the parent’s example horse day from 06:00 to 17:00 (11 hours): five 10-minute rests plus the 1-hour midday rest are 5 × 10 + 60 = 110 minutes, or 1.83 hours, leaving 11 − 1.83 = 9.17 hours of moving time. Over 8 hours of an ox day, 25% rest is 2 hours; moving time is 6 hours.
Camp load. A camp for 8 horses needs 8 × 30 = 240 to 8 × 50 = 400 litres of water (Convoy Planning); a cache of three days’ water is 720-1,200 litres.
Common Mistakes
- Skipping short rests — the parent says oxen overheat faster than horses.
- A camp without water — animals cannot go dry. Check water first.
- Overnight on a slope — vehicles roll. Choose flat ground.
- No cache — carrying everything cuts the payload.
- Resting in the heat — the best place to stop in hot weather is in shade near water.
Safety
Overheated and dehydrated animals
An animal that stops sweating or stands with its head down and a rapid pulse is in trouble; unload, move it into shade, walk it slowly to cool it, and offer water in small amounts, often.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Timing & Daily Schedule — the whole day
- Combine with: Water Sources & Planning — finding the water