Reasons for my dark ages world to have no horses at all
I am writing a fiction set in the 'dark ages', a pre-industrial, pre-gunpowder world. On Earth that would be no later than 800 AD, but this doesn't have to match Earth. There is no magic, and I won't inject any.
It is useful to my story line to eliminate horses as a mode of fast travel. I do mention oxen, cattle, sheep and goats. Those can be ridden, but not for a major speed advantage over just a good human runner. Thus far I have not mentioned anything to do with horses, and I don't intend to introduce them.
So while I can continue to write the story as just "nobody has ever heard of a horse", I was thinking I might try to supply a back story reason, a myth or legend thousands of years old that the characters find a mystery, but the modern reader might recognize as why there are no horses in this world.
Why would horses, and only horses, be extinct? I have already thought of some disease, but I don't know horse anatomy or biology or their origin or history very well. For example, if there is any real-life disease that could be a plague level extinction event for horses.
1 answer
Religion.
The horse is a beautiful and holy creature, sacred to the great god OoomphaLoompha, who once incarnated as such and impregnated the Great Turtle Goddess Iki, who took a couple minutes off from her job of holding the world upon her back to give birth to...but that's not important here. What is important is that anyone who attempts to ride, harass, chase, annoy, bother, draw pictures of, cook, eat, sully the hooves of, or in any way whatsoever impede the passage of a horse in any manner shall immediately suffer death, personally delivered by the Priests of OoomphaLoompha, who shall devour the miscreants soul, removing him from the great Cycle of Reincarnation, and etc!
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