Horse latitudes why called

Another theory arising from the folklore is of the incidents of throwing an actual horse overboard on lengthy voyages by Spanish ships. The story follows the Spanish voyages that included the transportation of horses by ship to their distant colonies present in the West Indies and the Americas. The ships on reaching the specific latitudes are becalmed in the mid-ocean which prolonged the voyage.

Hence, any water shortage arising from the prolonging of the journey required the crew to throw away dead or dying animals overboard. The third incident that provides the answer for what is horse latitude is the maritime terminology that was acquired over time and can explain both the north and south horse latitudes definition as they do not depend on the length of the journey or the port from which they sailed. Technically, a ship was said to be horsed, which was typically in these latitudes, because even though there wasn't enough wind for sail, the vessel could make good progress as it latched onto the strong current.

The argument is put forward from the reasoning that in maritime terminology, as the ship was carried more because of the power of the current rather than the wind and the sail, it was as the same manner of a rider on a horseback. This acceptance of the horse latitude meaning has been in use since the seventeenth century. These fascinating stories are the reason why specific latitudes are known as horse latitudes.

An image is given below showing the north and south horse latitudes:. Glossary of Meteorology. Boston: American Meteorological Society. Google Scholar. Riehl, H. Tropical Meteorlogy. New York: McGraw-Hill. Rhodes W. Two explanations for the name There are two explanations of how these areas were named. This first explanation is well documented.

Sailors would receive an advance in pay before they stated on a long voyage which was spent quickly leaving the sailors without money for several months while aboard ship. Sailors work off debt When the sailors had worked long enough to again earn enough to be paid they would parade around the deck with a straw-stuffed effigy of a horse.

After the parade the sailors would throw the straw horse overboard. Second explanation about horses The second explanation is not well documented. The Horse Latitudes got their name from the time when Spaniards carried horses aboard their ships when they were sailing to the colonies in the West Indies.

The sailing ships sometimes became becalmed and the ships ran out of water before reaching land. The dead and dying horses were thrown overboard. Kids Fun Science Bookstore. School Books. Fun Science Books. Activity Books.