Random Worldbuilding Questions (Biology, Geography, Society, etc.)

[Yora]

40-50 miles seems fairly reasonable, considering one can easily bike that distance over an 8 hour period (required for Cycling merit badge, Boy Scouts). In endurance races, horses are known to travel 100 miles a day for several days, but these horses are conditioned for such travels. It's much more reasonable for 50 miles or so.

For a bit more of a break down of it, your average horse can travel at 5-7 miles per hour for several hours a day, carrying a light load. Going off of this assumption, the horse would have to go for 8-10 hours to make 50 miles in a day. Granted, the horse will tire out after some days of this. It's probably more reasonable to expect 20-30 miles a day for longer periods of time or heavier loads.

Horses bred for that purpose and that have had very good training for such situations perhaps.
But generally, horses are not that exceptionally enduring. The best way to capture a horse unharmed when you don't have a horse to chase it with a lasso, is to go after it on foot. On a warm day, the horse will be the first to collapse from exhaustion.

Unsuprisingly, the clear champions in such conditions are: Arabians!
In the dessert, you have to keep going even though it's hot, or you are dead.



I also happen to have a horse question:
If elves would breed riding horses to be used on forest trails and light undergrowth, what traits would be desirable?
Since elves are rather light and usually don't carry heay armor and equipment, the horses could be relatively small and wouldn't need to be particularly strong. Also maximum speed would not be very important, as there are few opportunities for dashes, charges, and fast chases.
However, the horses would need to have rather large hooves to move on muddy and lose ground, and they would need to have very good footing and not be prone to slipping or stumbling. Would bulky legs make them less in danger of injuring them when they fall?
And then I guess, they could use rather thick fur and hides, as well as small ears, to not get injured by sharp branches and brambles. And hearing would be much more impotant than sight.

Even though it's a completely different environment, I guess Icelanders would do fairly well in such conditions. Sharp, uneven, and shifting rock and silt, as well as harsh winters would provide very similar challenges to wet forests.
And I also just heard of the Finnhorse for the very first time. That would also be a very strong candidate.