In the city life is accustomed, out of the door is the bus subway taxi, of course, there are pedal bicycles to pedal small skateboards, and even poorer, such as I use two legs to measure the streets in front of my house. But if one day you were thrown into the snow and ice, and in front of you stood a horse, a deer, and a herd of huskies, three classic sleds from the polar vehicle company malugou, who would you choose to pull up your sled and take you to the end of the world? The gold medal marketer will give you a detailed introduction to these three wood types below.
Horse-drawn carriages Short people are a good choice
Zakopane, the "winter capital" of the Tatra Mountains in Poland, ushered in the 21st "Highland Parade", where two contestants are riding on a horse-drawn sleigh. Image source: International Online
Before the invention of the steam engine, in addition to their own two legs, the most important means of transportation was horses. In places where winters are long and snowy, it makes sense to replace carriages with horse-drawn sleds. For hundreds of years, China's northeast, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and other places in the cold season, the horse-drawn sleigh to transport timber, livestock, grain, supplies, until the spring ice and snow melted, the road reopened. Horses that pull sleighs in these places use only ordinary varieties.
Norway is sledded by dwarf horses
However, if it is close to the Arctic Circle, due to the harsh environment, it is best to choose a pony to pull a sled. The neck and legs of the high-headed horse are also long, although the slender figure is particularly good-looking, but the heat dissipation area is too large to retain the heat of the body. On the contrary, the ponies are small in size, but not only the heat dissipation area is small, but the hair is fine, which is convenient for heat insulation, and the hooves are wider than ordinary horses, so as not to fall into the snow or slip on the ice. It is true that the horse is not as good as the sky, and it is actually won by shortness.
Compared to other sledding animals, horses have the advantage of being gentle and easy to train. And when the snow melts in the spring, as long as they change into a pair of wagons or plows, they can quickly change jobs and be competent for daily tasks such as pulling carts and ploughing fields. However, the ponies are not particularly tolerant of cold, ice and snow, and they have to eat a lot of hay and grain, which may not be reliable in extremely harsh conditions.
Sled dogs are so energetic that they have nowhere to vent
In the early 20th century, two explorers competed for the Antarctic, and in order to cross the snow-capped Antarctic ice sheet, their expedition team chose sleds as a means of transportation, one of them choosing a Siberian pony and the other a sled dog. As a result, the first to reach the South Pole and return safely were scientists riding dog sleds. The sled dog mentioned in this story is the famous "well dog", "let go", "demolition office" - husky, the big name Siberian sled dog, commonly known as the little ha.
The picture comes from "Snow Run", which is a 2002 movie, in fact, there are many movies about sled dogs, and the most famous in recent years should be "Antarctic Adventure".
In fact, the dog owners who complain about Xiao Ha are wrong to blame it. The husky, which is bred as a sled dog, is energetic and requires a large amount of activity, which is difficult for the average urban family to satisfy. Xiao Ha was locked indoors every day for too long, and naturally became a mad dog at home and a running man. As for "two", the level of intelligence of the husky is at least moderate among all domestic dogs, and of course it can understand the master's orders. If you happen to have a husky at home, don't be too careful to train it to become a sled dog, just let it slip you out every day.
Lucky guy with 8 sled dogs Image from: Antarctic Adventure
The mighty appearance but lack of aggression is the biggest advantage of the husky. You should know that the sled dogs are all teamwork, as few as three or five, as many as a dozen or twenty are tied together, work together when working, and also rub shoulders when resting, and need a good temper to get along with teammates. Their tall stature, thick fur, strong and endurance physique are the hardware guarantee for galloping in the snowfield.
The golden retriever sledding team in "Buddy the Snow Dog", of course, this is just a movie, the golden retriever can't pull the sled.
In general, Siberian and Nordic sled dogs are called "huskies". In addition to them, there are two other sled dogs: the white-haired, noble-looking Samoyed and the Alaskan sled dog.
Samoyed, who pulls the cart, is still in the form of a carefree little angel. Image source: ows.samoyed.org
Although the "dog power" of each dog is far less than that of "horsepower", they have a great advantage: the food of the sled dogs is usually dried meat and dried fish rich in protein and fat, and these meat rations are concentrated and easy to carry, as long as they eat a little dried meat, they can run all day. Even in the case of extreme food scarcity, they can fight hunger just by eating broken leather.
Reindeer is infinitely powerful, temper dead shaft
Chinese Antarctic immortals ride sika deer, while Santa Claus, who originates from Norse legend, rides on a sleigh pulled by reindeer. Today, in the wilderness of Norway, Sweden, Finland and other countries, local nomads can still be seen running around in reindeer sleighs.
Reindeer play an important role in the lives of the Sami Image source: Xinhua Net
These nomads, mainly the Rapu (Sami), regard reindeer as their most valuable companions and possessions, not only eating venison and milk and wearing deerskin clothing, but also using reindeer as an important means of transportation. Reindeer live in snowy woods from an early age, not only strong and flexible, durable, but also extra-wide hooves, like four large discs, not easy to fall into the snow, so that they can travel freely on the snow.
Sami people herding reindeer Photo by staffan Widstrand
Although reindeer live in groups, they have not yet been fully domesticated, and their personalities are stubborn, which is actually not easy to control. It is said that an average of ten reindeer can train one suitable for sledding. However, reindeer are more powerful than horses and are better at advancing in snow and ice, and a single deer can pull a double sleigh.
Take the exam with the classroom
Written by Wu Bo, Peng Peng
Magazine Editor/Wang Chen
WeChat Editor/Cookie Zifan
Drawing/pie
This article is compiled from the magazine Naturalist