How fast was the fastest horse in the East (and the West)?

[jammi567]

I really, really don't want to do this kind of thing, because I do want to do this kind of thing by myself. However, seeing as it involves maths, I have no choice. The following quote is from the opening post on another forum (link underneth), debating how fast Shadowfax truely was:

Originally Posted by theonering.net

So, I would just like to make the point that Shadowfax really isn’t so fast after all. Have you ever stopped to think about it? I shouldn’t have, but I did, so here’s what I’ve discovered.

First, some descriptions of him, in case your memory needs jogging:

Sounds fast, right? Let’s do some math, looking at three journeys. (For argument’s sake, I’m measuring distances along roads if there is a road, or in a straight line if there isn’t, and yes, I realize that the straight-line measurements are probably shorter than what was really traveled.)

Gandalf’s ride from Bree to Weathertop gives us our best calculations, because we know starting and ending times, and I think we can safely assume he was riding by road. Gandalf says: “I galloped to Weathertop like a gale...” Distance: 100 miles. Time: before dawn on Oct. 1 to before sundown on Oct. 3. Daylength on Oct. 2 is 11 hours 32 minutes (taking London as an approximation, with sunrise/sunset at 7:03 am/6:35 pm). Assume Gandalf stopped traveling at sundown and resumed at dawn each day (even wizards need their beauty rest). So, that’s 34 1/2 hours of daylight to travel by. Gandalf’s gale moved at about 3.5 mph, about the speed of a human’s brisk walk.

A better description of how fast Shadowfax runs, but a bit less useful for calculations, is given for the journey wih Pippin to Minas Tirith: “Then he leapt forward, spurning the earth, and was gone like the north wind from the mountains.”... “Over the plains Shadowfax was flying, needing no urgence and no guidance.” ... “‘He is running now as fast as the swiftest horse could gallop,’ answered Gandalf; ‘but that is not fast for him.’” ... “Shadowfax tossed his head and cried aloud, as if a trumpet had summoned him to battle. Then he sprang forward. Fire flew from his feet; night rushed over him.”
Distance: 450+ miles. This trip is trickier, because they weren’t traveling by road; the as-the-crebain-flies distance is about 450 miles, but they surely traveled a bit further. However, I’ll stick with 450 miles since that’s all I’ve got. Time: 3 1/2 days, around 84 hours total. We know they traveled through the night, so hard to figure in rest stops. Still, Shadowfax need only average about 5.4 mph overall, including rest stops. That’s about the speed of a horse’s slow jogtrot.

For the last one, I’m assuming starting at dawn on the first day, September 24; we know Gandalf arrived in Bree at night on September 30. So, say, 156 hours. All but one leg should have been by road so the distances should be fairly accurate. However, nowhere does Gandalf explicitly say he was riding speedily, so we can’t assume this to be Shadowfax’s best effort.
Isen to Greyflood, 4 days: 340 miles (road); Greyflood to Sarn Ford, 1 day: 150 miles (road); Sarn Ford to Hobbiton, 1 day: 130 miles (straight line); Hobbiton to Bree, 1 day: 110 miles (road).
Thus, 730 miles to travel in 156 hours. Shadowfax needs to average about 4.7 mph overall. Or, assume Gandalf gets 10 hours of beauty sleep on each of the six nights. Then Shadowfax needs to average about 7.6 mph. This is the speed of an easy trot.

On the other hand, let’s assume Shadowfax could maintain a sustained 40 mph, the speed at which thoroughbred racehorses run, for 3 hours before needing a one-hour rest, and that he can run nine hours at this speed in any 24-hour period (even this seems conservative). He should run Bree to Weathertop in 2 1/2 hours. The trip from near Isengard to Minas Tirith he should be able to do in just over 26 hours. The long trip, from Isen to Bree, he should do in a hair over 48 hours.

So what’s Gandalf doing with all his extra time? Mr. Ro suggested he rides like the wind for a couple of hours and then spends the rest of the time applying salve to his saddle-sore nether regions. I’m not sure wizards get saddle-sores. Maybe Gandalf rides like the wind as long as someone’s looking, then stops to blow smokerings as soon as he’s out of sight? Or maybe horses in Middle-earth are really, REALLY slow, so to say that running as fast as the fastest of them isn’t fast for Shadowfax isn’t saying much (ha! follow that!). I’m open to suggestions. Bonus points if it’s a limerick. (On a slightly more serious note, I am quite interested in this apparent discrepancy on Tolkien’s part, because it seems like a pretty substantial detail to get muddled. Any thoughts? Corrections to my calculations? Funny noises?)

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