Horse Latitudes

Filed Under April 2007, columns 

Light my tiny monster.

Dear Word Detective: I found the following at geography.about.com: “Between about 30 to 35 degrees north and 30 to 35 degrees south of the equator lies the region known as the ‘horse latitudes’ or the subtropical high. This region of subsiding dry air and high pressure results in weak winds. Tradition states that sailors gave the region of the subtropical high the name ‘horse latitudes’ because ships relying on wind power stalled; fearful of running out of food and water, sailors threw their horses and cattle overboard to save on provisions. (It’s a puzzle why sailors would not have eaten the animals instead of throwing them overboard.) The Oxford English Dictionary claims the origin of the term ‘uncertain.’” I wonder why they wouldn’t eat the doomed animals as well. Do you have any more info? Can you corroborate the throwing of livestock overboard theory? — Sonja.

No, but I can verify that the late Jim Morrison once wrote a poem called “Horse Latitudes” and that a song derived therefrom appeared on the Doors’ “Strange Days” album. Let’s take a little listen: “When the still sea conspires an armor/And her sullen and aborted currents breed tiny monsters/True sailing is dead/Awkward instant/And the first animal is jettisoned/Legs furiously pumping/Their stiff green gallop/And heads bob up/Poise/Delicate/Pause/Consent/In mute nostril agony/Carefully refined/And sealed over.”

Like wow. I think “Mute Nostril Agony” would make a great band name, don’t you?

The only thing that makes the preceding snarkiness even marginally relevant, I must admit, is that Morrison apparently wrote that after seeing an illustration of horses being thrown overboard in high school. (Morrison was the one in high school, of course, not the horses. Horses didn’t go to high school back then.) In any case, Jim’s immortal lyrics are an indication of how widespread the “Golly, we’re becalmed, better drown the horses” theory of “horse latitudes” is today. Theories of motive, however, vary. Some say the hayburners were jettisoned to save water and/or food, some say they were tossed to lighten the ship and make the best of what little wind there was. Neither theory is convincing, and, since horsemeat is still consumed by many folks in parts of Europe, the “saving food” angle makes no sense at all.

Another theory, that “horse latitudes” derives from the Spanish “El Golfo de las Yeguas” (the Sea of Mares) makes a bit more sense. Originally applied to the route between Spain and the Canary Islands, the name arose, depending on which story one believes, either because the ocean winds in that region were unpredictable (supposedly like a female horse), or because breeding mares shipped to the Canaries had a high fatality rate in transit due to the arduous conditions of the trip. If the latter is true, and horses did indeed die of heat or thirst while ships were becalmed elsewhere in the “horse latitudes,” the name could well have spread across the entire ocean.

 

 

Comments

5 Responses to “Horse Latitudes”

  1. jbaron on May 7th, 2007 11:38 am

    I’ve been looking around for a credible explanation of this term, and so far all I find are those mentioned above. This is something I’ve wondered about since I was a child, having read many adventure stories of life on the sea.

    Here’s a question: why would sailors have horses (or cattle for that matter, other than of the smallest kind) on their ships in the first place? It seems to me that the majority of ships at sea in times before the 19th Century would have been merchant ships and whalers, not ships bearing settlers, so it isn’t likely they would be transporting horses in any great numbers, horses being highly perishable in so many respects, and hardly seaworthy. And, as has been pointed out, horses are valuable and edible, so it would be no simple choice merely to throw them overboard. Undesirable sailors would have more likely been the first to go.

    I haven’t seen any indication in my readings that there are any constellations at the horse latitudes that are particularly horsey (I was thinking of the “dog days” vis-a-vis the “dog star,” and also the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer, referring to those constellations). I’ll have to look more closely at that possibility. I’m wondering if perhaps the fact that ships tended to be becalmed at these latitudes made the crews think they would have been better off hitching their ships to teams of horses to pull them through, instead of having to rely on the waning winds. This is a possibility that no longer comes readily to mind in this day and age. Think of the popular taunt of the early days of unreliable motorcars: “Get a horse!”

  2. jollie_man on May 30th, 2007 3:50 pm

    I am a university student and in my Ocean Systems class my professor, who holds his Ph.D. in ocean geology, taught the class that the horse latitudes were named as such because there was no wind. Also the horses taken aboard for trading, once dead, were unable to be preserved, so their bodies were cast into the water. Due to the nature of this area between weather cells, the lack of wind (wind is the driving force for the surface of the water) kept the horse carcasses floating in the same general area of the ocean for weeks, sometimes months, so that when other sailing vessels came upon this area, they were greeted with the rotting and bloated bodies of horses.

  3. jbaron on June 20th, 2007 2:59 pm

    Sorry, but that doesn’t make much sense. Why toss the horses instead of eating them? Horsemeat was hardly frowned upon in earlier times. Why weren’t other animals being transported for trade purposes tossed overboard in the same circumstances? Why isn’t that area of the world called the “pig latitudes,” or the “cattle latitudes?” It seems highly unlikely to me that any edible substances on board during a months-long sea journey would be wasted. And the preservation of foodstuffs was no mystery to seafarers - the meat could be salted or dried and be perfectly serviceable, it not particularly delicious.

    I’ll also point out that a great many things that my PhD-laden professors taught me at university turned out to be less than valid. Take a friendly tip from we Flower Children of the 60s: question everything before drawing any conclusions.

  4. words1 on June 20th, 2007 3:23 pm

    I’m coming around to your “this would be faster on a horse” theory. It certainly fits with the human tendency to complain about delays, and as delays were the rule in those regions of the sea, “horse latitudes” would have spread as sailors’ lingo over the years.

  5. jbaron on June 21st, 2007 2:01 pm

    The idea of the “Golfo de las Yeguas” (Sea of Mares) doesn’t seem entirely impossible but, again, why should a mare be thought unpredictable? Mares are supposed to be steady and reliable; inexperienced riders are given mares to ride. It’s the fillies who would be the skittish ones. Perhaps the unpredictability of the tides on that sea route made surf that looked like horses’ manes. Sailors get awfully bored on long journeys, and tend to get a bit fanciful.

    I’m very flattered that you are considering my theory; just remember who formulated it, if you please. Unfortunately, ideas can’t be copyrighted. “JB’s Equine Latitudinal Theorem” sounds really good to me.

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