zirfeld

zirfeld t1_j2iwj57 wrote

Reply to comment by Binky-Answer896 in TIL that all (northern hemisphere) thoroughbred horses celebrate their birthday on Jan 1st. by PropDad

It's not the real Secretariat. The horse parents just named their boy after a hero of their childhood, just as humans do.

And neither hat any idea of calenders. They noted down the birthday as "the day that started with rain and then it cleared up and became quite warm and then the nice lady with carrots came along".

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zirfeld t1_j2hd2jd wrote

Reply to comment by Asha_Brea in TIL that all (northern hemisphere) thoroughbred horses celebrate their birthday on Jan 1st. by PropDad

"So Secretariat, shall we meet again on January 7th?"

"I don't know, what's a January?"

"Let's just say a week from now."

"Cool. What's a week?"

"It's when the sun goes down and comes up again 7 times."

"Got it. I can only count to three though."

"I'll just swing by when I feel like it."

"Sounds good."

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zirfeld t1_itmk4q1 wrote

Reply to comment by zfreakazoidz in HMS Victory firing a rolling broadside by MindCorrupt

Hearing issues yes, but also...

it was loud, you couldn't see much, you'd crouch most of the time and move tons of cannons around. If you were unlucky this was going on for hours. If you gun crew was any good, you would fire 2 or 3 shots every 3 minutes while the balls of the enemy ripped the hull around you.

You'd see a 9 year old boy next to you get torn to pieces by flying wood splinters the lenght of your arm, it reeked of blood and piss and sweat.

As this was going on with every shot the cannon was getting hotter and hotter, maybe you burn your skin on the powder hole or the lint or the muzzle while swabbing. The hotter the cannon got, the more unpredictable it became on the bounce back, the ropes holding it began to wear down or the iron fittings broke and loose guns might be rolling over the deck, transforming into a multiple ton bullet.

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