Hacker News Reader

Humans are u uniquely good at covering distance, our only competitors are horses really ‘cos we both sweat effectively. it would be interesting to calculate for a horse.

There’s a lot of variables though!

View on HN

Indeed. The fall in Canada, cool sunny days, 5C to 10C, is great for a brisk walk, without loads of sweat.

A far cry from 35C, as another option.

35C, you'd almost have to factor in the weight of salt you'd take on a month's trip.

If you allow cold weather to help out (no sweating needed), Huskies are really good at covering long distances too.

Those dog teams they use in the Iditarod Race seem to be able to cover distances that would do man or horse proud. I don't know how dogs would do pulling a sled in a more temperate climate (assuming efficient, wheeled sleds) as their inability to sweat might drastically reduce their output. Years ago I saw a man using dogs to pull a sled at about 6500-ft of elevation in the summer in Southern California (near Big Bear). I suspect it was only for short trips, perhaps just a quirky hobby.

EDIT: Oops! Should have read farther in the comments. FartyMcFarter already mentioned Huskies just a couple of comments down.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com