Why are Horses on Roshar so dang expensive?

[KalaDANG]

The only explanation I could come up with that makes any sense is maybe that it's because horses are Native to Shinovar, and the transportation of those horses creates a need for them to have a very high value in order to create a profit for the horse merchants. Similar to our real world comparison of the spice trade during the renaissance where the prices would be set very high in order to pay for the transportation of the spices across countries. When the crazy spice prices drove people to search for different routes to the indies that would be cheaper. It makes a little sense, but at this point, horses have spread all over Roshar, allowing for the horses to be bred where they are instead of having to constantly transport new stock across the continent. So i'm still kind of confused. Is this why the horses cost so much? Or is there something I'm missing? And also, if Ryshadium are granted quasi - sentience/sapience, why not other horses? Is it because the Ryshadium are native to Roshar, but the Shin horses are descended from horses that were from another world? I have many questions. It kind of reminds me of how aluminum costs so much in Wax & Wayne. 

Edited July 28, 2018 by KalaDANG

[Calderis]

Outside of Ryshadium, I don't think your going to have herds of wild horses running free across Roshar. 

Running in stone constantly would cause all kinds of problems for them. 

I think they are as expensive as they are precisely because unless you have a means to care for them and house them yourself, you're purchasing them from someone who has spent the money to get them from Shinovar, or you're doing that yourself. 

They are not well adapted to the Rosharan environment at all. 

[CrazyRioter]

Ryshadium are just a strain of horses that developed the ability to bond with spren similarly to how native species do it.

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Questioner [PENDING REVIEW]

I'm really curious about Ryshadium. Is there something bigger about them?

Brandon Sanderson [PENDING REVIEW]

It's not super-huge. They are non-native species who have started to form spren bonds like native species do. So, a symbiotic bond with a spren has started happening. Ryshadium are horses that have done that, basically. You could say that humans have done the same thing. Non-native species that have started to form spren bonds. The Ryshadium are the only other non-native species that that has started happening. Like the chasmfiends have a symbiotic relationship with the spren that they have, the Ryshadium have a spren.

It's not as visible, but it is there.

source

 

[Calderis]

@CrazyRioter yes, but that bond has changed them in ways that suit them to the environment much more. Especially of note are the much stronger stonelike hooves.

Regular horses are going to have a lot of issues without soil to soften the impact of their hooves. 

[SzethIsBadAsHell]

Seems to me all the common life on Roshar has a shell . Singers, chasmfiends, axehounds, chulls, and here is the crazy part even plants have shells they can retract their vines into . It’s almost like everything was underwater at one time. I had no idea Ryshadium were non-native to Roshar. But since horse are not native as Calderis said they are not equipped to survive in this environment . They lick the shells of plants to trick the plants into thinking it’s rainfall so they can graze. They need need very good shoes to traverse the stone ground and outside of combat they have very few practical uses. Chulls are better suited to plow fields than a horse etc . Other than soldiers most men are scared of horses

[Wandering Investor]

Brandon based the enciornment of Roshar on the idea of tide-pools, that's why everything has shells and comes out for rain.

Also keep in mind that horses are expensive to feed. They normally graze for grass, but they can't do that outside of Shinovar. That, along with the rest of the upkeep, is what makes them so expensive.

Edited July 29, 2018 by Wandering Investor

[king of nowhere]

I also think it's mostly a matter of maintenance. you can't set them free to eat grass. we saw some horses taking a few bites at grass before it could retreat, or tricking it into going out, but horses need lots of grass, so they don't get enough food that way. and horses eat a lot, especially warhorses.

Still, "expensive" is relative. They are certainly more expensive than chulls, but all the highprinces have at least a few hundreds of them, so they are affordable.

there is also the chance that they can't reproduce on mainland roshar, for whatever reason, but i find it hard to believe. unless the shins only sold castrated horses to keep the monopoly, in which case it would be noted.

[goody153]

Weird question does the expensiveness of horses also factors because of the existence of chulls ? Afaik those crabby things are quite docile and commonplace(larger too which seems to suggest can carry alot more weight than horses) and are omnivore(unlike horses which needed grass and we know that in most places grasses hide lol)

[recneps]

Horses being expensive isn't unique to Roshar.

They're definitely more expensive there, except historically horses were very expensive.