Horses are better than Fish.

Yes, this should be interesting. Our last debate was very fun. First, some ground rules.The past or the present arguments may be used.BOP: The BOP for me, pro, is that I must prove that horses are in fact better than fish.BOP: The BOP for him, con, is that he must prove that fish are in fact better than horses.Round 2: Presentations of argumentsRound 3: RebuttalsRound 4: Polishing up.This debate will be concluded by who has the better arguments about horses and fish as BOTH animals and pets.With that all said, let the debate commence!--Case I: Ancient and Medieval Times-- Before we go into the 'as pets' section, I would like to state a few things about horses as animals.Sub argument IFor my first sub argument, I turn to horses and how they helped develop our world today. In ancient times, people relied on trade to develop their communities (1). However, they had no means of electric transportation that they have today. So they turned to horses to get around.Horses helped on the Silk Road a ton. The Silk Road is an ancient trading passage that helped develop communities (2). Without horses, the trade could not have happened, as many had to walk hundreds of miles on foot just to trade. Aside from means of transportation, the horses also helped the Romans develop roads (3).The Romans did, in fact, use the idea of horses to develop roads. Due to the fact that horses were actually the fastest mean of transportation, they built roads that could fit two (4) chariots side-by-side. The road development of Ancient Rome further proved the importance of horses. Without horses, the Romans may not have developed roads.Horses helped many get along very, very fast. Well, not compared to today, when cars can reach 100 miles an hour. But the speed that horses went at was unheard of until they were discovered. Many ancient people used them to travel as many as 300 miles in just two days (5)!The last main thing that the Ancient horses did in transportation is spread news (6). People could deliver news and mail much faster on horses than on foot. This helped spread news, such as an oncoming attack, a plague, or a new king. Horses helped people stay in touch.(1) http://www.livescience.com...(2) http://www.ess.uci.edu...(3) https://www.chronofhorse.com...(4) http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk...(5) http://imh.org...(6) http://imh.org...-Sub argument II-My second sub argument on horses will be about battles. In ancient times, it is no secret that battles were there left and right. When the Christians left the Muslims in a pile of blood during the crusades. The Red Cliff battle. And horses were appearing in every single one of those battles.My first argument is that horses helped shape the first archers in warfare (7). In the Ancient time period, around 900 BCE, the Greeks went to war with the Scythians, who raided the Ancient Greeks. They were able to do that because of horses. The Scythians shot arrows from moving horses, meaning the Scythians were harder to hit and were advancing faster.The horses also helped make the chariot (8). The chariot, in battle, contained of the fighter and the driver. The driver controlled the horse while the fighter fought with javelins, and very efficiently at that (9). The chariot was the best military weapon from 2000-500 BCE (also 9). Without horses, battles both in ancient times and today would be very different.My last argument for this sub-argument in the Trojan Horse. The horse that was used was supposed to be a symbol of giving up. But the Greeks hid inside it, and when everyone slept, trashed Troy and destroyed it (10). Without horses, the Trojan War itself would be very different. Had horses not been used, the big Trojan Horse would not have been used, and the Trojans could've won the fight. Thank God for horses!(7) http://horse.fieldmuseum.org...(8) http://filebox.vt.edu... (9) http://www.ancient.eu.com... (10) http://greece.mrdonn.org... --Case II: As pets--I have stated that horses are very good animals in general and very important. Here is the definition of "pet" we will be following:Pet: An animal kept for amusement or companionship (11)Sub argument IIn my first sub-argument of this topic, I will turn to the characteristics of a horse.First off, a great pet should usually live a long and healthy life. Horses definitely win in that category. First off, a long life makes a great pet. The average lifespan of a horse is about 27 years (12). That means you could grow old with your pet and have an everlasting bond with it. An average lifespan of a normal pet freshwater fish is about two years (13). I'd rather have a pet that I can grow old with and really get to know. I feel that lifespan is one of the best factors of a pets' life.As for being healthy, horses win also. Fish can easily be infested with parasites (14). Horses can also, but not as easily. Horses can also eat a variety of things that help their digestive system, such as apples. Fish can mainly only eat scientific fish feed and plankton or microscopic bodies. Meanwhile, horses can rely on this steady diet (15):Fresh waterCarrotsApplesGrainGrassHay.Those are all things that you can obtain without going to the store, except maybe for grain. Horse food is easier to obtain and better for them.The last thing in this sub-argument is what we do with them after death. For fish, many people flush them down the toilet. However, with horses, many people go as far as to bury it (16). Some cremate it to hold on to them forever. Even though this costs up to $1,500, many love their horse enough to spend that much money to keep them with them forever. Fish, you spend about one dollar (usually) to get rid of them. That toilet flush goes to your water bill.(11) http://www.thefreedictionary.com...(12) http://horses.about.com... (13) http://www.petplace.com... (14) http://www.drsfostersmith.com... (15) http://www.rspca.org.uk... (16) http://www.bluebonnetequine.org... Sub argument IIMy last argument for today is what you can do with your horse.For a horse, you can watch it in the arena, ride it, groom it, feed it, pet it, walk it, and do tricks with it (17). With a fish, you cant really do anything besides watch it and feed it. You can't pet it, which kind of takes away from the definition of "pet."Whenever you are bored and have tons of energy, you can always ride a horse. This eats up your time and usually takes about two hours (18). You can watch a fish for fifteen minutes, but then you usually get bored. The only thing you can really do with a pet fish is feed it and try to make it more colorful and beautiful (19).The last argument for this round of debate will focus on what tricks you can teach your horse. With a horse, you can teach it to follow your instructions (20). A horse can memorize the sound of your voice and come to you. You can teach it to walk, run, trot, stop, go in between barrels, and much more! With a fish, you can't really tech it that many tricks.(17) http://www.horseforum.com... (18) http://www.wikihow.com... (19) http://www.wikihow.com...(20) http://www.horsetricks101.com... Thank you for reading. Your turn! :D