Over the festive period I witnessed first hand the sheer ‘brutality’ of one horse power as I courageously let myself into joining a jockey on a flimsy sulky in a tandem race around the Marsa racetrack, albeit for a good cause. I had ridden a horse before but never did I get so close to experiencing the pulling strength of one horsepower.

Outfitted in full jockey regalia, glasses and helmet, I held on to dear life as the horses galloped side by side behind the mobile barrier up to release point, when it exploded away in an adrenaline frenzy, amid constant shouting from the jockeys, not addressed at the horses, but at the other fellow jockeys, to move out of each others’ ways, in no polite tone.

With the race under way, I found myself surrounded on either side by galloping horses, at times so close that I could have taken a selfie had I found courage to reach for my phone in my pocket; I could feel their warm breath on my cheek (yuk!), while, ahead of me, this massive French equine tush wobbled frantically a mere foot away from my face as I was being riddled with gravel coming off the horses’ hooves, hitting my protective eyeware and into my open mouth.

This experience has definitely helped me get a better understanding of what James Watt was referring to when he decided to measure power of an engine through horses. So what exactly is horsepower?

Watt, the man who also discovered the steam engine, was working with ponies lifting coal at a coal mine and he wanted a way to talk about the power available from one of these animals. He found that, on average, a mine pony could do 3,050 kg/metres of work in a minute. He then increased that number by 50 per cent and pegged the measurement of horsepower at 4,500 kg-metres of work in one minute. It is this arbitrary unit of measure that we now use to judge the strength of any engine.

And how does horsepower differ from torque? Very crudely put, torque is the amount of turning power you have, much in the same way you turn a wrench.

Torque is engine power at low revvs per minute, while horsepower is the same measurement, but taken at a specific, higher rpm.

In other words, torque is what will launch the car off the line (acceleration), while horsepower will keep your car going further than other cars (top speed).

Engine horsepower is measured using a dynamometer. The dynamometer places a load on the engine and measures the twisting force the engine crankshaft places against the load. The load is usually a brake preventing the wheels from spinning, hence the definition Brake horsepower (bhp).

Back to my one horsepower sulky, the race went well, not without a fair share of drama, as one of the horses fell, luckily with no serious consequences to horse, jockey or fellow journalist. My horse crossed the line in third place.

I can only imagine what the experience would be like behind the wheel of a Lamborghini Aventador, emitting 1250 hp.

motoring@timesofmalta.com