My very unscientific observation of the speedometer on my wrist showed me that when allowed to trot or gait at a speed they chose, my horses reduce their speed about 20% in soil soft from rain and much more than that if the mud is over 1/2 inch deep and slippery.
That makes a tremendous difference in how long it takes to do a forty or a fifty mile ride. Aside from slowing down the horses tire much faster. On a firm, well packed trail Holland will happily gait at least twenty miles before asking to bring it down to a walk. In mud he wants to walk after less than ten miles.
Imagine how much muck is created by having a few thousand cavalry horses trotting up a dirt road. Such conditions made fighting in the winter infinitely more difficult.
That is why, during the Peninsula Campaign of the mid Civil War, so many combatants put their horses up for the night and went on over to the Victorian Station Tea Room for their open mike sessions.
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