[DF] Stating up Centaurs

[ErhnamDJ]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

That way leads to wondering how they scratch their butts or nurse newborns without lying down.

I would assume they hold them up to their human breasts when they're very small, and then transition to their horse breasts once they're too large for that. I suppose it depends on how you envision these creatures. Did they evolve naturally? If so, their behaviors will make sense. If they're the result of magical meddling, then it might be the case that life is difficult for centaurs because of their strange physiology.

The scratching wouldn't concern me. They're sapient tool users who are also social and live in wooded areas. They can scratch against a tree, use a stick, or get someone else to do it. How do humans scratch their backs? Most people have an area of hard to reach flesh on their back.

No, what would worry me is trying to figure out what they eat. Not only do they need an enormous amount of calories, but the easiest ways to get all those calories, and the ways that most suits their human bodies, are somewhat opposed to their horse bodies. They can hunt and eat animals. They can farm and grow grain. But their internal workings will have to be radically different from either a human's or a horse's to make this workable. If they eat grass, the human part of their digestive system gets messed up. If they don't eat grass, the horse part of their digestive system gets messed up. Their mouths are human. I would assume they eat a human diet. I can't imagine them eating grass. So... maybe they live in some place with an abundance of wild oats and fruits, which they supplement with meat from hunting. Even then, they'll have to consume a huge amount of food each day unless you give them access to lots of honey.