We are blessed to live in an age where information travels at the speed of light. Quite literally; Whenever you send a message, what isn't carried by microwaves through the air to cell towers and satellites is most likely riding through fiber optic cables. What little bit of copper wire it may travel through still proceeds at a respectable 2/3rds of that universal speed limit. For most daily experiences, this is indistinguishable from being instantaneous. The only time you may notice it is in the midst of a fast action video game played against someone on the complete other side of the planet, where the couple tenths of a second of latency could spell the difference between winner and loser.

This, of course, is a relatively new experience, only becoming possible in 1837 with the invention of the electronic telegraph. Even afterwards, it would take many years before the technology and its successors were adopted enough for it to become commonplace for the layman. For this long stretch of time, the most reliable way to transmit a message was by physically carrying it: either by yourself or through a courier. While much of this was done on foot, the fastest way to do it was on horseback. Indeed, for the vast majority of humanity's existence, information has only travelled at the speed-of-horse.

Although considerably slower than the speed of light, many peoples developed ways to communicate right up to the brink of this limit. In one example of impressive efficiency, Genghis Khan set up a post system that dotted his Mongol Empire with post offices every couple dozen miles. There, couriers could be given a rested horse and fresh supplies, maximizing the amount of time spent riding at full speed. Even with such innovations, though, communication was still limited by the speed-of-horse, meaning that information from the edges of the empire to the core could take weeks. All communication, no matter how important, was limited by this factor. Even the results of highly important battles might not reach the emperor until well after the defeat or victory had taken place.

This wound up allowing some fairly unique scenarios. If a resistance fighter worked to secretly establish a revolt, if they left on horseback right before or even at the moment of insurrection, they could confidently reach another city before any knowledge of such a revolution could spread. If one were discovered as a revolutionary, if there was the opportunity to escape on horse (Not even necessarily your horse, just A horse), it would be possible to keep oneself at or even ahead of the "front" of information, which would be carrying the news of your sedition. Like the Mongol couriers, it would even be possible every couple dozen miles to steal another, well rested horse. For a sharp and decisive renegade, with adequate planning it would even be possible to travel from city to city, always staying one step ahead of the law, perhaps inciting rebellion at each stop where the local powers would be none-the-wiser that there was a long line of revolution pointing straight at them.

Modern technology makes this sort of possibility be reserved for the realm of alternative fiction. In a less literal sense though, I still believe there is the potential, with much creativity, wit, and luck, to "steal a horse", so to speak, and artfully evade your subjugators, keeping them in the dark and one step behind you, only becoming aware of your presence after you've already departed.