All the Pretty Little Horses
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Designing Mounts for your Fantasy World
If there’s anything that current day movies, books and fantasy games has shown, it is that a hero’s best friends are a good weapon in one hand and a trusty mount to count the miles. Traditionally, horses are the most well known of mounts, even in the most fantastic of worlds — and for well earned reasons. They’re a valiant symbol of loyalty, courage and honor.
Though I have nothing at all against a horse as a fine steed, as it may fit your needs in your world, I’d like to issue a challenge to fantasy writers to look beyond the norm. Why should you settle for something that is commonly used when you could think up something fantastic and new of your own?
A Horse of a Different Color
If you are really a big horse lover, one option to look at is creating a mount that is very horse like in appearance. Though this can be done in a number of different ways, there are two methods I’d like to discuss here.
The first is creating a new “breed” of horse. If you haven’t taken the time to study horses real well before you write them, I’d highly suggest it. There are many, many different breeds of horses in the real world. And just like breeds of dogs or cats, a number of horse breeds have special attributes or features that you will only see in that breed alone.
Take some time to look through the different kinds of horses out there. Some, like Thoroughbreds, are known for their speed. Some, like Pintos and Palominos, are known for special colors and markings. Some, like the Lipizzanards, are known for their beauty and showmanship. Others, like the Clydesdale, are known for features like large, sturdy builds and feather around their thick hooves.
By mixing and matching these attributes, you can create a horse breed of your own. Don’t be afraid to add some of your own features in… which leads to the second suggestion for horse-like mounts: altering horses to have features that are not commonly seen in real horse breeds.
There are many features you can alter on horses to make a completely new creature. Change the style of mane and tail - these are very expressive parts of a horse and much can be achieved by simply modifying the way the horse’s hair grows. Ears, hooves, legs and head can all be changed in shape, size, and length. Add fins, spikes, stripes, horns or scales. Blend the horse’s feature with features of other animals.
An example of this is the riding creatures I created for my world, known as the Rhawn. These creatures are of a slender, agile build and are somewhat smaller than the average type horse. They have long, serrated ears and a mane that grows down the length of the back, all the way to the tufted tail. They also have feather along the legs and hooves. They come in many colors, some that normal horses could only dream of and often have bright, jewel-like eyes to match.
Something Completely Different
If you’re looking to add some variety into the cultures of your world, a fantastic way to color the people in a particular place is by giving them a completely different kind of creature for a mount. This is a popular feature for a number of current MMORPGs — different types of mounts are often used to set apart certain races of people or characters that start in certain areas of the world.
This makes a lot of sense if you think about it. Horses, as wonderful as they are, may not be the best creatures to travel through every kind of landscape. If people are from a desert region, perhaps something that is hardy and associated with moving through sands are best. People from the mountains may have a mount that is more spry, that can move over rocky terrain easier. Those from a cold, harsh climate may ride something covered with fur that is made to withstand snow and ice.
When you go to design your mounts, here are some things to keep in mind:
Location and climate — what sort of attributes will suit a mount of that climate best
Mount utility — what will the mount be used for… riding, hunting, merchant transportation, etc.
Type of creatures native to the area — people will likely tame and mount creatures that live in the immediate areas
Tame-ability — how difficult is it to train a creature of this sort?
Rarity — are there a lot of these creatures in the land… or just a few? Does rarity make them luxuries to the people… or do everyday commoners generally have one on their farm?
Symbolism – what do you want people to feel when they see one of your characters riding this type of creature? Is is a symbol of courage and honor… or a beast that ignites fear and terror in the common man?
Feel free to be creative in your designs, but remember that readers are often used to seeing more common creatures (like the horse) as a mount. Because of this, you may have to “sell” your riding creature as something believable and authentic to your world. It would be best to keep some rules of realism in mind when you design your new mount.
Of course, well all know that the best mount out there is the classic Dragon. But I wouldn’t be biased on that… now would I? ^_~
photo credit: pqseagull
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4 Comments on All the Pretty Little Horses
Cute lil Horsey with RockStar Hair*
;)) Peace*
BillyWarhol’s last blog post..I like this one! My Dear Brother BillyWarhol!! ;)) 4 lavenderlou*
Welcome Billy! I like the little caption that says “Horse or Lion?”
Thanks for your comment!
I’d be careful about being different for the sake of being different: It if acts like a horse, is used in the same role and looks similar, then it probably is a horse.
The design checklist is good.
Tommi’s last blog post..Filtering
Hi, Tommi! Thanks for the thoughts!
I agree to some extent — that’s part of the reason why there was a bit of a warning at the bottom not to go to too many extremes with new mount designs. That’s also why there was a lot of time spent discussing different breeds of horses — you can easily design a different sort of breed of horse that allows them to stand out from traditional breeds without being too over the top in changing things around.