Horse Breeds... Calling Horse Experts!

[Jagen Sedai]

Have any horse experts/lovers gone through the Wheel of Time to track horse descriptions and plot them to real life breeds? I'm very curious what Tairen breed horses would be... thoroughbreds would be my guess. Domani horses seem to also be good horses, and draft horses are mentioned by that name, I believe (Or, they were called Dhurrans)

 

Razors are the only other breed name mentioned in WoT. And RJ clarified they're just like American Paints.

 

I'm also curious about other horses, too... any and all knowledge welcome.

 

Also, I believe Mandarb is a Fresian (in our RL terms), but I don't think it's ever described where he came from. I've always suspected him to be a Borderland horse, but who knows.

 

 

[James Sedai]

Was the horse Mat gave Tuon a Razor?

I pictured a Zebra!

[wotfan4472]

Me too!! A razor was always thought of by me to be a zebra myself, considering a sredit is an elephant!!

[James Sedai]

I did wonder if anyone had, or does, use a zebra as a mount IRL?

Either way, I just decided it was a slightly bigger or more easily tamed type of Randland zebra....

[dawnflower8]

It's not common, but people can ride zebras.

 

Someone in my town actually owns a zorse, I've seen them out on it a few times. 

 

I agree that Mandarb was a Friesan. I assumed Bela was a light draft of some sort.

[Jagen Sedai]

Bela isn't a draft/clydesdale. In some years-ago thread someone pointed out that there are only two people in Emond's Field that actually owned draft horses.

 

Also yea.. RJ definitely stated a razor (a horse from Arad Doman, not Seanchan) was not a zebra... So I think the most accurate picture would be an American Paint with stripes instead of patches.

[dawnflower8]

I was thinking of Bela as less like a Clydesdale, and more like a darker-colored Haflinger, like this:

 

Or a Black Forest horse. 

[dawnflower8]

And for a Razor, how about a brindle-patterned horse?

[Jagen Sedai]

Aaah possibly! (on the razor).

 

For Bela, yes!! That horse is perfect!

[dawnflower8]

Another Razor possibility (I'm not sure if this coloration has a name, though. It's pretty unique:)

[Jagen Sedai]

WOW!!! I love that one!! What is it? Do you have info on that horse?

[dawnflower8]

I had to research it, and it has what's called a somatic mutation. http://equinetapestry.com/tag/somatic-mutations/

[Jagen Sedai]

Nice. I love the coloring.

[dawnflower8]

We haven't mentioned Aldieb, Moiraine's horse, yet. Just based on the cover picture, I'd say Aldieb might be a Welara pony, which is a cross between an Arabian horse and a Welsh pony. 

[dawnflower8]

Mat's horse Pips is only described as brown, but he was named after the dots on dice...so how about this horse?

[Daruya]

Birdcatcher spots! My Arabian gelding has them. You'll see them quite often in Arabians and T-breds.

[Jagen Sedai]

Awesome and gorgeous, for Pips!

 

For Aldieb, I always pictured her as pure Arabian, and she seems to be drawn as such on TEotW cover.

[dawnflower8]

I thought Arabian too, but she's really small for one, so I went for a pony/Arabian crossbreed.

[Orderofolde]

Bela isn't a draft/clydesdale. In some years-ago thread someone pointed out that there are only two people in Emond's Field that actually owned draft horses.

 

Also yea.. RJ definitely stated a razor (a horse from Arad Doman, not Seanchan) was not a zebra... So I think the most accurate picture would be an American Paint with stripes instead of patches.

I'm not so sure.  The description of a pie-bald in my mind had a paint fit in perfectly.  If this wasn't the case then piebalds were appaloosas maybe? 

[Orderofolde]

Just my thoughts on some of the breeds as I read and listened to the books.

 

Piebald=Paint, Appaloosa, or Spotted Saddle Horse

Tairen stock=Arabians.  I imagine these as the bloodlines are so protected by the Domani like in RL they were treated like royalty by Middle Eastern tribes.

Razor=The description put a zebra in my mind from the description of the sharpness of the cuts.  A fantasy created by Mr. Jordan with a Zebra in mind.  Paints were already taken as piebalds in my mind.

Ebou Dar stock=Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses for the races.

Bela= Gypsy Horse, a very shaggy cute one

Pips= Until I read the horse's description I actually thought pips was spotted black on white like dice.  But a nondescript brown horse could be one of many breeds.  A Warlander, or a Spanish-Norman or some other destrier or charger breed as Mat was a cavalryman and Pips could go through his paces and keep up with the best of them.

Grays=Calicos

[Jagen Sedai]

Tairen is from Tear, so you don't mean the Domani being protective, right?

 

Also did Jordan give any real details of horses' bodies besides the razor Mat inspected?

[dawnflower8]

Piebald is an actual horse color. It refers to a black-and-white paint specifically, it is not something from WoT.

[Orderofolde]

Tairen is from Tear, so you don't mean the Domani being protective, right?

 

Also did Jordan give any real details of horses' bodies besides the razor Mat inspected?

That's what happens when you go back and edit out a lot of stuff and then start over.  

[Jagen Sedai]

What do you mean??

[jsbrads]

Moraine's horse isn't small. It is just much smaller than Lan's Borderland trained warhorse.

It seems clear Tear are Arabians. Dhurrans do sound like Clydesdales. Most of the other horses are just horses. RJ either didn't have the time or other to really bring much to that discussion.

I also thought a Razor was a Zebra. Zebras are generally considered wild, and too hard to train. Tho in RJs universe, a breed of "horse" only trained for one nation's nobility could have been a Zebra. They may have breed out certain traits, had a secret training technique, or that universe could just be different than ours.

It wasn't, because he says it wasn't.