Bab 337: Animals of the Seven Kingdoms (A World Building Thread) by Romana
This Thread in Alternatehistory focuses on biological analysis and overview of Westeros fauna including the more exotic predators such as dire wolfs there is even a domesticated direwolf dog breed in one of the following chps of the thread but for first chps it was mainly about horses enjoy!!!
Link: https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/animals-of-the-seven-kingdoms-a-world-building-thread.474703/
Horses of Dorne and the Iron Islands
Horses of Dorne
Dorne's sand steeds have long commanded a place of renown across the Seven Kingdoms, but the diverse extreme of their region has demanded horses not only just for the desert dunes, but the cool and arid mountains.
Eastern Dorne (the sand steed/Arabian expy)
The typical Dornish sand steed is about as blatant as an Arabian expy as you can get; small and slim build, superb endurance, long neck, narrow head, ect. Horses with dished faces and high tails (characteristics of the breed) can be seen in depictions as old as Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. Dornish sand steeds are probably just as ancient, predating the Rhoynar invasion. If horses are endemic to Westeros or just brought over at an early period, then they would have had centuries to adapt to the desert environment.
As a type sand steeds are built for stamina. Even if the Dornishmen exaggerate the distances there is no doubt they can travel at decent speeds with minimal water over harsh terrain. The Arabian is an adaptable breed, but its small size limits their ability to pull and carry large weights. They're best built for raiding and light cavalry in warfare. This fits with the sand steed, the mount probably favored by raiders for quick skirmishes into the Reach and stormlands. A horse doesn't need to be armored if they can leave their pursuers in the dust.
Due to a practice of only breeding horses with a naturally good disposition Arabians on the whole are intelligent and sensitive, able to quickly learn and communicate with their riders. The breed has such a good temperament their stallions are one of the few breeds allowed to be shown by children under 18 in American show circuits. Despite this Bedouins preferred using mares to stallions, as mares were quieter and would not give away the position of raiders. For world building purposes a similar preference might still be found among the Dornish for their sand steeds.
Arabians come in a wide variety of colors, but the sand steed color of a horse with a black coat and a red mane and tail is a fantasy embellishment. The closest a horse can come in real life is a reversal - an intense red bay coat with a black mane and tail. Traditionally some Arabian lineages can trace their bloodlines back centuries through the oral pedigrees and records of their Bedouin tribe. A similar system might be use in the noble stables of Dorne. A house like the Ullers could have a pedigree for their best lines, dubious or not, dating back to before the Rhoynar invasion.
On another note, as heavy cavalry became increasingly obsolete in Europe, Arabians were imported to 'improve' many breeds that needed a lighter build and greater speed and stamina for a new era of light cavalry. A Westeros with gunpowder and changing tactics might wind up doing the same thing with sand steeds for their own bloodlines.
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Western Dorne (the stone steed/the Barb expy)
The Daynes and other old western houses of Dorne trace their origins back to a people before the Andal invasion. Depictions of Dayne horses give them a larger, heavier type of horse more suited for carrying an armored rider. If the sand steed is an Arabian expy, than horses of this type are a Barb expy.
The Barb or Berber horse traces its lineage back centuries to the Berbers. It is a light riding horse noted for its stamina. While their gaits are not particularly good they gallop like sprinters. It looks distinctly different from the eastern Arabian - powerful front end, high withers, short back, sloping croup, and a low tail. Despite clear differences Europeans still have trouble differentiating Berber Muslims from Arab Muslims, and so lumped Arabian horses and Berber horses as 'Arabian horses.' Among people outside of Dorne there might be similar confusion about what makes a 'sand steed' and a 'stone seed.'
The Barb has the same the same stamina and endurance as the Arabian, as well as a similar ability to thrive on meager rations, sure-footedness, and speed over short distances. Western Dorne is a rough and mountainous place, so this fits. Their temperament is said to be gentle and quick to learn like the Arabian's, but also fiery. Overall the Barb is a bulkier breed capable of both riding and draft work.
Since the 8th century the Barb horse has been found in European stables and used to improve native breeds through breeding in their speed and stamina into their lines. A similar line of thought may exist in Westeros. Odd as the stone steed looks, it is larger and more versatile thanthe sand steed, and so may be Dornish strain of choice when improving a more northern stock.
Stone seeds, like Barbs, come in a variety of colors (gray, bay, black, chestnut, brown.) They are more capable of carrying armor and an armed rider.
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The Dornish Marches (the marcher/the Andalusian expy)
Sometimes of the people of this region clash in war. Sometimes they trade, breed, and capture horses from each other. In the noble stables of Starpike and Blackhaven the union of northern 'cold bloods' (slower draft horses) and Dornish hotbloods (small, swift horses) have produced a warmblood, a middle-weight seen as a refinement of the heavier type. They are a union of Reach and stormland destriers with a light Dornish (stone steed/Barb) influenced gennet type already popular in the region.
IOTL Andalusian horse was likely the first warmblood, combining heavy European and lighter Oriental bloodlines into one bloodline. In the 13th century Carthusian monks could read and write, creating some of the first written pedigrees for the horses that would develop this breed. Andalusian stud farms started popping up in late 15th century monasteries. In quasi-Renaissance Westeros that makes marcher horses near the cutting edge, the prize of powerful noble houses and septries in the region.
The marcher is a powerful, weight-bearing horse selected for both athleticism and stamina. They are renowned as both cavalry horses and in the harness. For their size they are still capable of bearing great weight, but more agile than the slower and heavier destrier of the period. To the average Westerosi a marcher horse is probably a robust version of a typical courser.
Like the Andalusians of roughly this period OTL, marcher horses are in high demand and, even in their homeland, only able to be afforded by the wealthy at this period. The sale and export of certain lines might be highly regulated by their stable or septry of origin. Some might be prestigious enough to use as diplomatic gifts, like a nice icebreaker to that so-called Aegon who landed in the stormlands. These are probably among the cream of the crop in Willas Tyrell's stable and he's probably the first experimenting to see how they can improve other bloodlines. If Westeros survives the ice zombies, many others like him many follow in the years to come.
Marchers are strongly built and compact yet elegant. They have long and broad necks, well-defined withers, and a massive chest. They have long, thick manes and tails. They are quick, sensitive, and docile. Marchers have more conclave/Oriental head shapes a higher tendency for gray coats over colors, like OTL Andalusians of the Carthusian strain originated by the monks, as they are a relatively recently standardized type by Westeros' sense of timing.
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Red Mountains (Iberian mountain horse expy)
Don't think famous Iberian horse breeds for this one. Think obscure - the Pottoka, Galician Pony, Burguete horse, ect.
The average person in the Red Mountains is going to own a smaller horse or pony well-suited to the region but lacking the glamor of a horse found in a noble stable. These horses, depending on size and purpose, range from ponies to small horse size. They are dull browns and blacks, capable of growing thick coats in the winter years. Their dull colors help them blend into the mountainside. Combined with their adaptation for mountain life, this might make them a desirable pack pony breed for smugglers, like the Pottoka was historically.
These scruffy little horses are not specialized for anything but surviving in a harsh mountain environment and versatile. The larger ones can be used for riding, draft work, or even warfare. The smaller ones are great pack ponies over those steep roads. In times of war they might have helped carry supplies to forces and besieged castles no other horse could reach.
IOTL many of these Iberian breeds are today used for meat breeds. Depending on cultural norms that might be the same case in the Red Mountains or anywhere else in Dorne where a pony is the largest animal capable of thriving.
While IOTL glamorous Iberian breeds Andalusians and Lusitanos today number in the tens of thousands, most of these mountain breeds are endangered, with maybe a couple hundred each left in their breed. These horses lack the prestige of the more famous breeds and are increasingly obsolete in a mechanized world. They are also threatened through crossbreeding that remove their unique qualities. In an industrializing Westeros, odd but hardy horses like these are probably the least likely to last in the long run.
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Horses of the Iron Islands
Each island small and lacking trees, there is need for only the smallest and hardiest horses in the archipelago. There is no knightly culture in the Iron Islands and so need for only two types of equine - the horse, and the pony.
iron horse (Icelandic horse expy)
By any other standard, the tallest member of this type would still be considered a 'pony.' But, so long as it's big enough to ride, it's a horse to an ironborn. Even if a grown man looks awkward riding one. It's their warhorse of choice because it's their only warhorse. (Seriously, picture Theon riding into Pyke on one of these itty bitty powerhouses.)
First and foremost, iron horses have to be survivors, especially as their larger size puts them at a disadvantage to smaller livestock. They have a double coat for extra insulation in the freezing years. Due to the small size of the islands many of the horses are left to roam half-wild and so are well-adept at foraging for themselves. They are surefooted, well adapted to the thin soils of summer and slippery ice of winter. If there were volcanic eruptions in the Iron Islands like there were in Iceland, the hardiest of these horses would be able to pull through.
Their natural hardiness and isolation makes the iron horse resistant to parasites. The health of the breed is helped by a self-quarantine kept among the ironborn, to mirror Iceland's own firm stance on maintaining the integrity of its livestock. Over the centuries they learned the hard way how importing outside bloodlines could bring in foreign illnesses to their livestock or dilute traits essential for surviving the archipelago's harshest seasons. Now all animals of the green lands cannot be imported live into the Iron Islands. Even those exported off are not allowed to return.
The iron horse might be called a horse for its spirited temperament and large personality. It might be because their weight and bone structure make them deceptively strong for their size. Either way, in the Iron Islands these horses are versatile. Some are used for pack and draft work. Others are bred to work down in the mines are pit ponies. At some point virtually everyone winds up slaughtered for their meat when they can serve no other purpose. Life in the islands is too harsh for any of the impractical taboos of the mainlands.
The iron horse is the fastest and most reliable means across an island, especially the largest ones like Pyke and Harlaw. Due to the harshness of the land it is vital travel be as swift and comfortable as possible. The iron horse is unique for being 'five-gaited.' From birth foals are capable of a four-beat ambling gait called the tölt in our world. Known for its acceleration and speed, the gait is comfortable and ground-covering where it counts most. IOTL some of these horses are also capable of a flugskeið, a fast and smooth "flying pace" capable of 30 mph. In Iceland this gait is used in pacing races, and horses capable of both the flying pace and the tölt are especially prized. In the harsher Iron Islands this might only be a means of entertainment among the richest lords of one island, such as the Harlaws with their vassals.
Iron horses are long-lived and hardy. While they may take up to seven years to fully mature and become suitable for working, they are capable of working and reproducing well into their twenties. They have a short and muscular neck, a deep chest, and a full mane tail. They come in a variety of colors.
Spoiler
Spoiler: Yes, This Is a Horse
iron pony (Faroe pony expy)
Reaching no higher than 12.1 hands (49 inches/124 cm), this pony is capable of carrying no one larger than a child. Their smaller size makes them easier for the average thrall to keep, for their strength is still formidable for a beast of their size. Most commonly these ponies are used to carry and haul heavy loads across the island. On farms they can haul loads. Some are even clever enough to herd sheep and serve double duty as pack animal and herder (yes, apparently this was a thing in the Faroes).
Most find their purpose as pit ponies. Especially on the larger islands, extensive mining requires labor to ore and debris out of the way. This back-breaking work, even for an iron pony. Most ponies used by the mines last only a few years before they're worth nothing more than horse meat. Still yet more ponies have a purpose in hauling refined iron and such down to a harbor for a broader sale or transport.
In an industrializing Westeros, these poor little ponies will be exploited like hell for whatever iron and other ore is buried in the islands. Like several other ponies of this type they might be exploited near (or even past) the point of extinction.
Iron ponies are just as strong and sure-footed as the horses, just in a smaller package, complete with being able to perform the tölt. They retain the same thick, water-resistant winter coats and ability to fend for themselves when left to roam half-wild. Most are chestnut, brown, black, or speckled.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone