Mother Of Dragon Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 I searched the forums in hopes that this topic had already been posted. From AGOT through ADWD I have noticed that he rarely used the same word for horse in the same chapter. I am currently re-reading A Ball Of Beasts and noticed in one paragraph he uses gelding, mare and palfrey. There must be a bigger story here that I am not seeing. All book fans realize the importance of animals but we rarely discuss horses yet GRRM mentions them more frequently than any other creature. Would love to hear some thoughts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blind Beth the Cat Lady Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 There are a lot of real-life words for specific types of horses, indicating whether they are male or female, how old they are, whether they still have their "junk" or not or have given birth or not; also terms referring to size, breed, and purpose. I am not a horse person so I can't give you a full breakdown, but I'm sure Wikipedia would be happy to help here. :-) I tend to think that horses in general do not have any particular symbolic purpose just because their constant presence is easily explained by how practical they are. Unless you are in Volantis and have access to elephants or you are Danaerys with a dragon, horses are the #1 way to get around when traveling by land. Considering how huge Westeros and Essos are, traveling by horse just makes sense. Horses also give a huge advantage with hunting and fighting. I do think *certain* horses have significance, i.e. Dany's silver, and certain aspects of horses are significant, such as Tyrion's ability to design a special saddle for Bran. But the omnipresence of horses in the story is probably just to get people from one place to another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongRider Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 In Middle Ages times there were no breeds of horses like today, but types. The descriptions are for types; war horses, harness horses, riding horses ect. A destrier is a war horse, a palfrey is a riding horse. A courser is a more fancy riding for hunts, lords and ceremonial use. Some of the words describe condition; rounsey is low quality animal. Others describe coat patterns; a piebald is a spotted horse whose colors are black and white. A spotted horse with colors other than b/w; chestnut and white for example, is a skewbald. Garrons are small tough horses that are found in cold northern climes. Think along modern Icelandic horses. Wikipedia has a nice article on Middle Age Horses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horses_in_the_Middle_Ages :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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