Equines of Elysium

Horse and man have long been partners in survival, and this remains true in this strange world.
There are many different varieties of horses and equines found across Elysium, and similar to life on earth, they are a staple animal species as well as one of the most reliable forms of transportation. Tending to grow more quickly than most mounts found on Elysium and being more easily trained than Elysium beasts of burden, they rapidly became a common sight in most cultures, although most military applications still standardize more convoluted mounts.
Often used by village folk for transportation and farming, only families who can afford a transportation cart can tend to afford to keep one. Most are often captured from the wild, but they can be traded for currency from nearby towns if one has the cash. Larger breeds are often favored by farmers and warriors for their bulk, and thousands of years of breeding and importing from other countries has allowed for the cross breeding of some fantastical animals, so much so that many are now labeled as their own breeding.

Horses Found In the World

Elysium Drafts

Elysium Drafts, as the name implies, also known as dray horse, carthorse, work horse or heavy horse, is a large horse bred to be a working animal hauling freight and doing heavy agricultural tasks such as plowing. There are a number of breeds of this type, with varying characteristics, but all tend to share common traits of strength, patience, and a docile temperament which has made them indispensable to generations of pre-industrial farmers.
Draft horses are often recognizable by their tall stature, large heads and extremely muscular build. In general, these horses tend to have a more upright shoulder, producing more upright movement and conformation that is well suited for pulling. They tend to have broad, short backs with powerful hindquarters, again best suited for the purpose of pulling. Draft horses and draft crossbreds are versatile breeds used for a multitude of purposes, including farming, draft horse showing, logging, recreation, and other uses.
The history of Drafts is unknown, especially their origin in Arakel, but many believe that the earliest forms of these animals were actually brought by the Ner (men) during their settlement and occupation of the continent from their homeland. A heavy, calm, patient, and well-muscled animal was desired for work.
Conversely, a light, more energetic horse was needed for riding and rapid transport. Thus, to the extent possible, a certain amount of selective breeding was used to develop different types of horse for different types of work. However, Ner love their history and anything that reminds them of home and as such their love in the breeds originating from their homeland, Elera allowed for the creation of the Elarian Draft
All draft horse types have a common ancestor in the “Great Horse of Elera”, with the genetic material having been passed down generations to many draft-type breeds– thus creating horses that are more muscular, taller than conventional horses, and typically do much more demanding tasks such as plowing.

The Arkaelian Burcan are classed as a Draft Breed, and are one of the closest living relatives to the original Elarian Draft.
The Elarian Draft had originally been imported to Arkael since its “discovery”, and once people began to settle they needed strong work animals to till the land. Since Arkael soil had not been previously worked to the extent needed to sustain the new owners of the land, farmers needed more power than most oxen or light horses could provide. In addition to this, many of the farm laborers were busy with Westward expansion and the continuous wars that followed that expansion. The Elarian Draft was first in line for becoming just the horse they needed, however as time went on even the Ner began to realize their most beloved equine was not cutting it just enough. So through careful selective breeding, the Arkaelian Burcan was created.
The closest living relative to the Elarian Draft, the Arkaelian Burcan is identified by their heavy set frame, lower leg feathering and convex head profile. They are one of the largest and strongest breeds of horses bred on the continent of Arkael, which makes them perfect for hauling heavy carts, though their size and weight can make them more difficult to handle. Despite this, not much has changed of this breed at all since then. They are still as calm with an even temperament, a characteristic that is required for an animal pulling a cart full of valuable goods.
Differences between the Burcan and the Elarian, is that the Burcan have a slightly Roman nose, well-muscled hindquarters and a long neck that is set high. With a sturdy and strong nature, they are the healthiest and hardiest of the breeds of Draft.

Extremely similar to the The Arkaelean Burcan, the The Dragonscorne Brulla are a horse breed that have been selectively bred for Dragon hunting and Battle. They typically feature highly muscular, crested necks, roman noses, thick manes and tails, defined seats, and typically sport a high stepped movement. They are usually in the height ranges of 16.2 and 17.3 hands (66 and 71 inches, 168 and 180 cm), with a range of 15–19 hands (60–76 inches, 152–193 cm). It is also notable that there is variety in how each feature expresses, with some being shorter or taller.
A fearless beast, packed to the bone with muscle, this bulky, heavyset breed is an interesting horse indeed, having the stamina of a workhorse, enough speed and turn control to compete with a racehorse despite the bulk and the health and quality of a Warhorse. It’s for these traits, that these creatures have been bred solely for their ability to laugh in the face of danger, rather than flick tail and run.
These animals thrive in the battlegrounds, with the chaos of war fueling this horses innate desire to finish the task at hand, either trampling enemies or using their sheer bulk as a battering ram in order to protect their riders.

Elysium Lessers

There are a multitude of wild horses throughout Elysium that have been domesticated over the years. However, domestication of any horse on Elysium is not easy, as many have spent almost a million years on grasslands and prairies dominated by dinosaurs and a whole plethora of dangerous predators, which has fostered extremes of aggression and panic that make many such as the Elysium Wild Ass unsuitable for domestication. In fact, attempts by nomads to domesticate them usually end in the death of the rider.
However despite this, many claim to have horses whose lineage can be tied directly to these more dangerous creatures and in fact many War Horses are said to have some ancestry of these creatures to account for their aggression and combat prowess.
Elysium Lessers, is a term given to any horse who is bred to be smaller than the popular drafts. These horses are the Elysium equivalent to the wide range of Warmbloods and Hotbloods on earth and are generally used the same way, often as entertainment or hunting.

A Graceful horse that comes from the south, the Satar'Looth is a bold horse known for its slender body and high endurance. The small hooves are suitable for traveling on hard and rocky ground. That, alongside their high speed, makes for a great battle horse. A hearty, healthy breed unrivaled in this line, this is one of the most sought after horses for many looking for a lighter more "Easy Keeping Horse."

The Carci'Duata are warm-blooded equines, though they exhibit the quickness and agility of many hot-blooded animals. They have a neck and back that is thick with muscle, prominent withers, known for their thick winter coat and a low set tail. Fast, playful and observant, The Duata are prized endurance and trail horses with a unique bloodline worthy of attention.
Often used as guard-mounts by mounted cavalry and police, they are typically calmer in temperament than most hotbloods, but sharper than coldbloods, and have an athletic conformation. They retain some of the speed, endurance, and agility of the hotbloods, but the introduction of the coldblood gives them added robustness and a quieter temperament.

One of the most well beloved race-horses in the world, the Lalarian is most popular in the racing circuit. The thoroughbred of Elysium, these fine-coated, light bodied horses, are typically sharp–witted, intelligent horses, who are quick to learn and very adaptable and who’s main attributes are usually thought of as speed and stamina. They are known for their mastery of racing and jumping as their gait is powerful, exhibiting a strong possession of agility and speed. The withers are high, the back short, the body lean and the chest deep.
Identifiable by their lean legs, athletic build and deep chest, this breed is famous for speed and agility, though can be clumsy if pushed too far too quickly. If trained well, these animals will carry out maximum exertion for long periods, if the rider requests it. Their good stamina and acceleration make them perfect for racing short distances.

Other Equines and Horse-Like Creatures of the World

A Native Equine species of Arkael, Equus poeciloaglao Tridactylia (Greek: poecilo: variegated, many-colored; varied/aglao - splendor, beauty; splendid, brilliant), also commonly known as a Dorse, is a genus of small equid perissodactyl, native to the western part of Arkael, and are one of the few native species of equins found on the continent but have since been regularly introduced to many parts of the world through the pet and work trade. A genuinely small animal, it's appearance greatly resembles that of the Earth Mesohippus, an extinct genus of early horse, which lived some 40 to 30 million years ago from the Middle Eocene all the way to the Early Oligocene.
Sharing many traits with its Earthen Counterpart, the Dorse truly does appear as a creature out of prehistory. Sharings traits of both horse and pre-horse ancestors, it stands roughly 34 inches (86 cm) at the withers at around 4 feet long and weighs anywhere between 75-80 pounds, while larger individuals can weight roughly 100-200. With wide-set eyes that sit high atop its long, horse-like skull, the Dorse is also equipped with slightly longer legs than its predecessors, and is endowed with what is a relatively large brain, about the same size, proportionate to its bulk, as that of modern horses.
However something interesting to note about the dorse, that sets it apart from it's more "evolutionarily advanced cousins", is the arrangement of its teeth, which allows the Dorse to have a wide-ranging diet, best suitable for life in the harsh deserts of the west, where food is scarce and you must eat anything you can get, with the arrangement of the teeth suggesting a diet akin almost too that of a bear, making them opportunistic omnivores who tend to consume more plant than animal matter allowing them to eat anything from leaves, roots, and berries to insects, carrion, fresh meat, and fish, while also having the digestive systems and teeth adapted to such a diet.
Another interesting biological adaptation is that this equid stands in, as a fully tridactyl horse in the evolutionary record, with the third digit of it's foot being longer and larger than its second and fourth digits; completely ridding itself of the typical hoof of modern-day equids.
Because they are so small, Dorses are prey animals with a strong fight-or-flight response. Their first reaction to a threat is to startle and usually flee, although they will stand their ground and defend themselves when flight is impossible or if their young are threatened. Despite this, they also tend to be very curious; to the point that, when startled, they will often hesitate an instant to ascertain the cause of their fright, and may not always flee from something that they perceive as non-threatening. However this can be deadly to the little equid, as they can fall victim to many predators. While young are often highly preyed upon by a variety of animals, adults are usually preyed upon by terror birds, small-medium sized dinosaurs, wolves, coyotes, wild dogs, small-medium sized dragon/dragonoids.
As a result of high predation, Dorses exhibit a significantly shorter gestation period compared to their ancestor, with Horses often having a 340 day gestation period with an average range of 320–370 days, while Dorses themselves often exhibit a gestation period lasting 100-125 days, and much like horses, they are a precocial species, and foals are capable of standing and running within a short time following birth, allowing them a chance to survive against predators who may be lurking around a birthing sight.
Because of their small size, many Dorse's are not typically used for hard-labor. Instead they are often used as hobby-animals. Bred often for looks, they are more often used as show-animals or small racing-animals.
However with the discovery of a larger variant of the Dorse, known as The four toed mountain Dorse Equus poeciloaglao ingens found more further North-west from the smaller 3-toed Plain's Dorse, mix breeding between the two has allowed for the creation of slightly larger variants of Dorse, following similar to dogs, a small-medium-large size range varying between individual's.
While smaller ones tend to be more pets than work animals, large domesticated Dorses, while still not large enough for heavy pulling, are instead trained to be mail-carriers, pulling, not ginormous plow, but instead medium sized shipping carts. They've also been used in wars for years, with many having different jobs, but one of the most common was bringing ammo to troops in the battlefield.
An equally more common job was the job of Comfort Pony.
A comfort Pony, was a Dorse that served in a paramedical role in the military. These Dorse were often sent out after large battles, where they would seek out wounded soldiers; and trench warfare suited their use. They carried first-aid supplies that could then be used by wounded soldiers, and comforted dying soldiers who were mortally wounded. They were also trained to guide combat medics to soldiers who required extensive care.
When not being used for pulling carts or animals of war, Dorse can actually be quite efficient guard animals. Their overall paranoid nature, perfected hearing and great-eyesight make them very attentive animals, known to let out a particularly shrill bray when predators are spotted, alerting the larger and fiercer guard-dog, or in the case of much larger Dorse, fighting or drawing them away from the females and young of their herd. In addition, females are attentive mothers, allowing them to be used as nanny animals to orphaned young or even adoptive mothers to others.

Freeliners

Not all horses on Elysium are horses. While often termed as "Horses", Freeliners are actually part of the Rhino family and not the Equine family. The Freeliner can be described as a light draft horse, overall. It can be a variety of colors, and may vary in size slightly. It has a thick neck, hearty bones, and an elegant thin waist. It’s lips can also stretch further back than a normal horse, allowing the jaw a wide angle of movement.
Despite their similarity to horses, Freeliners, and their wild ancestors, the unicorn, are in fact an ancient lineage of rhino. Unlike the lumbering beasts with horns on their snouts and thick skin known today, these Unicorns exhibit equine-like features such as long legs and neck, thin body and less compacted feet, suitable for a cursorial lifestyle. The single horn atop their forehead is independently evolved from other clades of rhino, possessing a stubby, bony horn core to support the base of its extended keratinous part, which is like a mix between the horn of bovid and rhino.
Sadly where as Rhino suffer on earth, Unicorns often suffer on Elysium, and it is only thankful that the Freeliners made do with domestication, otherwise they risked following in their wild ancestors' fate to near extinction.

by John Hawkens

Eilhydds

Another “Not-Horse” that has become a staple of transportation and the epitome of grace is the Eilhydds.
Eilhydds are a peaceful and flighty creature that resemble deer with sleek reptilian features. However similar to Freeliners, Eilhydds are not actually equines, but nor are they Cervids either! In actuality, Eilhydds are a draconic, quadrupedal deer-like creature whose origins actually date back to a now extinct species of Antelope!
Typically, Antelope are not a cladistic or taxonomically defined group. The term is used to describe all members of the family Bovidae that do not fall under the category of sheep, cattle, or goats. Usually, all species of the Antilopinae, Hippotraginae, Reduncinae, Cephalophinae, many Bovinae, the gray rhebok, and the impala are called antelope.
Eilhydds are a slender antelope with long legs and neck. Much like most antelopes, Eilhydds exhibit two relatively straight horns that curl back. Typically unlike deer, in which the males sport elaborate head antlers that are shed and regrow annually, antelope horns are bone and grow steadily, never falling off and are often limited in their design with the most elaborate being a horns found in the Spiral-horned antelopes such as bushbucks, kudus, and the elands. Some Eilhydds will often also carry the gene for this characteristic, often suggesting that the animal evolved from an ancestor with true display horns, however Eilhydds horns despite this difference are still similar to antelope horns, where as, if a horn is broken, it will either remain broken or take years to partially regenerate, depending on the species.
Many antelopes are sexually dimorphic and in Eilhydds, both sexes have horns, but those of males tend to be larger. Males also tend to be larger than the females themselves, but exceptions in which the females tend to be heavier than the males is often characteristic. Both male and females have nose horns but females are often smaller and more defensive while male's are for jousting with each other.
A noticeable behavior of Eilhydds is their bounding leap, known as stotting or pronking, used to startle predators and display strength. In addition to their hopping running gait, Eilhydds also has the ability to Pronk, in which they spring into the air, lifting all four feet off the ground simultaneously. Usually, the legs are held in a relatively stiff position.
Pronking in general has baffled researchers, but many believe that it is an honest signal to predators that the pronking animal would be difficult to catch. Such a signal is called "honest" as it is not deceptive in any way, and actually in turn benefits both predator and prey: the predator as it avoids a costly and unproductive chase which would possibly waste energy it could use for another day, and the prey as it does not get chased.
Two variations of Eilhydds exist, Stocky and Graceful
Stockier ones typically have the body type one would assume larger antelope species such as Eland would have, being as the name suggests much stockier and robust. Domestic Stockies are often preferred for farm-work and carrying things.
Graceful body types share a similar body conformation to Gazelle like Thomson, being very slender with more elegance to them; ones such as these are used mainly for speed, news, scouting, urgent small deliveries like medicine, etc, though during times these may also find themselves on the battlefield.

Trivia

• As far as coat color goes, Horses on Elysium are generally natural coated horses. However in recent years, more and more mutations have began to show around, many believed to be due to the run off of excessive magic use digging deep into the animals to the point it alters DNA.

• Horses in Elysium may occasionally be eaten by people, but to many, especially the Ner, this is considered in bad taste due to how well the horse has intergrated themselves in their daily lives.