The Horses of "New Spring"

Author: Dar'Jen Ab Owain
Published: April 27 2021 Tar Valon Times Blog Link

Horses play an important role in “New Spring.” They are companions to characters and serve as a main source of transportation. Various characteristics are described, including build and coloration.

The rider from Tear rode a horse that “had the arched neck of good Tairen bloodstock” (p.7). Meilyn Arganya had a tall dappled gelding, and Elaida rode a “fine-ankled bay mare” (p. 84). A bandit rode “a white-stockinged brown gelding with a look of speed about him and a prancing step” (p. 292). When Moiraine entered Chachin she arrived in “a yellow-lacquered carriage behind a team of four matched greys” (p. 326).

Some of the equine encountered were named and served a greater role. Bukama had a “yellow roan gelding, Sun Lance” (p. 10). Moiraine rode Arrow and Lan rode Cat Dancer.

“Moiraine had purchased Arrow to celebrate attaining the ring” (p. 59). The bay mare “was not tall” but “could keep running long after larger horses had tired out. A fast mount was good, but a mount with endurance was better. Arrow was both. And she could jump fences that few other horses would even try” (p. 59). When Moiraine left Tar Valon on the vessel “Bluewing,” the mare was “hoisted aboard by a long wooden boom, with straps beneath her belly” (p. 210). She rode Arrow while in search of the reborn Dragon.

Lan’s Cat Dancer was a bay stallion. He was half-trained, but “even a half-trained warhorse was a formidable weapon” (p. 10). The stallion was “standing still and alert” while Lan dealt with guards when entering Canluum (p. 217). During a bandit attack, Cat Dancer remained still “knowing what dropped reins meant” and so waited for “the pressure of knee and heel” (p. 284).

Horses served an important capacity in “New Spring.” Some, like Arrow and Cat Dancer, were named and described in greater detail. Others, such as those hauling carriages and ridden by bandits, still served a role.