The Horse

[Luke_the_Warrior]

What happened to the horse that appeared at the beginning of Redwall? Does anybody know, or is it all speculation?

[Taggerung_of_Redwall]

The horse is never mentioned again after it leaves behind Cluny's horde, so yeah, it's all speculation.

[Captain Tammo]

I'm curious where it came from. Especially since it had reins

[Lutra]

^ Never thought of where it came from, but yeah, the reins implied it has been used as a work animal.  None of the Redwall prequels mention horses either.  Could be another "solitary beaver" moment of Redwall....never heard from again and that's just the way it was. 

[Skalrag of Marshank]

When Jacques wrote the first book, he wasn't planning on it becoming a series. He just put the horse in to give the rats some transportation. So, you're right, Lutra, the horse, the piglets, and the barnhouse are all just "solitary beaver" moments.

[Folgrimeo]

Well it's a better introduction than Gandalf in "The Hobbit" who just appears out of nowhere one day.

Maybe it's that I've barely read any animal books in the grand scheme of things, but it might be interesting if small animals interacted with big animals more, given a big animal's theoretical ability to quickly intervene and take out bad guys. It happens a few times by virtue of Constance or some other badgermum. It happened in "Martin the Warrior" when the Warden swooped in to help. The book "Watership Down" had Kehaar the gull and a dog. It changes thing up a bit when one side has a powerhouse like that.

And any which way I think about it, I imagine if the scales were remotely realistic, Matthias seeing Cluny on top of a horse would have to be like craning your head to see the top of a tall tree. A horse might as well be a walking house. Which makes me question how Cluny got on top of the horse in the first place, but... anyway, yeah, convenient transportation.

[Redwall Musician]

I think he used a horse just to show how strong Cluny was. If Cluny could use the horse as a slave, he could easily kill and defeat other creatures.

[Skalrag of Marshank]

That makes sense.

[Folgrimeo]

Imagine how villain conversations at the watercooler would go.

Slagar: "I enslave Dibbuns and give them a whack with my mace if they fall outta line!"
Ublaz: "Well I once hypnotized one of my lackeys to jump out a window. You should have heard the splat!"
Gulo: "Pah, that's nothing! I EAT anyone I don't like!"
Cluny: "Have any of you fools ridden a horse?"
Slagar: "No."
Ublaz: "Er, no."
Gulo: "What's a horse?"
Cluny: "I see. Bow before your new master."

[Lutra]

Imagine how villain conversations at the watercooler would go.

Slagar: "I enslave Dibbuns and give them a whack with my mace if they fall outta line!"
Ublaz: "Well I once hypnotized one of my lackeys to jump out a window. You should have heard the splat!"
Gulo: "Pah, that's nothing! I EAT anyone I don't like!"
Cluny: "Have any of you fools ridden a horse?"
Slagar: "No."
Ublaz: "Er, no."
Gulo: "What's a horse?"
Cluny: "I see. Bow before your new master."

I almost spit my coffee all over the computer because of this. 

[Skalrag of Marshank]

Heeheeheehee.

[Taggerung_of_Redwall]

That's the thing about a horse. The massive size difference would alienate their presence in Mossflower.

[Redwall Musician]

That makes sense.

Imagine how villain conversations at the watercooler would go.

Slagar: "I enslave Dibbuns and give them a whack with my mace if they fall outta line!"
Ublaz: "Well I once hypnotized one of my lackeys to jump out a window. You should have heard the splat!"
Gulo: "Pah, that's nothing! I EAT anyone I don't like!"
Cluny: "Have any of you fools ridden a horse?"
Slagar: "No."
Ublaz: "Er, no."
Gulo: "What's a horse?"
Cluny: "I see. Bow before your new master."

Wow! That was funny!
I can't believe I said something that actually made sense! Hurray! (I usually don't make that much sense)

[Skalrag of Marshank]

I wasn't talking about that, I was talking about your comment:

I think he used a horse just to show how strong Cluny was. If Cluny could use the horse as a slave, he could easily kill and defeat other creatures.

[daskar666]

Some of the villains srsly need horses as monster "henchmen".
I'm thinking of doing a fanfic with that.