#anyway i'll be over here!!! thinking about Gerudo and Horses and still being salty I can't ride in the desert in the wilds era aklsjd

[shannonsketches]

Weird Horsegirl Ganondorf fun fact of today is that in Ocarina of Time Ganondorf rides without a bridle! Even in the concept art his horse lacks any bit or reigns (as does Epona, and every other horse).

What it mainly means is that the N64 didn't have the power to mess with an unnecessary complex item to render -- but what it could be interpreted to mean for the sake of fandom fun is that the horses are raised and trained to be ridden bridleless.

Not to be up my own headcanons about horses being a big thing in Gerudo Valley and Malon's mom being Gerudo and there being a reason that Gan's horse is specified as a pure black Gerudo Stallion because other Gerudo horses don't look like that but -- have you seen the dressings on the other horses?

All of them, even Zelda's horse, have a call to Gerudo patterning. Except for Epona, who was only able to be approached, touched, and ridden by Link and presumably Malon herself.

It's no secret that the Gerudo are more or less pulled from African and Arabic cultures, but fun fact about Arabian horses, they used to be given as prized gifts to royalty and important political figures.

So if they are inspired by Arabian horse history --

Although the specific area of the Arabian Peninsula where the breed originated can’t be pinpointed, it is widely accepted that around 2500 B.C., the Bedouin people were responsible for developing the desert horses that became the ancestors of the Arabian horse. The nomads’ keen horse sense and meticulous attention to proper care and breeding created an animal that could withstand the harsh environment of the desert, surviving extreme heat and cold with little water and the food they shared with their handlers. A life of travel also required horses with great lung capacity, endurance and stamina. (x)

It's very possible that all of the horses in OoT have ancestry in Gerudo Valley!

#lays on the ground and thinks about how Zelda's horse might've been a gift from Gerudo Valley celebrating her birth #anyway i'll be over here!!! thinking about Gerudo and Horses and still being salty I can't ride in the desert in the wilds era aklsjd #clinging to my Malon's Mom Was Gerudo because usually dairy farmers don't breed horses -- it's a different specialty and a full time job #and Talon is definitely more dairy farmer so. It makes sense to me that Mama was doing the horse breeding. And mama had the red hair. #And Ingo was SO eager to kiss Gan's ass which seems to me like he's been there before -- and he wouldn't if his horse was Gerudo bred #anyway tl;dr this is a hill i cry on #I told my friends once that I hc the Gerudo came to get Mal's mom when she got sick and she refused to leave even if it would've saved her #and that they would come back for her body so she could be buried in her homeland #and when Malon was old enough she'd be welcome there but of course when Malon was old enough Ingo didn't let her leave #and she wouldn't leave the horses behind -- just like her mama. there was just no safe way to get herself and the animals out #anyway. :) good morning. #lozhc #oot eidolon