Horse

From Wookieepedia, the Star Wars wiki.

Horses were domesticated animals used as mounts and beasts of burden on many inhabited worlds in the galaxy.

Horse was the vernacular name for the species used in Basic. The technical term used by scientists was equus. In Ewokese, the species was called "pulga." A small horse was called a "pony" in Basic and a "gaupa" in Ewokese.

The homeworld of horses is unknown. Since they were common on many Human-inhabited worlds, it is possible they originated on Coruscant, and spread throughout the galaxy alongside Humans. They were present on Bryndar.

When Cindel Towani was befriended by Wicket after her family crashed on Endor, he showed her an Ewok-made pulga statue, which she identified as a horse. Apparently, at least one world visited by the Towani family in the Galactic Empire had horses.

The Ewoks mainly used small gaupas to ride, but also used large pulgas for heavier loads. In the quest to rescue the Towani parents, most of the Ewoks involved rode gaupas, while Cindel and Wicket traveled in a children-carrying basket aboard a full-sized pulga.

The Force-sensitive witches of Dathomir possessed beautiful black horses, which they sometimes rode instead of Dathomiri rancors. Some of the witches, notably Charal, possessed rings of mysterious (possibly Sith) origin with strange Force "magic" properties that allowed the witches to change the physical shapes of both themselves and their steeds.

Charal apparently brought her Dathomiri steed with her to the forest moon. To lure Cindel into a trap, she changed her own shape into a beautiful lady, and her horse into a white steed. Apparently, white horses were considered symbolic of purity and nobility in the Galactic Empire.

The Sanyassan Marauders under King Terak also used large horses as mounts. It is possible they brought these steeds with them to the forest moon, as Charal brought her own horse. The Marauders crashed on Endor almost 100 years before the Battle of Yavin, and the horses and ponies used by the Ewoks may well have been descended from Marauder-introduced stock.

[edit] Behind the scenes

George Lucas's Ewok movies featured numerous real, Earth animals, although it should be noted that so did The Phantom Menace, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi.

Note that many fans have incorrectly confused Endorian ponies with bordoks.

Charal tricking Cindel by turning her horse white seems to indicate that little Human girls, like those of Earth, enjoy bed-time fairy-tales of pretty princesses on white horses, and probably every little girl dreams of owning one. The Ewoks movies were more like traditional Earth fantasies than many Star Wars fans appreciate, but are still considered canon.

Many animals in the Star Wars galaxy resemble horses, but are not. These include four-eared equinoids from Cleroff's World, and numerous species of Naboo: gualaars, guarlaras, and gualamas.

[edit] Appearances

• Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (First appearance)
• Ewoks: The Battle for Endor

[edit] Sources

• The Essential Guide to Characters (Mentioned only)
• The Wildlife of Star Wars: A Field Guide
• Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy
• The Official Star Wars Fact File 109 (END15, Endor Wildlife)
•  Cindel Towani in the Databank
•  Ask the Lucasfilm Jedi Council: Does Naboo Have Horses? on StarWars.com (backup link on Archive.org)
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia