History Main / HorseOfADifferentColor

Compare CallARabbitASmeerp, when the animal actually is, for all intents and purposes, identical to a real-world animal. SuperTrope of KangarooPouchRide and SeahorseSteed, and sometimes DomesticatedDinosaurs.

* Camels, for both one-humped dromedaries and two-humped Bactrian species. Subverted with their llama cousins, who aren't strong enough to carry a grown human and seldom tolerate much close contact with people.

* ''{{Drowtales}}'' has Dawmere, horse-like animals, that have clawed feet and short fat horns on their head, they are more akin to donkeys then horses. Real horses exist, but are rarely if ever used by the titular Drow, as they are unsuited for underground conditions.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' had the girls invaded by giant broccoli aliens after they spiked the town's broccoli supply with MindControl broccoli that left all the adults incapacitated, leaving the girls and the kids to confront the green threat. As part of their vegetable motif, the broccoli king rides a carrot-shaped mount.

* Seriously, no one here mentioned [[EverythingsBetterWithLlamas llamas]] yet? While most adults humans are too heavy for a llama to carry, they can still be ridden by children under 50 pounds.

* One issue of the comic series of {{Avatar: The Last Airbender}} (known for its {{MixandMatchCritters}}) had the bad guy riding a [[http://avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Puma_goat puma-goat]] of all things.

* All over the place in the {{Star Wars Expanded Universe}}. From the [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tauntaun Tauntauns]] of Hoth, to the [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Dewback Dewbacks]] of Tatooine and lizard-like varacytl [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Varactyl]] of Utapau, any planet inhabited by sentient aliens will be guaranteed to have domesticated and rideable exotic beasts of burden of some sort.

* All over the place in the {{Star Wars Expanded Universe}}. From the [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tauntaun Tauntauns]] of Hoth, to the [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Dewback Dewbacks]] of Tatooine, any planet inhabited by sentient aliens is bound to have a domesticated and rideable exotic beast of burden someway or another.

* The Leafmen in ''WesternAnimation/{{Epic}}'' ride hummingbirds into battle, while the [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Boggins]] prefer RavensAndCrows because they are more tolerant of decay. They also can ride on [[BatOutOfHell bats]] due to their leader's [[TheBeastmaster ability to imitate the cry that bats use to locate others of their own kind.]] However, the bats aren't actually loyal to the Boggins; in one scene, a Leafman knocks a Boggin off his bat and takes the reins, and the bat has no complaints. Birds such as sparrows are considered inferior to hummingbirds, and are generally used only for racing.

* The Series/BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger used velociraptors as steeds. So did their counterparts the Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder, though less often since they had motorcycles that they tended to favor instead.

* The Leafmen in ''{{Epic}}'' ride hummingbirds into battle, while the [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Boggins]] prefer RavensAndCrows because they are more tolerant of decay. They also can ride on [[BatOutOfHell bats]] due to their leader's [[TheBeastmaster ability to imitate the cry that bats use to locate others of their own kind.]] However, the bats aren't actually loyal to the Boggins; in one scene, a Leafman knocks a Boggin off his bat and takes the reins, and the bat has no complaints. Birds such as sparrows are considered inferior to hummingbirds, and are generally used only for racing.

* Along with [[GiantFlyer flying animals,]] the characters in ''{{Epic}}'' have been seen to use other mounts. The leader of the senselessly evil Boggins uses a star-nosed mole on one occasion, though this may just be due to his status as resident [[TheBeastmaster Beastmaster]] rather than that being a normal Boggin mount. On the good guys' side, the heroes take a ride on a deer--which is ABSURDLY large compared to them--though this is not considered typical either.

* It's not clear what the "horses" in ''Literature/TheCarpetPeople'' by Creator/TerryPratchett actually ''are'', but given that they have compound eyes that change colour when they're frightened, and are ridden by people to whom [[MouseWorld a matchstick is an unending wall of wood]], they [[CallingASmeerpARabbit certainly aren't horses]].

** Within the city of New Crobuzon itself, people use Remade animals as beasts of burden, such as horses that have had most of their bodies [[AutomatonHorse replaced with machinery]], and minotaur-like beasts.

* In the Sugar Rain series, characters ride 'horses'. This functions to emphasize that English is really a 'translation' when a rider settles in for the night he gives the 'horse' a feedbag of meat.
* In Literature/TheGeneral series, giant dogs take the place of horses, adding an extra dimension to cavalry combat.

* Like many other worlds, in ancient times Dragons were used as mounts in the ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' world, before being hunted to near extinction. The Sky Bison of the air-nomads are in a similar state; giant, intelligent six legged oxen with beaver tails that could fly, now with only one member of their species - Appa - believed left alive. As of the SequelSeries ''TheLegendOfKorra'', however, a new colony of Sky Bison have been found, which gives hope that the species can be repopulated.
* ''ThePiratesOfDarkWater'' was set on a world without wide-open spaces of dry land. Flying critters called Dagrons (small dragons, really) were the ride of choice. [[HumanResources Turns out they had a secret]].

* "Axebeaks" (''Phorusrhacos'', more or less) have featured in several editions of ''DungeonsAndDragons''. (''{{Pathfinder}}'' seems to have shrugged and openly presented them essentially as predatory chocobos.) White Wolf's ''ScarredLands'' setting had "tent birds," a desert-dwelling variant with supernaturally heat-resistant feathers that could use its huge—albeit still flightless—wings [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin to shelter itself and its hatchlings (or its rider)]].

* The main characters in ''HighlanderTheAnimatedSeries'' ride a kind of large bipedal animal in many episodes.
* In WanderOverYonder, the eponymous character's mount, Sylvia, had a vaguely horse-shaped head without the ears, yet her body and tail more so resemble those of a kangaroo. She's also blue with a pink mane and tail tuft. [[SapientSteed Oh, and she's sapient too.]]

'''Flightless Birds and Other Bipeds'''

'''Predatory Animals'''

'''Other/Multiple'''

* In ''{{Drowtales}}'' many large clans use large and varying animals as mounts, for transport and battles. The Val'Sarghress breed and train large horse sized [[BigBadassWolf Big Badass Wolves]], the Vel'Sharen ride elephant sized [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] and the Val'Sullisin'rune ride [[PantheraAwesome horse sized tigers]].

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', the ''protagonist'' serves as a mount to his NinjaButterfly while he is transformed into a BigBadassWolf.

Compare CallARabbitASmeerp, when the animal actually is, for all intents and purposes, identical to a real-world animal. SuperTrope of KangarooPouchRide and SeahorseSteed.

* Parodied in ''CollegeSaga'', where the hero rides a chocobo played by a man in a fursuit.