On Fri, Dec 15, 2017 at 9:30 PM, Rob O'Connor <xxxxxx@ozemail.com.au> wrote:

Alternate cavalry animals? I'd use elephants, larger antelopes, or theropod dinosaurs as a starting point.

Heiro's Journey and The Unforesaken Heiro, by Sterling E. Lanier.

The protagonist rides a "morse:" a mutated, draft-horse-sized moose. IIRC, it was also more intelligent than the original animal.

Richard Aiken

"Never insult anyone by accident." Robert A. Heinlein

"I studied the Koran a great deal. I came away from that study with the conviction there have been few religions in the world as deadly to men as Muhammed." Alexis de Tocqueville

"We know a little about a lot of things; just enough to make us dangerous." Dean Winchester (fictional monster hunter portrayed by Jensen Ackles)

"It has been my experience that a gun doesn't care who pulls its trigger." Newton Knight (as portrayed by Matthew McConaughey), to a scoffing Confederate tax collector facing the weapons held by Knight's young children and wife.