#also this design isn't final yet- i gotta make the neck a bit longer cuz now that i'm seeing it right it seems a bit short

[kinerxy]

The Molar Horse, they're similar to IRL horses but alot bigger and with a bulkier neck... beside the obvious frontal tusks used for defense against predators and in intraspecific competition.

Due to their aggressive and fearless nature aswell as gigantic size theyre an excellent war mount, even if their domestication isnt for the weak.

when their lips are relaxed they cover all the teeth, this is to protect their integrity and also to avoid infections, this tissue is hardy but flexible enough to be pulled all the way back to show the hidden upward incisives and the rest of the teeth, baring their teeth can be out of distress or as a threat.

(the silly)

In a previous ask I explained how these animals can eat, in short I didn't want to add some type of trunk nor modify the appearance of the tusks especially the big frontal one so the easiest option to go is to have a large tounge strong enough to help it eat in a similar fashion to a giraffe.

But I was thinking that in my setting the general landescape is very desertic and there aren't many trees around, this opens an issue since the tounge was based on a giraffe tounge which is made to grab tree branches and pull the leaves into their mouths, so maybe these tounges could have spiky cavities similar to a feline tounge but much more exaggerated, this to be able to have a stronger hold on the dry grass and other types of dry food that probably would be on the ground.

TW: (fictional) Animal abuse

In my story there are many important factions and in general they aren't benevolent specially since the war is a common occassion and each one have to do what it needs to success and maintain territory and resources, this faction, the Altan Empire (which hopefully i will show more of them in a future) is one of the few important nations that have managed to domesticate the dangerous Molar Horses, but to conceive this they had to do some evil shit

The lips of a molar horse are a very sensitive part of their body, these have many nerve conections to be able to move them and show different types of expressions, emotions and give indications to other Molar horses.

The removal of these lips greatly vaffects their behavior, making them docier and easier to handle aswell as opening a entrance to put the mouthpiece and colocate the bridle without having problems with the vast tissue, this is called marking.

A marked molar horse is alot less unstable than its wild counterpart, making them an excellent mount to be used in the loud and unpredictable battles between factions, it also improves their intimidation factor

But beside their obvious degradation in appearance, these animals become incapable of communicating normally with other molar horses.

Another problem are the infections, is common to see marked molar horses with infected pimples, scars or without some back teeth that fell off or had to be removed.

on the bright side, in recent times and due to the domestication of the marked molar horses, meaning that newborns are more docile withouth having to mark them aswell as improvements in the design of the bridle, said newborns are commonly left with their intact lips.