Hoofed Theriotypes

Hoofed animals in nature

Hoofed animals walk on the tips of their toes, which have become hard hooves. They belong to two old lineages. The odd-toed group includes horses, zebras, donkeys, rhinoceroses and tapirs. The even-toed group includes deer, cattle, goats, sheep, antelope, giraffes, camels, pigs and hippos, and, surprisingly, it counts the whales among its close kin. Most hoofed animals eat plants. Many, though not horses, are ruminants: they swallow food quickly, then bring it back to chew at leisure in a safer place. Most have eyes set on the sides of the head, giving a very wide field of view, and ears that turn independently toward any sound.

• Deer browse at woodland edges and are most active at dawn and dusk. In most species only the males grow antlers, which are bone, and are cast and regrown every year; in reindeer both sexes have them. A newborn fawn lies hidden and still while its mother feeds nearby.
• Horses are grazers of open grassland. Wild and free-living horses form bands, often a stallion with several mares and their young, and an experienced mare often decides when the band moves. They groom one another, doze standing, and lie down for deep sleep, usually while others keep watch. Zebras and donkeys are close kin.
• Goats and sheep are near relatives with different habits. Goats browse, investigate everything and climb with startling skill; wild goats such as the ibex live on cliffs. Sheep graze and keep close together. In both, horns are permanent, a sheath over a core of bone, never shed. Wild rams clash horns in the autumn.
• Cattle and bison graze in herds. The wild ancestor of cattle, the aurochs, died out in the seventeenth century. The bison of the North American plains was nearly wiped out in the 1800s and survives in protected herds, and the European bison, saved only in captivity, has been returned to the forests.
• Antelope of Africa and Asia, among them gazelles, impala, oryx and wildebeest, live in herds on open ground. Many leap stiff-legged when they spot a predator, a display that seems to say "I am fit, do not bother chasing me." The pronghorn of North America looks like an antelope but is not one, and is among the fastest long-distance runners alive.

Why these animals are named

Deer and horses are the hoofed theriotypes named most often. Both are familiar: deer at the edges of woods and parks, horses in fields and in a long partnership with people. Goats, sheep, cattle, bison and antelope are named less often, though no less sincerely. Stories tend to favor predators, which may make a hoofed identity feel quieter at first. It is not a lesser one.

The prey animal's world

To be a hoofed animal is, for most of history, to be hunted. That fact shapes everything.

• Vigilance. Heads come up between mouthfuls. Ears turn. The wide eyes take in almost the whole horizon at once. A herd at rest is never entirely asleep.
• The herd. There is safety in numbers and in knowing one's neighbors. An animal alone is anxious; an animal in a calm group can relax.
• Startle and flight. The first answer to danger is to freeze, the second is to run, and fighting comes last. A sudden sound or movement can send a whole herd into flight before any one animal knows why.
• Space. Open ground and a clear escape route mean safety. Being cornered is the worst place to be.

None of this is weakness. A deer that notices first and runs well is a highly successful animal, and the same alertness that keeps it alive also makes it graceful, quick and finely tuned to its surroundings.

What hoofed therians commonly describe

These are patterns that hoofed therians often report. None is a test.

• Phantom features. Antlers or horns, with a felt weight and width that seems to make doorways narrower. Long ears that swivel. Hooves, sometimes felt as a wish to stand on the toes. A mane, a swishing tail, a long neck or muzzle.
• Attention. A wide, constant awareness of surroundings. Sitting where the door can be seen, with the back to a wall. Noticing every exit in a room, as the page on shifting mentions of deer therians.
• Startle. A strong reaction to sudden noise or to movement behind them, followed by a freeze or an urge to leave. Unease in tight crowds or small rooms.
• Movement. A love of running for its own sake, of open fields, of covering ground. Goat therians often mention climbing and a sure-footed pleasure in rough ground.
• Landscapes and hours. Meadows, woodland edges, open plains and hillsides. Dawn and dusk for many deer therians.
• Social life. Comfort in a small, familiar group, and calm when trusted people are near. Horse therians often describe a closeness through touch and simple presence.

Telling close relatives apart

Antlers that come and go and horns that stay are a real distinction, and some therians find that the felt headgear settles a question. Others find that the shape of their social life, a small band or a great herd, tells them more.

Myths that mislead

• The fragile deer. Deer are often pictured as delicate and timid. Real deer are tough. Stags fight hard in the autumn rut, and does defend their fawns with sharp front hooves.
• The noble steed. The horse of story is a rider's mount, valued for courage in battle or loyalty to one master. The real horse's life is the band, the grass and the long watch.
• The devil's goat. Medieval imagery gave the goat a sinister cast. The real goat is curious, clever and sociable.
• Water horses and unicorns. The shape-changing horses of lakes and rivers belong to the legends on the page about water horses and river spirits, and the unicorn to the mythic beasts. They are lovely in story and say nothing about a horse therian.
• Prey means weak. This is the myth that does most harm. Predator theriotypes are not braver, deeper or more real than prey ones. A deer therian is exactly as much a therian as a wolf therian, and the two animals have shaped each other for a very long time.

Respect for the real animals

Many wild hoofed animals have suffered from hunting, fencing and the loss of grassland and forest. The return of bison to protected ground shows that recovery is possible, and many hoofed therians find a natural interest in such work.

Never approach or feed wild deer, and keep well back during the autumn rut. A fawn lying alone has almost always been left there on purpose, and should not be touched or moved. In farmland, give cattle a wide berth, especially cows with calves, and never come between them. With horses, ask the owner before touching, and approach from the side where the horse can see you.

Finding your way slowly

Being easily startled, or loving horses, does not settle anything alone. Many people are jumpy, and many people love horses. The page on theriotypes describes a patient method: record what you actually experience, study the real animals at length, and compare honestly over months. Those still searching may also find the page on other theriotypes worth a look.