How would steering a Pegasus work? I see that often when you draw them they don’t have any bridles or reins. I can understand that because you can’t give the pegasi cues to go up or down like that. Is it something on the saddle maybe. Is it more like the dragons in httyd where the rider kind of uses their grip on the saddle and leaning their weight to steer?
Hi! Great question!
Yeah, the main way to steer a pegasus is weight shifting. This is similar to real-life riding where there's seat weight vs stirrup weight, and where that weight is in the saddle speaks volumes to the horse. A rider can give many cues through seat weight, and seat weight is often combined with other cues to execute complex moves. In fact, many horses can be cued with seat and leg cues alone, with no need for bit cues. I'm not against bit cues at all, but I default to seat and leg cues with my own horse because 1) I know he can and 2) the less I can cue his mouth, the softer his mouth is, and when I do cue the mouth, he knows something is important.
In my mind, a pegasus works on that same principle.
A saddle and pilot are positioned like this:
A pilot sits with their knees on the meaty part of the wing base:
Another view, including the heel slings, which are important to steering:
NOW for steering, pilots use their knees, their toes, and sometimes their hands:
Rolling the pegasus, angling the wings up and down, is done all with the knees and pilot weight shifting.
Pitch (nose up and down) is controlled with mostly toe cues, with some weight cues. Toe cues are more subtle.
Yaw (tail side to side) is controlled by a combo of everything, including hands.
Hope that helps!
~ Larn