Working on a species I’ve been brainstorming for a while now! Gonna call them Felquin. Short “story” notes below. Reposts appreciated! I need motivation to finish their design sheet XD
They consist largely of a horse body and structure, and are mounts, however their back feet and legs are more structured like a cats, with both stronger haunch muscles for leaping and paws with retractable claws for grip.
Their face is mostly equine as well, though it can be noted that the eyes are often larger and more cat like, the ears softer and rounder, and the whiskers on the muzzle more prominent. The nose is like a cross between a horse and a deer, but there have been some specimens found that lack the rhinarium (wet nose) of the majority. Those that lack the wet nose are also those found to be more rare and vibrantly colored, such as the full drawing from some field notes shown below.
We suspect these animals may have cousins with hypogriffs, but we have yet to capture a hyporgriff to compare DNA samples. Felquin are a rather temperamental species and were only somewhat domesticated by the indigenous peoples from the mountainous islands from which they hail.
It should also be noted that Felquin are omnivorous and require protein as well as grazing foods, but due to this, they are able to travel for up to three days on very little food. Their bite is painful, I do not recommend looking this “gift horse” in the mouth.