[SPOILER] Could they be from Saddle Arabia?

[himanuts 165]

So we all where probably surprised when we saw this guys in one of the preview commercials.

 

http://3.bp.blogspot...uIk/s1600/1.JPG

 

Chatting around with some friends over at Facebook, the arabian horse breed came up. And I decided to look into it. They kind of resemble this two, cutie markless, equines that will be featured in the show.

 

Also in one of the Hub's poll's, the one concerning Shining and Cadence's honeymoon destination if I recall, one of the options was Sadle Arabia. Could it be a coincedence? I'd like to think not, as the thought of normal, or close to normal, horse introduced in the show being based/inspired on a real world culture who has developed a specific horse breed seems like a fun one.

 

Thoughts? Anything else I may be missing?

[Dusty Soul 2,611]

Saddle Arabia sounds awesome. I do think it's a possibility, although the clothing looks more Indian then anything else, so it could be from that or the pony equivalent of India.

[Zeruis 53]

First time I've ever heard of it. The horses look like they have some kind of foreign garb on them, so it could be possible that they are indeed from this "Saddle Arabia". Let's have Equestria keep expanding to show more places, right?

[Driz 1,552]

"Saddle Arabia"... I'm feeling they're gonna run out of equine-related puns very soon.

 

Real talk though, that actually sounds pretty good! I actually love the idea of more and more races/species being introduced! Diversity~

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

Saddle Arabia is one of the most ridiculous ponified terms I've ever heard. You are aware that Saudi Arabia is named after the house of Saud and is hardly a defining term for the people of the region? I could believe that the strange horses are from something similar to that region of the world, but they would not be from Saddle Arabia. That's just ridiculous and probably offensive to boot.

 

No, what I think is more likely is that they're not ponies at all, but are something closer to real horses. The fact that they appear to be sapient makes me question an assumption I'd held for a long time, that the horses of the Equestrian Earth are akin to gorillas or chimpanzees for humans--closely related, and still fairly intelligent, but not nearly as intelligent as the ponies and incapable of building civilizations. Suddenly I am not so certain about that, and I'm interesting in seeing the episode just for the answer to this question alone.

[Yuna Crescent 142]

i really want to know what episode these two appear in, ugh...i'm not sure if i can wait once a week for a new episode...the wait is too long...but i'll have to try...

[null1 606]

@@Kyronea, It's just a name, a commonly known term, it won't get away with us, but it will get away with the target demographic. Plus it's catchy.

 

Now my 2 cents:

 

The saddles on the horses are rather strange, and as I take this completely out of proportion, I believe this is a pony sub culture that partakes in the practice and lifestyle of BDSM. Again, completely blown out of proportion, but I think about any possible contingency.

 

Or this could be my worst fear:

 

Humans are integrated into the mythos of MLP as a permanent species, and have enslaved ponies

 

 

I am also rather annoyed that these two BDSM ponies do not have cutie marks. Hopefully this is an animation error, because if it is cannon, there needs to be a reasonable explanation for the apparent absence of cutie marks.

[Starshine 16,334]

If this is true, will there be another equine subspecies from another place?

It kinda feels like they just rammed in some random new subspecies every once a while just to mess up with us.

[Coco Pommel 669]

Saddle Arabia is the most ridiculous/awesome name I've heard for the show. If they put it in, then I at least like that the pony universe is introducing new places.

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

@@Kyronea, It's just a name, a commonly known term, it won't get away with us, but it will get away with the target demographic. Plus it's catchy.

 

Now my 2 cents:

 

The saddles on the horses are rather strange, and as I take this completely out of proportion, I believe this is a pony sub culture that partakes in the practice and lifestyle of BDSM. Again, completely blown out of proportion, but I think about any possible contingency.

 

Or this could be my worst fear:

 

Humans are integrated into the mythos of MLP as a permanent species, and have enslaved ponies

 

 

I am also rather annoyed that these two BDSM ponies do not have cutie marks. Hopefully this is an animation error, because if it is cannon, there needs to be a reasonable explanation for the apparent absence of cutie marks.

 

As much as I would love a BDSM culture for ponies, given the target audience of the show, I am not so sure that is all that likely. (Then again, didn't Rarity's original design have bridles and such on as well?)

 

Also, they're not ponies. Look at the shapes of their heads. They're horses. We've seen horses on the show before, when Twilight turned mice into horses in "The Best Night Ever." These horses have the same head shapes those horses did, while the ponies have different head shapes. Ponies =/= horses.

[himanuts 165]

Humans are integrated into the mythos of MLP as a permanent species, and have enslaved ponies

 

 

Going into crazy ideas of mine, as I despise the idea of humans being part of the FiM universe, I've pondered on the thought of sentient apes actually enslaving ponies. XD

 

 

I am also rather annoyed that these two BDSM ponies do not have cutie marks. Hopefully this is an animation error, because if it is cannon, there needs to be a reasonable explanation for the apparent absence of cutie marks.

 

They could be equines that are not magical? It'd make sense as all four pony races are magical, even if some are more obvious than others.

 

 

Saddle Arabia is one of the most ridiculous ponified terms I've ever heard. You are aware that Saudi Arabia is named after the house of Saud and is hardly a defining term for the people of the region? I could believe that the strange horses are from something similar to that region of the world, but they would not be from Saddle Arabia. That's just ridiculous and probably offensive to boot.

I did say the name "Saddle Arabia" came from a poll the Hub made. I'm just pulling from sources related to the canon material.

 

 

 

No, what I think is more likely is that they're not ponies at all, but are something closer to real horses. The fact that they appear to be sapient makes me question an assumption I'd held for a long time, that the horses of the Equestrian Earth are akin to gorillas or chimpanzees for humans--closely related, and still fairly intelligent, but not nearly as intelligent as the ponies and incapable of building civilizations. Suddenly I am not so certain about that, and I'm interesting in seeing the episode just for the answer to this question alone.

 

I never reffered to them as ponies. I did use the term "equines".

 

This two didn't seem anything like what chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas are to us to the ponies of the world Equestria seems based in.

 

Going back to a refference I made in the Alicorn thread. LOTR has many different races based on humans (Dwarves, Elves, Hobbits) and normal humans themselves. MLP: FiM borrows inspiration from LOTR lore, so who's to say the diversity in horse based races in this show isn't similar to the diversity in human based races in LOTR. This horses could probly be the FiM equivalent to the LOTR humans.

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

 

 

 

 

 

I did say the name "Saddle Arabia" came from a poll the Hub made. I'm just pulling from sources related to the canon material.

 

 

You're right, you did. I missed that part--I saw the term Saddle Arabia and my eyes went red because I find the term so ridiculous and bothersome. My apologies. I should be directing my ire at Hasbro, not you.

 

 

I never reffered to them as ponies. I did use the term "equines".

 

This two didn't seem anything like what chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas are to us to the ponies of the world Equestria seems based in.

 

Going back to a refference I made in the Alicorn thread. LOTR has many different races based on humans (Dwarves, Elves, Hobbits) and normal humans themselves. MLP: FiM borrows inspiration from LOTR lore, so who's to say the diversity in horse based races in this show isn't similar to the diversity in human based races in LOTR. This horses could probly be the FiM equivalent to the LOTR humans.

 

Aye, see, that's why I said my theory had been dealt a serious blow, because their existence does shake up what I had thought of horses. Prior to this point I had thought what I did because Twilight was trying to treat the mice-horses as beasts of burden, which suggests that horses are supposed to be less intelligent than the Equestrian ponies.

 

But these new characters shake that up too...and cast Twilight's aspirations in a much darker light...

[null1 606]

Also, they're not ponies. Look at the shapes of their heads. They're horses. We've seen horses on the show before, when Twilight turned mice into horses in "The Best Night Ever." These horses have the same head shapes those horses did, while the ponies have different head shapes. Ponies =/= horses.

 

Hmm. You're right. Point taken. Just strange that we have "adults" in Ponyville, yet they are still referred to as ponies. One exception I can think of is the Fleur De Lis pony that followed Fancypants around, she was around the same size as Luna, and more horse like.

 

I suppose we'll have to get a good explanation for the origin and species of these BDSM Horses in the upcoming episodes.

 

 

 

They could be equines that are not magical? It'd make sense as all four pony races are magical, even if some are more obvious than others.

 

I did not think of that. I mean, Zecora has a cutie mark of some sort, unless she's technically a pony with a different ethnicity instead of Zebra separated from the pony species.

 

All of this is going to have to come down in the episode with the BDSM Horses.

Edited November 14, 2012 by DeltaTangent

[himanuts 165]

Hmm. You're right. Point taken. Just strange that we have "adults" in Ponyville, yet they are still referred to as ponies. One exception I can think of is the Fleur De Lis pony that followed Fancypants around, she was around the same size as Luna, and more horse like.

 

I suppose we'll have to get a good explanation for the origin and species of these BDSM Horses in the upcoming episodes.

Well, smaller sized horses are sometimes reffered to as ponies some times in our world. But this just makes one wonder about why one'd reffer to the type of alicorn the royal sisters are as ponies...

 

 

 

I did not think of that. I mean, Zecora has a cutie mark of some sort, unless she's technically a pony with a different ethnicity instead of Zebra separated from the pony species.

 

All of this is going to have to come down in the episode with the BDSM Horses.

 

Actually, Zebra's have been bugging me since I started pondering about this horses' place in Equestria's world. I liked how Donkeys and Mules seem to resemble their real world counterparts, but Zebras (based on Zecora) seem to be very similar physically to ponies. <.<

[SunnyCrackle 11]

Well if they really are Cutie-Markless PONIES, it would be odd. But, if like Zecora, Little Strongheart and all of the donkey/mule folk, are just a variation of an equine species that does not come standard with Cutie Marks!

Himaunts really makes sense with that theory, as it seems only PONIES and PONIES alone (Including the Crystal Empire) have cutie marks, and not just Pony lookalikes... But really, it's all speculation until the episode comes out.

[PlunderSteed 1,252]

Saddle Arabia is one of the most ridiculous ponified terms I've ever heard...That's just ridiculous and probably offensive to boot.

 

Relax; it's not a big deal. Besides, since when has America done or made anything that doesn't offend someone in Saudi?

 

As for zebras, I also noticed that they appear nearly identical to ponies, but I think the explanation is fairly simple: zebras were introduced very early in the show's production, and the character designers hadn't really begun to branch out artistically to cover the wide range of pony and near-pony critters we see in the show today.

[GreatPonyNui 6]

I hope they stay without marks. I believe it is time for some explanation because we already know that horses exist: fluttershy mouse gag. It would be strange if they still left Alicorns unexplained so eventualy they will have to.... Pony up some information(get used to the puns, they will never leave. )

[himanuts 165]

As for zebras, I also noticed that they appear nearly identical to ponies, but I think the explanation is fairly simple: zebras were introduced very early in the show's production, and the character designers hadn't really begun to branch out artistically to cover the wide range of pony and near-pony critters we see in the show today.

 

Oh no. The early production factor cannot be denied. Haha, it's just me likeing to look deep into things and try to come up with some way to explain it within the show continuity itself.

[Squid 100]

Horses in Equestria are real.

 

There are mules in Equestria. A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. Since we have seen donkeys and a mule before, it's logical to assume that someplace there are horses.

 

These might be those horses, perhaps. Since a mule doesn't have a cutie mark, it's likely that a horse wouldn't either.

[himanuts 165]

Seems I guessed right...

 

 

Could they be appearing in the next episode? If so, I'm guessing towards the end, but I don't think we'll be seeing much of them if they do appear Saturday. =/

[Marceline 187]

There's really nothing wrong with the term "Saddle Arabia" . . .

 

It's just a pun.  It's just because "saddle" is equine-related and sounds similar to "Saudi."  Just like Philadelphia = Fillydelphia.  They sound similar and they're equine-related.  It doesn't mean anything.

 

I don't think it's necessary to get huffy because of an equine pun in a show about equines, where similar puns have been made before.  I didn't see anyone get offended by Fillydelphia, defending it by saying something like, it's calling everyone from Philadelphia a little girl.  And everyone's been way too touchy about "offending" certain people these days, where offense is not meant to be found because it is not actually there, while others create deliberate offense, but not much is being done about it.

[Starswirl the Trixie 975]

Seems I guessed right...

 

 

Could they be appearing in the next episode? If so, I'm guessing towards the end, but I don't think we'll be seeing much of them if they do appear Saturday. =/

I swear, Hasbro is copying Brony fanfiction this season.  Which I suppose is ok...just as long as they put their own twist on it and make it good.

 

Soon enough we'll see "Episode 11: My Little Twily"

[Radiance64 7,053]

Saddle Arabia 100% confirmed it seems, so I guess those new ponylike characters must be from there. That's probably the furthest nation away from Equestria we now know of! Next thing you know, we'll learn Photo Finish is from Germaney or something!

[The Leafeon Pinkeh 3,603]

Next thing you know, we'll learn Photo Finish is from Germaney or something!

Seems likely. Like someone else said at least Equestria is expanding.
 
How did anyone guess the ponies were from Saddle Arabia without seeing the episode? You smart people.

[mycarhasaMoustache 449]

I take back all the nice things i said about trixie I cant stand her Im looking forward to seeing the episode though because I know she will get what is coming to her