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Is it ever discussed why the orcs in LOTR don’t have horses?
Posted on 11/6/19 at 6:22 am
Posted on 11/6/19 at 6:22 am
Or at least why they don’t use more of their wild riders? Everytime they go into a major engagement they have no mobile units ( I guess you can count elephants but still only a few not enough to offset an entire army of cavalry) the story is set up to look like all odds are against the protagonists but in reality I would think the armies of middle earth would be favored over those of Mordor simply due to the impact of horse vs no horse. Anyone else ever wondered this
Posted on 11/6/19 at 6:23 am to Hawgnsincebirth55
Overwhelm human units with sheer numbers? Zerg rush?
Posted on 11/6/19 at 6:32 am to Hawgnsincebirth55
They’re too big to ride horses.
Posted on 11/6/19 at 6:55 am to Hawgnsincebirth55
I think they should be using more cavalry, too.
But if I had to guess, I would think that horses would be too freaked out to work with them and/or the Orcs would try to eat them.
Thus, the Orcs ride the giant hyena things, and the goblins ride wolves (though I don’t think you see that in the movies at all), because those mounts are tough enough to hang with them. But there are fewer of them than horses.
But if I had to guess, I would think that horses would be too freaked out to work with them and/or the Orcs would try to eat them.
Thus, the Orcs ride the giant hyena things, and the goblins ride wolves (though I don’t think you see that in the movies at all), because those mounts are tough enough to hang with them. But there are fewer of them than horses.
Posted on 11/6/19 at 7:05 am to Hawgnsincebirth55
They had warg riders. Big wolves
Posted on 11/6/19 at 7:11 am to fr33manator
A Worg is basically a demonic wolf.
Posted on 11/6/19 at 7:13 am to Hawgnsincebirth55
I always glossed over this because I viewed the Orcs as almost machine like and didn't tire. They were almost unstoppable. Humans used horses for travel and then used them in war...the Orcs didn't have to worry about tiring during travel and never tamed them and mounted them for war and as mentioned would probably eat them
This post was edited on 11/6/19 at 7:16 am
Posted on 11/6/19 at 7:23 am to Hawgnsincebirth55
They really have no need for horses. They can run full speed all day and night.
Posted on 11/6/19 at 7:31 am to Hawgnsincebirth55
I don’t think it’s ever mentioned in the movies, but in The Return of the King book, it’s stated that Sauron didn’t have access to enough horses to supply his army with cavalry. Plus the orcs would have probably just eaten the horses as soon as they got tired of eating slop. I guess Saruman would’ve been able to get enough horses but again the orcs would’ve probably eaten all the horses before they could be effective in combat. They had such a great numbers advantage that it shouldn’t have mattered, but they didn’t count on Aragorn showing up with the ghost army
Posted on 11/6/19 at 8:04 am to SpqrTiger
quote:
horses would be too freaked out to work with them and/or the Orcs would try to eat them.
Posted on 11/6/19 at 8:27 am to Hawgnsincebirth55
bc they would prob eat the horses
Posted on 11/6/19 at 8:40 am to Hawgnsincebirth55
O n one of the extended edition DVDs they talk about how the Orcs and wolves are both predators and scavengers. The wolves carry the Orcs around because they know after a battle there will be corpses to scavenge.
Posted on 11/6/19 at 9:19 am to PeteRose
quote:
They’re too big to ride horses.
Going of source material, the orcs would have been closer to not being big enough to ride horses than too big.
Just another thought, where the orcs were created/lived, the area wouldnt have been a good place to breed horses.
Posted on 11/6/19 at 9:21 am to lsuguy84
quote:
always glossed over this because I viewed the Orcs as almost machine like and didn't tire.
In the Two Towers movie, when they were forging the weapons, my wife asked why they weren't sharpening them. Its because orcs and Uruk-hai have no need for the precision of sharp weapons; they overwhelm with numbers and just bludgeon whatever is in their way.
Posted on 11/6/19 at 9:21 am to fr33manator
quote:
They had warg riders. Big wolves
Only the Uruk-Hai had those.
Posted on 11/6/19 at 9:46 am to iwyLSUiwy
quote:
Just another thought, where the orcs were created/lived, the area wouldnt have been a good place to breed horses.
This. Orcs are mainly a subterranean creature. Living in mountains, tunnels, or deep caves for the most part.
The horses of middle earth mostly were found in the grasslands. Especially Rohan.
Posted on 11/6/19 at 10:25 am to Hawgnsincebirth55
quote:
I guess you can count elephants but still only a few not enough to offset an entire army of cavalry
Those aren't orc units. Those are men from the south, very different.
As for the horses, I always figured the reasons were
1. No grass in mordor, what are they gonna eat
2. Orcs are nasty creatures so it is more difficult for them to take a horse due to being evil
That's my reasoning any way. Still very much a threat imo based on sheer numbers
But who knows. Maybe humans are bad and genocided the horses around mordor to prevent it
Posted on 11/6/19 at 10:36 am to Hawgnsincebirth55
quote:Good question. We know for a fact that they do tire out. My favorite quote of the entire movie trilogy is when one of the tired orcs declares that they need a "breather".
Is it ever discussed why the orcs in LOTR don’t have horses?
Posted on 11/6/19 at 10:43 am to Big Scrub TX
Didn’t they “grow” the orcs like under some trees or some shite like that? Maybe they didn’t have horse trees. 
Posted on 11/6/19 at 10:53 am to TexasTiger1185
quote:
They really have no need for horses. They can run full speed all day and night.
Wasnt there a scene where a band of orcs kill each other because they were tired and hungry and fighting over eating the hobbits?
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