Horses at Helm's Deep

[The Perky Ent]

At the end of the Battle of Helm's Deep, where Theoden and Aragorn charge out with the remaining Rohirrim in the Keep, how do they muster the horses in time? Is there a reason, or am i over-thinking the subject?

[Silmiel of Imladris]

I always kind of wondered where they put them during the battle. I am assuming that the horses were hiding in the caves. Although the same thing happens at the Black Gate. Legolas, Aragorn, Gandalf, Eomer, Merry, Pippen, Gimli, and one other unknown guy, are all on horses but when the battle truly begins they charge on foot. Where did the horses go?

[The Perky Ent]

Oh yeah! I did notice that at the black gate. Mabey the horses were like Brego in the paths of the dead and ran away. Always a possibility. Or mabey the part where they were riding on horses were in the normal shooting of the movie, but the part where aragorn says "For Frodo" and charges into the swarms of orcs were post-production!

[The Perky Ent]

Come to think of it, the horses propably ran away and were never seen again. They had to walk all the way from the black gate to Minas Tirith, which is a bit of a problem when you're on an island created by a catastrophic earthquake. If horses get scared of being in the shadow of the mountain (as Eomer so rightly put it) Morannon would give them a heart attack!

[Finwe]

Horses are smarter than Humans. They knew that it was probably smarter to hightail it out of there, after all, <I>they</I> didn't know that there was a Ringbearer who was trying to destroy the One Ring.

[Silmiel of Imladris]

I agree that horses are smarter then humans and are most likely to run but I believe that Aragorn told the horses to leave and go back to the city. Horses always know their way home.

[Arod]

When they were at the battle at the black gate, I would think that they let the horses go rather than use them in battle. After all, they were out numbered and more than likely had Frodo not succeeded or the orcs had overtaken them in battle, they would've been destroyed and instead of sending the horses to their most likely doom, they let them go and fought on foot. <P>As for Helm's Deep, I would imagine they had a stable or area in which the horses were kept inside the caves.

[The Perky Ent]

But that's like saying "Alright Horseys, you don't have to fight this one. Just run away home where you will be brutally torchered by orcs and or slaughtered!" But the thought of letting the horses go is sweet