The Rohirrim, why horses?

[Lastande Took]

I considered the horses of Rohan to be part of the "freedom-loving self-sufficent mighty warrior" kind of thing. Also horses, once part of a culture, do not leave easily. Horses represent speed, independence, and, to an extent, military superiority. A soldier on horseback has a huge advantage over a soldier fighting on foot.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Lastande Took

A soldier on horseback has a huge advantage over a soldier fighting on foot.

Amusingly, that was not always the case in Middle-earth (and certainly not the case for the flower of French chivalry at Crecy and Poitiers). For instance, the Numenorean infantry was the most formidable force of the 2nd Age. Sauron's legions folded up their tents and headed for the mountains at the very sight of them.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

For instance, the Numenorean infantry was the most formidable force of the 2nd Age. Sauron's legions folded up their tents and headed for the mountains at the very sight of them.

Indeed. The Númenóreans (who effectively saved Eriador twice in the Second Age, when Sauron was too much for the mighty Eldar) weren't much into cavalry.

But [the Númenóreans] did not use [horses] in war....they were of great stature and strength, and their fully-equipped soldiers were accustomed to bear heavy heavy armour and weapons.

UT Disaster of the Gladden Fields (footnote 7)

[Lastande Took]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Amusingly, that was not always the case in Middle-earth (and certainly not the case for the flower of French chivalry at Crecy and Poitiers). For instance, the Numenorean infantry was the most formidable force of the 2nd Age. Sauron's legions folded up their tents and headed for the mountains at the very sight of them.

I didn't know about the Numenorean infantry. They sound pretty cool.

The "flower of French chivalry" lost most of the advantages of horseback combat when they decided to use Clydesdale-sized warhorses and loaded themselves and their mounts with a couple hundred pounds of armor. In doing so, they became more like the equivalent of modern-day tanks. The Rohirrim, on smaller, lighter horses, were more like helicopters - able to dart in, take advantage of their elevated (compared to infantry) position, and get back out quickly if needed. In addition, the horse itself could be used as a weapon, knocking enemies out of the way with 1,000 pounds of momentum. Not as much as a European knight's 1,800 pound armored beast, but still effective.

[Skolaidhe]

First, it is important to note Tolkien himself was intimately involved with horses during World War I., where he trained with King Edwards Horse.

I have a personal theory about Shadowfax and the Mearas. One of the types of horses Tolkien would have come in contact with was the Percheron, a silver draft horse from northern France (this is NORMANDY we're talking about) that was imported in great numbers for British use -- not only because it is intelligent and responsive, but because it lacks the fetlocks of similarly sized horses. And this was one HEFTY horse. Like most 'draft' breeds, it shares ancestry with today's 'Baroque' horses (such as Lipizzaners and Lusitanos), in that both are presumably descended from the mediaeval Greathorse (a.k.a. Destrier).

So, thus the war horses of the Rohirrim, a combination of the Percheron on which the British relied and the Destrier which Tolkien -- a philologist -- would have known from mediaeval texts.

I also have heard the theory that Tolkien suggested that Anglo-Saxons might have won Hastings, with the use of horses. I do not know the veracity of that claim. But there is another reason, more credible, that Tolkien might have included the horsemen in his lore.

HENGEST and HORSA. The names mean (roughly) 'stud' and 'stallion'. They were brothers in Anglo-Saxon lore, the first conquerers of British land and founders of the Anglo-Saxon people. See Michael D. C. Drout's "J.R.R. Tolkien encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment" page 275, for his argument that "Marcho and Blanco" (the founders of the Shire) are derived from these figures.

It is worth noting that Hengest and Horsa probably did not exist, any more than did Beowa and Sceafa (other mythic predecessors of the Germanic peoples, their names deriving from harvest terms rather than horsemanship). And for those of you who enjoy cross-cultural lore, Hengest and Hersa show up everywhere from the Ashwin twins of India to Castor and Polydeuces from Greece.

This is my first post, so I hope I was more help than hubris?

Skolaidhe