Horse

These mounts measure close to 160 centimeters at the shoulder and carry between 450 and 500 kilograms of body weight, a sturdy build whose strong legs absorb hard stops, tight circling, and sudden bursts of acceleration.

Speed is the animals' entire purpose. A military horse cruises at 35 kilometers per hour, peaks between 75 and 80, and still manages 20 while dragging a wagon, numbers that let a rider outrun any pursuing Titan on open ground. Endurance matches the pace: when Mike Zacharias sends the soldier Thomas to spread word of the Wall Rose breach, the man rides eight straight hours to Ehrmich District, then takes that district's fastest animal onward for four more to reach Erwin Smith in Stohess. Temperament completes the package. The breeds stay docile in a Titan's presence, and even the near-constant snap of vertical maneuvering equipment firing beside them causes no alarm. Titans, for their part, pay horses no attention at all, as with every other animal.

Horses carry the Survey Corps on every expedition, hauling provisions and pulling carts, while merchants and civilians inside the Walls rely on them for carriages and everyday travel. Beyond the gates they are a survival requirement; outside of Titan Forests, where vertical maneuvering equipment becomes usable, escaping a Titan's grasp without a mount is close to impossible. The fall of Wall Maria drained humanity's territory and resources, so the government turned to rural hunting villages such as Dauper to serve as hired breeders, producing lines that neither tire over long distances nor panic at the giants. A single animal costs roughly what an ordinary citizen earns in a lifetime, which is why the Survey Corps holds nearly all of them, and the horses are counted as soldiers in their own right; a rider who loses one is encouraged to salvage what he can of the mane and bring it home for burial.