Have you noticed how smart the giants in ROTR are? They are experts in warfare and know more about the Sandwens than the Sandwens know about the giants. And they specifically chose to bring Redfire to the parlay. Why? Because they knew the Sandwens would love to get him. The build of the Desert Herd steed is very unique among pegasi. And in the first/second book when the giants captured the wild herd they knew the Sky Guard would find out and attack. That's why they tied the windings in a VALLEY. Seems easy, but the peaks above are trap holders. And in the first book they hit Fort Prowl with such force that the Sandwe warriors would leave the farms and go fight and other giants would destroy the food supply.
And side not: is Redfire the only Desert Herd steed? In book 3 it was mentioned that he was on a mission only he could accomplish and no one else could ride jet stream. Seems like Desert Herd flunked the journey and only River Herd, Mountain Herd, Jungle Herd, and Snow Herd will live on. Unless Redfire sires a mixed breed. Or if there is a Desert Herd steed but a young one?
Amazing thoughts!
Yeah, the giants are defiantly smarter then they are portrayed as in the first book. And I was actually wondering something similar about your Redfire theory, but in regards to Dewberry. Wasn't she the mare that got kicked out of sky herder training in TGH #3? For me it didn't make a ton of sense that she be the only one in all of Storm Herd to have gotten that sort of training, and in the very least, based off the time she actually spent in training for that job, it seems unlikely to me that she would know enough about the tactics sky herders use to effectively teach it to others. Idk, the only thing that I can think of to be a possible explanation is that maybe Star and the gang somewhat focused their energies on getting their own steeds out over others.
Yes, Dewberry got kicked out, but during the actual battle against the Black Army, she was with the sky herders anyway. She picked up the skill well, despite being kicked out. She's just stubborn and blunt, but she's not slow.
Maybe Redfire is the only desert herd steed who received that training? After Nightwing's rule, maybe the others didn't get the correct training?