1. Bill the Pony + Sword-thain = Hero pony

2. Attach 2x Armored Destrier + Arod + Asfaloth

3. Attach Elf-Friend

4. Attach Rivendell Bow

Result: Bill the Pony riding four horses simultaneously, wielding an elvish bow.

Obviously you can get more absurd than that by attaching every other possible attachment, but the mental image this evokes for me is downright amusing.

That would be great, but unfortunately Bill cannot have attachments. Seems somebody already thought of this during playtesting!

Gwaihir can have attachments, (but not restricted attachments), if you'd rather have an Eagle riding horses.

(I've Sword-thained Gwaihir and put Support of the Eagles on him for maximum thematic fun.)

Edit: I also like the Rivendell Bow + 2x Bow of the Galadhrim combo. Triple-wielding bows.

Time ago the missed the chance to put “limit 1 mount per character” in all the mount cards. I find it a pity

Agree. Take away restricted but add one mount per character.

Historically, warriors having multiple mounts available was certainly a thing. You wouldn't ride them all at the same time, but switching horses lets you do more without killing your mounts.

It also show that riding need a hand, like restricted weapon. It is possible to use weapon and let the ride do the work alone (like Legolas did) but I don't think it was very common.

We do have Restricted items that *don't* need a hand, such as armor or Celebrian's Stone (!). But even if we use the hand-during-combat to justify restricted for mounts, I don't think mounts should automatically qualify. Between the affinity of elves to their horses and the Rohirrim's unusually intelligent horses, it's fair to say that a good proportion of mounts shouldn't need a hand to ride either. If we look at the non-restricted mounts I think they largely fall in those two categories:

Asfaloth (Glorfindel's horse, restricted to elves)

Snowmane (unrestricted only on Theoden, a Mearas)

Shadowfax (Gandalf's horse, a Mearas)

Steed of the Mark (Rohan horse, ridden by Rohan/Gondor hero)

Arod (Rohan horse ridden by Legolas, though allowed on any hero)

Roheryn (Aragorn's horse, ridden by Dunedain hero)

Note that none of these (except Shadowfax) enhance the hero's actual attack/defense (unless Elfhelm is around). They place progress or ready or let you use your attack quicker, all appropriate to horses that enhance mobility but *don't* actually need attention during the actual attack or defense. Actually I think thematically horses like Steed of Imladris, Hobbit Pony, Windfola, and Steed of the North are questionable for restricted status, since they aren't directly combat related. Merry had five hobbit ponies for a four hobbit party.

1 hour ago, dalestephenson said:

...it's fair to say that a good proportion of mounts shouldn't need a hand to ride either.

As acknowledged in the core set!