Based on the name Strawberry alone, I would cast a dappled chestnut. 😍 I'd also love for Fledge to stay chestnut, because of how iconic it would be compared to a gray or black Pegasus. As a girl I loved all the different colors a Pegasus could have in the movie Fantasia.

So I'm going to play horse geek here and mention dapples are actually a sign of a healthy coat. They tend to not be another color and only show in certain light. 

So are you talking about actual dapples or more like white in the coat? 

I could see Strawberry as a liver chestnut as they tend to be dark and get sun bleached and then fledge could be the same color but a deeper red. 

I'm thinking thoroughbred for the breed, but not a racing thoroughbred. My boy was bred for jumping so he was 17.3 (extremely tall for a thoroughbred) and big boned. 

I think it could be a powerful visual choice for Strawberry to stay the same color after gaining wings, as it could emphasize that his transformation is not about becoming something new, but becoming more fully himself? Keeping his original color could reinforce the idea that the magic didn’t replace who he was; it revealed the nobility and potential that was already within him.

Posted by: @starkat

What breed could you see Strawberry being?

Well, canonically, "'is father was a hofficer's charger in the cavalry", according to Frank (MN Chapter 7). I've done a bit of Googling and a variety of horse breeds were used in the cavalry in the UK, but likely ones would be Irish Draught (still used by the Royal Family's Household Cavalry today) or Thoroughbred. Those are very athletic breeds, commonly used for equestrian sports to this day, and Thoroughbreds in particular are known for being high-spirited (they're the standard breed of racehorse in the UK and many other countries).

So that's at least half Strawberry's ancestry — we're not given any information about his mother, unless I'm misremembering and just can't find it in the book. (I think I'm also mentally mixing him up a bit with one of my other favourite literary horses, Black Beauty, who is definitely at least part Thoroughbred, and incidentally also spends part of his life as a London cab horse with a very kind-hearted owner.) 

What color?

I've always felt it's heavily implied by Strawberry's name that he's a strawberry roan — that is, chestnut mixed with very fine white flecks, so that at a distance, the coat looks light red. I've found a website here that gives a description and some good photos.

We're told specifically that when Strawberry becomes Fledge, the feathers in his wings "shone chestnut colour and copper colour", which would match a strawberry roan coat very well, so I'd say that lends further weight to that being his colour (although I don't know how familiar Lewis actually was with horses' coat colours and the terminology for them).

Would you like to see a change of color from Strawberry to Fledge?

I don't think it's necessary, especially with that implication in the text that his wings match his existing colour. It might also feel a bit like laying on the "magic effects" with a trowel if he changes colour... I mean, this isn't The Wizard of Oz.

What kind of voice would you want to hear?

A while back I was doing a comparison of the two radio play adaptations of the Chronicles (I'd like to get back to that, when I have time), and I've just checked my notes... Focus on the Family gave him something like a Cockney accent, which sounded utterly ridiculous for a horse (especially one who ends up becoming Narnia's equivalent of Pegasus). The BBC Radio play made him sound like a rather posh gentleman, which didn't really work for me either, although it was less jarring than the other version. I'm really not sure what would be right, but it would be nice if it sounded like the sort of voice you could believe a horse would speak with, without sounding too comical or exaggerated. 

Who would you like to see in that role?

Well, we won't "see" the actor in question, as it's a voice role... I don't mind, as long as, again, it's someone who sounds convincing. I've also remarked elsewhere that Strawberry — unlike Aslan — is one character who could be gender-swapped without it making any major difference to the character or to the plot as a whole. So if they decide they need another important female character and they make Strawberry a she, I don't think I'd find that a problem. 

I often have wondered why C. S. Lewis renamed the horse Strawberry Fledge.  Apparently it has to do with the fact that the horse actually learns to fly like a bird leaving the nest. And Fledge may come from the word fledgling, which refers to young birds which are learning to fly. There also is the connection with Pegasus, the flying horse, which is from classical mythology. The reader of The Magician’s Nephew must believe that a horse can actually fly, but since Narnia is a magical land that is possible. 🙂

@narnian78 The verb "to fledge" literally means to grow feathers — that's what a fledgling is, a young bird that has grown its feathers, ready to begin flying. So the name does suit a horse who has just grown wings. Maybe the name change is Lewis's way, through Aslan, of giving the formerly Earthly horse a more Narnian-sounding name and identity. "Strawberry" is a rather cutesy name given to him by humans, whereas "Fledge" is the sort of name many Narnian creatures have — derived from English and suggesting something about their nature (like Trufflehunter, Pattertwig, Glenstorm, Puddleglum, Jewel and so on). It certainly sounds more appropriate for him than the name of a fruit, once he becomes a flying horse!