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I read this in the mid '90s, but it had that acid treated paper feel that said '70s through '90s. The protagonist rode a mount that was definitely not a horse. I recall tusks and goat-like descriptions. It was horse sized, and I think it took place on the moon of a gas giant, or a planet with more than one moon. The rider was a warrior, or swordsman of some kind.

I know it wasn't Burroughs Barsoom series.

I get the feeling it was a one-off. I know this isn't much to work with.

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    Can you remember anything else about the novel - where/when was it set? What types of themes in the novel. It's not one of the "Thoats" from the John Carter series by Edgar Rice-Burroughs?
    – bob1
    Commented Oct 13, 2021 at 9:11
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    It wasn't Burroughs, didn't have that sword & ray gun pulp feel to it. More hardline fantasy. Thank you for answering, though! Commented Oct 14, 2021 at 10:10
  • Unusual riding beasts and a planed with more than one moon reminds me of the Dry Towns in the Darkover novels. In the Dry Towns they rode oudrakhi, large lumbering beasts with broad padded feet, split nostrils, and vile tempers. I don't remember anything goat like, but swords were standard fare in the Darkover novels. "The Children of Kings" has Gareth, the main character, traveling in the Dry Towns.
    – Basya
    Commented Oct 17, 2021 at 7:52
  • In that same Darkover series, in the mountains, they rode small (relative to horses) horned animals something like horses, with a sharp backbone that made for uncomfortable bareback riding. They also used them as pack animals when riding horses. These might fit the description of "goat like" -- four legged antlered animals at home in the mountains....more like deer than goats though, I think. They are called, "chervines".
    – Basya
    Commented Oct 17, 2021 at 12:07
  • Long shot, but the Helliconia trilogy by Brian Aldiss features people riding odd, horned beasts, as on this cover: i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/… Commented Oct 18, 2021 at 8:00

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Off chance that it was Doris Piserchia's "Star Rider" (1974)? From a review by Ian Sales:

The novel breaks down more or less into three sections which, while they may share the same cast and setting, appear to have entirely separate focuses. In the first, the reader is introduced to Lone – later called Jade – a young female jak, and her mount, Hinx. Jaks are humans with the ability to travel the stars using some sort of mental power. They can only do this when they are riding a mount. (The cover art may show Hinx as a horse, but the text makes clear mounts are descended from dogs. Nor does Jade appear fifteen-years-old on the cover.) Using D-2, the jaks travel about the D-3 universe, searching for the mythical planet of Doubleluck. They are as a race fiercely independent and hedonistic. Jade is neither unusual nor – initially – exceptional. Piserchia presents the jaks much like riders of the old Wild West, even down to the debased English they use.

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  • No, but strangely enough, I used to work with an orthopedic surgeon with the same last name! Piserchia! Commented Oct 18, 2021 at 7:19

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