'Mount' Question

Hello!!!!
I was interested in what the 'Mount' might have to say about past or current master-slave (although slave isn't really the word I want but I'm having trouble thinking of the word I mean) relationships.
Throughout the story, the Hoots were constantly saying that they loved the Sams and Sues and everything that was done was done with the Sams and Sues in mind. They really were free to make their own choices and do as they pleased. But then the Hoots would punish them by putting them in prison or making them gaurds' mounts if they spoke or misbehaved, and they were kept in stalls like animals.
This just seemed to speak very loudly about past human relationships and the way we deal with one another. For instance, in the case of African American slaves before the Cival War. Is this what was intended, or was the intent more of a general exploration of human psychology during a master-slave interaction?
I was also wondering if maybe there was some hint into other areas of human psychology, like the way people behave because of how they are raised. For example, when Charlie is very resistant to go out into the woods because he enjoys the amenities and structure that his previous life provided. Most people would assume he would want freedom and to be with his family rather than to be ordered around by a child who rides on his shoulders, but he prefers this life. Is this an implication of the fact that we are creatures of habit, and gravitate towards what we have grow accustomed to? Or is there something deeper in his reactions to the new lifestyle??
Overall I really enjoyed this story because there were so many levels to it; so many different ways that it could be interpreted!!!
Amanda Schnee