Mount Question

The thing that interested me most about the Mount is how the human mounts are very similar to horses. They are bred and their lineage is tracked just like horses used for racing and they even have bits similar to that of which are put on horses. I was wondering if this was what you were trying to portray the humans as, as just animals rather then human beings? Did you get your idea from racehorses? This idea captivated me throughout the book.