Appa's saddle



Appa's saddle is a saddle used by Team Avatar. The saddle is placed on Appa as a supportive structure for the riders, enabling them to remain safe and comfortable. It can also carry a number of items, as well as providing an ample place to rest.

Description
There were three different types of saddles for Appa. The first saddle was brown, with four holes that serve as handles, and also have decorative and protective functions. Appa's fur was braided through the oval holes to hold the saddle on his back. The second saddle was like the first, but it was blue and brown, and with two holes, one on each side. The third saddle had a slightly darker color, the edges were smaller than the other saddles, and it was made of wood.

History
The first saddle was on Appa when Katara and Sokka rescued him, along with Aang, from the iceberg they had been imprisoned in for a hundred years. During the journey to the Northern Water Tribe and through the Earth Kingdom, many people traveled on it at one time or another. At the North Pole, the team changed the first saddle for the second one. Sokka and Yue used it for their flight where they saw the invasion and the Fire Nation ships approaching, and it was used by Aang in the Siege of the North.



When Appa was captured by sandbenders outside the library in the Si Wong Desert, the saddle was removed and discarded as useless by them. When Appa and Team Avatar were reunited at Lake Laogai, they had to endure several flights with no saddle at all. Its absence was noticeable for the gang because the flight was dangerous and uncomfortable; Toph remarked, "Can we please buy a new saddle? Riding bareback is terrifying!"

The third saddle was procured sometime after the gang, the Earth King, and Bosco fled Ba Sing Se and before the comatose Aang's awakening some weeks later. It was used until the end of the War and beyond, having a special importance in the Invasion of the Fire Nation because of the armor added to it. The saddle was used to carry all the young people who participated in the invasion.