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"[Science fiction is] an integration of the mood and attitude of science (the objective universe) with the fears and hopes that spring from the unconscious."
- Gregory Benford

Rubber Hoof  
  Silent running for robot horses.  

In the sudden quiet, Rod heard the drum of approaching hooves—the soldiers, coming to check up on the Queen's loyal subjects.

Rod stepped out onto the cobbles, running on the balls of his feet, around the corner where Fess stood waiting.

He was into the saddle without breaking stride. "The good part of town," he whispered, "fast and quiet."

Fess could extrude inch-thick rubber pads from his hooves when silence was called for; he had also memorized a photo-map of the city from their aerial survey. There are advantages to a robot horse.

From The Warlock in Spite of Himself, by Christopher Stasheff.
Published by Bantam Books in 1969
Additional resources -

Compare to the rubber soled feet from Reason (1941) by Isaac Asimov and the silencer-padding from Robot Unwanted (1952) by Daniel Keyes.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from The Warlock in Spite of Himself
  More Ideas and Technology by Christopher Stasheff
  Tech news articles related to The Warlock in Spite of Himself
  Tech news articles related to works by Christopher Stasheff

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Robot Imagines Itself (Not The First Time This Has Happened)
Intelligent Trash Sorting By Robots Predicted Long Ago

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