Crossword Genius

Equine character of Aesop flies around (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mustang

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'equine' is the definition.
(mustang is a kind of equine)

'character of aesop flies around' is the wordplay.
'character of aesop' becomes 'mu' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'flies' becomes 'gnats'.
'around' is a reversal indicator.
'gnats' written backwards gives 'stang'.
'mu'+'stang'='MUSTANG'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for mustang that I've seen before include "SW US wild horse" , "Small, half-wild horse of the U.S." , "one running wild" , "Trotter" , "Hardy wild horse of the American western plains" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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