First I looked for pictures of long-necked animals - everything from deer and giraffes to Apatosaurs. I wanted to get a good idea of how Curvy's neck would look if he was an actual creature (God forbid). I would've animated him based on that mental image when he wasn't dragging his head along the floor. Plausible Impossible and all that.
Then I found and liked some guides to animating equines. I knew from experience how hard it is to draw horse legs in a still image, let alone four dozen frames. Thus, I figured I should expose myself to lots of videos of walking horses long before I would get to animating. The top video is my personal favorite.