TBH I don’t see what’s wrong with hawkstriders, other than stepping faster than other mounts.
Tallstriders used to have a slow bouncy run with their heads upright like mechanostriders. Then at some point years ago they got changed to be the same as hawkstriders. I really liked how happy it looked.
You can see the Run animation in wowhead’s classic modelviewer. On my end, the animation timing is really inaccurate but you can at least see the motion:
Other changes that bother me:
Outland talbuks used to look graceful, now they have the druid stag form’s animations and it’s a much different personality.
TBH I barely used the “bodybuilder” talbuks from WoD or Legion because I don’t like that model so I don’t know which animations they started with (they’re all the same now whatever it was).
Armorless rams and all hippogrpyhs used to keep the passenger upright, but now they wobble wildly. Front to back for rams, side to side for hippogryphs.
But Dragonhawks are the worst now. They used to only undulate up and down when flying, but now they have their entire body traveling in a spiral (compare to cloud serpents who keep their head somewhat stablized). The result looks like you’re ALWAYS drunk-turning. I am usually not prone to motion-sickness but I flat out stopped using them anymore.