STAGE · Getting around
Horses
Draft — Draft: checked against the game source, not yet read through end to endAvailable from the startBuy a horse at a Stable, use its speed and gallop carefully, and keep it fed when you travel together.
This page is further along your path. Read ahead if you’re curious; you can return when you reach this stage.
Choose a horse
Visit a Stable to compare the horses offered that day. Each has four stats: Speed, Stamina, Endurance and Strength. Speed changes the riding pace; Stamina sets the gallop reserve; Endurance affects breath use and recovery; Strength matters when the horse pulls a team. The horse's starting stats influence its price, so compare the profile with how you expect to travel.
Ride and gallop
Riding is faster than walking, but galloping uses breath. When the reserve runs out, the horse is winded and cannot gallop until at least 30% of its breath has returned. A starving horse cannot gallop. Entering a building or dungeon dismounts you; you do not automatically remount when you leave.
Feed and care
You can feed a horse oats or an apple. Oats last 24 hours; an apple lasts four hours and is a stronger treat for bond. Online, the Horse care setting is yours to choose, and its default is Boons (which rules apply online). In Boons, hunger does not reduce the horse's stats. Under Hard care, hunger lowers stats and a loaded wagon can slow a team according to its horses' Strength. In any care tier, a starving horse cannot gallop. A horse at a Stable is fed there; a horse waiting in the world grazes enough not to starve.
Your own Horse Cart and Cargo setting governs whether its mod places horses and wagons in the world online. Stable purchases and the port's riding rules are separate from that placement feature (wagons and hauling later). For the route itself, see overworld travel; when you want to meet a companion on the road, see party travel.
Common mistakes
Galloping a horse that is already winded. It cannot gallop until at least 30% of its breath returns, and a starving horse never can. Cost: you walk the last stretch or fail to outrun an ambush.
Leaving the horse unfed before a long ride. Oats last 24 hours and an apple four; a starving horse cannot gallop, and under Hard care hunger lowers its stats (which rules apply online). Cost: a slower journey.
Buying a horse for a one-off inter-city trip. A hired carriage charges a small daily fare and needs no feed, while a horse costs its Stable price and must be fed. Cost: gold spent on a mount you did not need.
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Sources & checked facts
src/systems/merchantYards.js:STABLE_HORSES_OFFERED,stableHorses,yardStocksrc/systems/steedCare.js:STEED_STATS,steedValue,canGallop,STEED_FOODS,tendHorsessrc/systems/transport.js:dismountOnTransitionsrc/systems/upkeep/upkeepTiers.js:HORSE_CARE_DEFAULT,HORSE_CARE_RULESsrc/systems/features.js,src/systems/online/onlineLane.js: online Horse care ownership and Horse Cart and Cargo's player-owned settingResearch:
handbook/research/V1.md(horses)