Horse Handling I (sage ability)

Horse handling I is an amateur-status sage ability in the study of Horseback Riding, granting the character the basic skill needed to ride or manage a horse through the simplest movements and tasks. The character may use the animal for everyday labour, as a draught beast, or for ordinary riding and fighting from horseback. The ability does not include any knowledge of competitive riding, display, or aesthetic performance. Characters without this ability cannot ride a horse on their own.

Handling-I provides knowledge of how to properly load a horse, ready it with bit, bridle and saddle, harness it to a vehicle and apply its strength to drag or shift heavy objects. These skills include an understanding of the horse's limits and the signs that it requires attention, such as the need for a new shoe. Knowledge of appropriate feed, water and shelter is covered under other sage abilities.

Movement

Rules describing the manipulation and movement of a horse are necessarily complex. Horses possess the potential for great speed and, when handled well, can manoeuvre with a responsiveness approaching that of a two-legged creature. In life, much of this is governed by touch, balance and instinct; in D&D, however, it must be understood mechanically so that the horse’s movement can be properly coordinated with that of humanoid combatants.

Gait

Gait Options

Gait	Hexes/AP
Walk	1-3
Trot	4-5
Canter	6-10
Gallop	11-17

The domestic horse possesses 6 action points (AP), which are spent according to the horse’s gait, describing the animal’s stride. Unlike a humanoid, a horse has a maximum stride of 17, reflecting its much greater speed. With Horse handling I, four gaits may be employed: walk, trot, canter and gallop. The number of hexes moved per AP for each gait is shown on the chart.

A horse's gait describes the pattern in which its legs move while in motion. When a horse walks, it performs a four-beat gait, moving its legs in sequence: left hind, left front, right hind, right front, in a regular 1-2-3-4 rhythm. The trot is a two-beat gait, moving the legs in diagonal pairs: left hind with right front, then right hind with left front. The canter is a three-beat gait, beginning with either the left or right hind foot. If the horse leads with the right hind, it then moves the left hind and right front together, followed by the left front, producing a regular beat-BEAT-beat cadence. The gallop is an uneven four-beat gait, similar to the canter except that the middle movement is broken into two distinct beats. Racing horses are capable of strides faster than 17 hexes per AP.

Handling

With handling-I ability, starting a horse moving requires 2 AP from the rider’s movement. Once mounted, 2 AP must be spent every round regardless to handle the horse. A horse that has been started must move at a walking pace for the first 2 AP of the horse’s movement. If the rider expends an additional 2 AP in the same round (4 AP total), the horse may use its remaining AP that round to move at a trot.

For example, Ginnie the elf has 4 AP and is riding her horse Handsome, which has 6 AP. Using 2 AP, Ginnie starts Handsome moving at a walking pace of 2 hexes per AP, leaving her with 2 AP. Handsome then moves, covering 4 hexes with 2 of its AP. Ginnie spends her remaining 2 AP to urge the horse into a trot at stride-5; Handsome then uses its remaining 4 AP to cover an additional 20 hexes. In the following round, she may spend 2 additional AP to urge Handsome into a canter, or 4 AP to push the horse into a gallop. In the hands of a character with handling-II, this AP expenditure is reduced.

It can be seen at once that a horse's movement can easily dominate that of humanoids on the battlefield, giving a clear sense of how dangerous and manoeuvrable cavalry can be.

Turning

Upon a hex-map, there are three possible turns that adjust a horse’s facing from directly forward: the roll, which turns the horse left or right 60 degrees; the pivot, which turns it left or right 120 degrees; and the whirl, which turns the horse on its hindquarters 180 degrees.

Horses can roll or pivot easily in any direction, even back and forth from left to right and back again, when handled by a superior rider. An amateur with handling-I, however, will often have difficulty turning a horse while at a trot, canter or gallop, since proper control at those speeds requires a considerable degree of conscious attention.

From a standing position, the rider may roll or pivot the horse at no additional AP cost. Whirling the horse, however, carries a +2 AP cost, over and above the 2 AP normally required each round to handle it.

When the horse is walking, the rider may roll the horse at no additional AP cost. Pivoting costs +1 AP. A rider with handling-I cannot whirl a horse in motion.

When a horse is trotting, rolling costs +1 AP. A rider with handling-I cannot pivot a trotting, cantering or galloping horse.

When a horse is cantering or galloping, rolling costs +2 AP.

Travelling

When ridden by a character with handling-I, a horse may be trotted for 3 hours per day and walked for 5½ hours; for the remainder of the day’s travel, the rider must dismount and lead it. If another horse is being led at the same time, the number of hours the ridden horse may be trotted is halved. If the horse took part in battle the previous day, then the permitted time for both trotting and walking is halved.

If these limits are not respected, the horse will stiffen overnight and will be visibly in pain while travelling the next day. Trotting will be impossible and the horse must be walked without a rider for at least half the day. If this restriction is also ignored, whether from necessity or recklessness, then a malady roll must be made for the horse.

For purposes of overland travel, cantering and galloping may be sustained only for such short periods that their effect on total distance is not worth recording.

Working a Horse

Horses can carry a great deal of baggage and weight, including the rider; the exact amount of encumbrance is based upon the weight of the horse. This will reduce the number of AP the horse possesses. Even so, a horse with only 1 AP can still move at any gait, though not for long. A horse encumbered so that it has 2 AP or less has a 5% chance of requiring a malady check for every round that it is either cantered or galloped.

Whenever a horse is used for work, the handler understands how to treat the animal with care and patience, asking only what the animal can manage without probable injury. Someone without handling-I skill risks the animal by poorly harnessing it to a vehicle, overworking it or otherwise creating a meaningful chance of injury.

It is also understood by the character why an animal bred for racing or war cannot be employed as a work horse. Irreparable damage to the animal's tendons and musculature would result, rendering a highly valuable animal useless for the purposes for which it was bred.

See also,
Assisted Riding
Charging
Horse Handling II (sage ability)