Horse Handling I (sage ability)

Horse handling I allows the character the basic skill to ride or manage a horse through the simplest of moves or tasks. The character can use the horse for every day work, as a draught animal, or for riding and fighting from horseback. It provides no knowledge of competitive or aesthetic performance. Characters without this skill cannot ride a horse on their own.

Movement

Rules describing the manipulation and movement of a horse are necessarily complex. Horses have a potential for great speed. They can maneuver as pliably as a two-legged creature when handled well. In real life, these things can be handled by touch and instinct; in D&D, however, they must be understood mechanically so that the horse's movement can be coordinated with the movement of humanoid combatants.

Gait

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

The domestic horse possesses 6 action points (AP). These are spent according to the horse's "gait," which describe the animal's "stride." Unlike a humanoid, the horse's maximum stride is 17; it moves much faster than we do. There are four gaits that can be employed with horse handling-I: walk, trot, canter and gallop. The number of hexes per AP that each allows is shown on the chart.

When a horse "walks," it performs a four-beat gait, moving its legs in sequence: left-hind, left-front, right-hind, right-front, in regular 1-2-3-4 beat. The "trot" is a two-beat gait, moving its legs in diagonal pairs: left-hind & right-front, right-hind & left-front. The "canter" is a three-beat gait, moving one of the horse's left or right hind feet first. If the cantering horse starts with the right-hind, then it moves it's left-hind and right-front together, then it's left-front, producing a regular beat-BEAT-beat sound. The "gallop" is an uneven four-beat gait, similar to the canter except the middle beat is separated a split-second apart. Racing horses can manage strides faster than 17 hexes per AP.

Handling

With handling-I ability, to start a horse moving requires 2 AP from the rider's movement. 2 AP must be spent every round regardless when riding a horse, to "handle" it. A started horse must move at a walking pace for the first 2 AP of the horse's movement. If the rider expends another 2 AP that round (4 AP altogether), the horse can use the rest of it's AP for that round in moving at a trot.

For example, Ginnie the elf has 4 AP; she's riding her horse Handsome, with 6 AP. Using 2 AP, Ginnie starts Handsome moving at a stride of 2 hexes per AP, leaving Ginnie with 2 AP left. Handsome starts off, covering 4 hexes, using 2 of Handsome's AP. Ginnie spurs it forward to a trot, at stride-5, using the rest of her AP; whereupon Handsome speeds up, using 4 AP to cover an additional 20 hexes.

The next round, she can use 2 additional AP to push Handsome to a canter, or 4 AP to push the horse to a gallop. In the hands of a character with handling-II, this expenditure of AP is reduced.

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

Turning

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

Horses can roll or pivot easily and in any direction, even back and forth, from left to right, and back again, when handled by a superior rider. However, an amateur with handling-I will often have trouble turning a horse at a trot, a canter or a gallop, as much conscious thought is needed to properly handle the horse.

From a standing position, the character can roll or pivot the horse at no extra AP cost. However, whirling the horse has a +2 AP cost over and above the 2 AP normally needed every round to handle a horse.

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

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

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

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Trotting is limited to two hours for characters of this ability, after which the horse must be walked for an hour, else the horse will stiffen up and be subject to potential trauma, becoming ineffective for a period of 24 hours.

When trotting upon a horse with an encumbrance of better than 50%, riders should reduce the endurance of a horse by one hour.

Working Horses

With this level of knowledge, the character is able to use the horse as a draught animal, having knowledge of how to properly fix or shift a load onto the animal or harness it with a bit, bridle, saddle or yoke. The horse may be harnessed to vehicles and used to pull logs or other burdens, often for use in construction purposes. Such employment can be done without any meaningful chance of injuring an animal in the short or long term.

Horses so used will be able to perform as heavy a workload as they are able; however, with this level of handling the amateur will not be able to prevent irreparable damage that could be done to a horse not bred for work, if employing a riding or war horse for heavy working purposes. It is therefore recommended that characters use only animals bred for the purpose for labour.

See Also,
Charging
Horseback Riding