Quote:
Originally Posted by Icelander
What I'm trying to figure out is how much of a difference it makes if the horses mostly aren't carrying a rider or, indeed, anything.
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There is unlikely to be any exact answer. Wild mustangs travel 10-20 miles a day, and I'm doubtful that anyone has tracked them moving much farther as you'd probably need to drive them very hard to do it -- though you probably could. I've read of some riders making 75+ miles a day, with spare horses that travel with them. However, remember that a herd is going to include pregnant mares, colts, older horses, some lame, and others just sick. These won't keep up. Driving fast is going to hurt some of the marginal stock, and in the end you'll spread out the whole herd and it will leave you with a large percentage of losses. Something like half making the run might be entirely reasonable. Going slow and keeping the herd together and well fed and watered will reduce this.
You could give the herd or group of stock a HT roll, with basic -10% loss, with margin of error extending this or reducing it. Modify the roll based on water, grass, and terrain. (Known "long drive" trails ought to at least be at no modifier, with the better ones giving a slight bonus, and the worst a slight penalty.) Let the head wrangler make an Animal Handling roll to act as an assistance roll to the herd HT roll.