Training a horse

[Aneirin]

Hello. A PC in a game I am running (medievil) has got a horse. He would like to train it for war.

The books say it takes a year, but as he has brought the horse as an ally I have decided that increases in the horses point value (due to the PC increasing in point value) would go towards advantages for war training (combat reflexes so it doesn't spook, mount skill so it can bear its rider better, brawling so it can fight better)

Might go quicker than a year.

Though for this to happen he will either need to train the horse himself...or pay someone else to do it.

He asked how much that would cost and looking through low tech, horse sense and everything else...I can't figure out a price and so I come to you to ask.

How much would it cost to train a horse for war on a monthly basis? (I appreciate the cost will vary wildly, rough ball park figures will do)

[Turhan's Bey Company]

The animal training rules suggest that training requires about half a day of work, so a month of training probably costs about half of a horse trainer's pay. So the question is how much you think a horse trainer should be paid in your campaign. Is it a job suitable for Average pay? Struggling? Comfortable? Something else? At any rate, decide how well the job pays in general and you've got your answer.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Aneirin

How much would it cost to train a horse for war on a monthly basis? (I appreciate the cost will vary wildly, rough ball park figures will do)

Figure out whether it's a full-time job, or if efficient training occupies only some of the time so that such a horse trainer can train 2, 3, 4 or even more mounts in parallel, one at a time.

Then figure out the monthly pay, based on its rough Wealth level, Normal, Comfortable, Wealthy, et cetera, based in part on supply vs demand, and in part (large part if you want an actually medieval society, as opposed to D&D Land) on how prestigious horse training is from a social class point of view.

Oh, you also need to add in the cost to feed the horse, and stabling it. The character owning the horse would normally do that, but I imagine that the horse trainer would want to handle those duties for the duration of the training period.

Me, just pulling some random figures out of my rear end, I'd say it's a Normal job (it's skilled work, but it's also very much commoner work), and a horse trainer can war-train 4 horses in parallel, but can usually only get 3 (due to limited demand), so take the typical salary for a Normal Wealth level job and divide by 3. Then add cost of feed and stabling (in GURPS Low-Tech Companion 3) on top of that.

[Pahn]

Are we sure that training a warhorse is commoner's work? Common folk don't have much need for horses that fight.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by Pahn

Are we sure that training a warhorse is commoner's work? Common folk don't have much need for horses that fight.

It's work. Nobility doesn't do work, neither do clerks. And those are the three castes that exist in a medieval society.

[Aneirin]

Thanks for the advice.

Decided to base it off wages and as with most things cost varying wildly of prestige and dividing if if the trainer is doing more than one horse.

Added in cost of taking care of the horse from Horse sense (and increase cost factor of x9 if prestigious)

Cost goes from 1300 a month for some shifty git to more than the PC could ever hope to pay.

[gilbertocarlos]

Remember that above the cost for training there is the maintenance cost for the horse, a warhorse can't simply eat grass, he needs quality food.

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by gilbertocarlos

Remember that above the cost for training there is the maintenance cost for the horse, a warhorse can't simply eat grass, he needs quality food.

That's covered in LTC3. I can't recall if it's covered in the one or two Pyramid v2 articles that dealt with the issue.

[dcarson]

Training your own war horse would be suitable for a noble since horses and war are both suitable. Training one as a gift also. But training one for pay wouldn't be since pay makes you a employee.

So a hired trainer is a commoner, a step up since it is associated with warfare but still not a job that is well paid.

[The Colonel]

IIRC destriers in particular were trained by their riders - not least to put them at the top of the list of people that the horse was less prone to attack, and because a horseman and his mount are a team and need to train as one. No-one who does modern dressage would consider having someone else train their horse for them ... much less so someone whose life depends on the horse knowing exactly what he wants it to do.
I'd also be surprised if it only took a year - I recall reading that destrier training started before the horse was full grown and took several years to complete.