Old West Horses

[madhopper50]

I need some help, are there any rules on horse fatigue, rations for horses, etc...

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by madhopper50

I need some help, are there any rules on horse fatigue, rations for horses, etc...

Conceptually horses use the same rules as all other creatures. They get (at base) FP equal to their HT score and so on.

There is some material about food for creatures of different sizes in Bio-tech.

[madhopper50]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Conceptually horses use the same rules as all other creatures. They get (at base) FP equal to their HT score and so on.

There is some material about food for creatures of different sizes in Bio-tech.

Thanks for the quick reply!

[DouglasCole]

Originally Posted by madhopper50

I need some help, are there any rules on horse fatigue, rations for horses, etc...

The Nordlond Bestiary has some supplemental info on horses.

[Donny Brook]

Possibly of use, though not exactly on point answer:
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=60629

[Dalillama]

This Roleplayer article is a bit dated but maybe also helpful.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by madhopper50

I need some help, are there any rules on horse fatigue, rations for horses, etc...

Yes. I wrote them up in Pyramid #3/95: Overland Adventures, p. 14. It has rules for exactly what a horse needs to at (and costs/weights), being saddle-sore, switching horses in a relay, rules for them getting sick or hurt, and more.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Donny Brook

Possibly of use, though not exactly on point answer:
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=60629

GURPS 3E Bestiary also has some useful rules. GURPS 3E Old West has some info, but nothing comprehensive - useful facts are scattered throughout the book.

For Old West horses (or any horse used in a wilderness area) Survival skill is vital. This allows the animal to forage and find water in the wild, and to effectively deal with hazards. Horses raised in settled environments didn't do as well as wild and semi-domesticated horses which had colonized the area.

Another important advantage was Temperature Tolerance. Wild horses, or horses allowed to "go native," could gain levels of Temperature Tolerance (Cold) once their winter coats grew out. This allowed them to survive outdoors even in blizzard conditions.

Reduced Consumption (Cast Iron Stomach, Food Only) might be appropriate for equines who have learned to eat tougher plants.

Riding skill needs to be expanded to allow IQ-based rolls to do things like choosing appropriate routes when traveling overland, routine animal care, and judging a given horse's ability to handle a particular hazard or obstacle. It should also default to Merchant to evaluate a horse's quality. DX-based rolls, at a penalty, allow fording water obstacles while riding a mount - with the mount either swimming or walking along the bottom.

Commands used to control cavalry or cow horses can be treated as Average maneuvers which the animal learns. For example, a cattle horse can be trained to pull on a lasso tied to the saddle horn, using the horse's ST instead of the cowboy's ST.

Edit: Three other issues.

Riding or Naturalist skill should also allow a rider to assess hazards to a horse, like giving them too much food or water too fast, or tethering them in areas where they might eat or drink things that are bad for them (e.g., jimsonweed or highly alkaline "poison water"). It also allows a rider to spot hazards which might lame a horse, like prairie dog holes or patches of certain types of cactus. Animal Handling (Horses) is needed for more subtle issues, like assessing quality of pasturage, designing horse-friendly fencing, training, and herd management.

Horses can tear themselves up on barbed wire. They can't see it in time to stop, are strong enough to partially break through it and then get entangled, allowing the barbs to do sufficient damage to their legs and feet that they go lame and have to be put down. That's why horse farms have the stereotypical white-painted wood-frame fencing - horses can see it so they don't run into it, they can't break through it, and it doesn't cut them if they brush up against it.

Horses can also work themselves to death if pushed too hard. Treat this as the Cardiac Stress limitation from GURPS Biotech, but it only kicks in if a horse is reduced to 0 FP. Treat it as a nasty Quirk.

[madhopper50]

Originally Posted by Christopher R. Rice

Yes. I wrote them up in Pyramid #3/95: Overland Adventures, p. 14. It has rules for exactly what a horse needs to at (and costs/weights), being saddle-sore, switching horses in a relay, rules for them getting sick or hurt, and more.

Thanks, I'll have to get the PDF of that issue.

[madhopper50]

Thanks for all the input, much appreciated.