The typical variety of rideable Horses that most players know and love today were introduced to the game with the July Update in 2019. They are a relatively common sight on the RUST landscape and a player favorite on wipe day for quickly reaching destinations such as monuments and potential build sites by players who know their value.
Rideable horses quickly gained favor with players right out of the gate, both for their speed and versatility, as well as their capacity for turning food into scrap. More on that later.
How to Get a Horse in RUST
There are two primary methods for obtaining a horse in RUST:
Find Naturally Spawning Horses
Purchase from a Large Barn or Ranch
Find Naturally Spawning Horses
Horses are a plentiful source of accessible transportation for almost all players, as they naturally spawn across the map. Those players living and traveling through the Temperate and Desert biomes will commonly find them just about anywhere they go, often with relative ease.
Unfortunately, players who live in the Arctic biome are in the import-only business regarding horse owning, as they do not naturally spawn in this area, and the Large Barn and Ranch monuments do not spawn in these areas.
Horses in RUST can spawn anywhere except for the water, snow, underground tunnels, or inside monuments.
Purchase Saddles From a Large Barn or Ranch
In addition to finding a naturally spawning horse in the wild, players can purchase Horses at the Large Barn or Ranch monuments.
Locate and open a dialog with a Stable Shopkeeper to purchase a horse, then select from either:
Single Horse Saddle, which seats one player for 75 Scrap
Double Horse Saddle, which seats two players for 90 Scrap
Once you purchase either saddle, approach the stables to select your steed. Not all horses available are equal in speed; be sure to pay attention to our Statistics and Breeds sections to select the best possible horse available.
Finally, you might also consider stealing a horse from a nearby neighbor. Because you can’t exactly put a “lock” on a horse, anyone may take them at any time.
Equine Accessories
Like most other transportation types, there are several customizable accessories that players can craft, purchase, and choose from to give their horse an edge over the competition. Some are default blueprints, while others must be researched. Be sure to do a self-needs assessment to deck out your horse for the mission at hand.
All accessories may be equipped by holding the E key while facing a horse, selecting the Examine option, and inserting the accessory item into the horse’s storage. The following accessories can be equipped on horses:
Basic Horse Shoes
Used for increasing speed, adding 5.4 km/h to a horse’s top speed. It cannot be stacked with other shoes.
High Quality Horse Shoes
Used for increasing speed, adding 9 km/h to a horse’s top speed. It cannot be stacked with other shoes.
Roadsign Horse Armor
A metal armor placed over the horse reduces incoming damage to the horse and rider by 50% at the cost of quite a bit of the horse’s speed.
Saddle Bag
A storage option used to add 6 item slots each to an internal storage compartment on the horse while slightly reducing overall speed with each bag added.
Wooden Horse Armor
A wooden armor placed over the horse reduces incoming damage to the horse and rider by 25% at the cost of quite a bit of the horse’s speed. Additionally, it adds six storage slots to the horse.
Horse Statistics & Function
Many variables go into getting from point A to point B in RUST and using a horse to achieve these ends is no different. At their most basic level, horses potentially transport players and their loot safer and faster.
Ultimately, though, not all modes of transportation measure up to one another in safety and speed, and neither do horses. Understanding what you’re buying or riding is essential, especially if purchasing a horse. Let’s take a better look at the stats we’re talking about.
To understand the difference, you must know how horses function. When approaching a naturally spawning horse or saddling your own for the first time, most players will just rush the process and press the E key to mount the animal. This is all well and good, but haste wastes Scrap and time.
Take the following approach when purchasing a horse:
Approach each horse in the stable (or consult this guide).
While facing the animal, hold the E key and select Examine.
Pay attention to the Speed statistic. When fully fed, they range from 42.1 km/h to 58.5 km/h.
Health and Stamina will always be 400 / 30 when purchasing a horse.
Once you have identified the best possible, fastest horse, only then should you purchase and saddle it.
Again, hold the E key and select Examine on the horse to attach any accessories to improve performance.
Players may also hold the E key to Lead horses on foot through challenging terrain or over dodgy inclines.
Horse Side Hustles
Okay, so we don’t exactly have tactical war horses yet, complete with grenade launchers and 50 cal machine guns, but we do have a willing and capable player base looking to show how the West was won.
Players may utilize any weapons they wish when riding a horse and have additional protection when pairing weaponry with horse armor and health potions. Unfortunately, Heavy Plate armor is no longer usable while mounted, but there is still plenty of fun.
If making side-scrap is your game, consider joining the leagues of RUST farmers that have grown food to feed these beasts to collect the Horse Dung for conversion via Composter into Fertilizer for sale to Bandit Camp for thousands of Scrap.
At an exchange rate of 3 Scrap for every 2 Fertilizers traded, all it takes is a lot of patience and an understanding team to go from picking up dung to making it rain RUST currency.
Horse “Repairs”, Decay Rates & Durability
“Repairs” (Healing and Restoration)
So, horses aren’t exactly as simple as other forms of transportation in RUST; you can’t currently hit them with a hammer to fix them. However, if they’re rundown, there are methods to bolster their health and stamina. A catch needs prefacing before we talk about feeding them since players can feed horses by placing food on the ground in front of them or by ‘mounting’ them to a Hitch & Trough.
When fed food in the open world, horses eat and heal until their stamina is capped. After this, they will not eat again until put at a hitch & trough or after their stamina has dipped below 60.
When fed directly via the hitch & trough, horses consume food beyond their stamina cap until their health is maxed out at 400.
Decay Rates
Ridable horses are on a decay timer of 3 hours (180 minutes) and will perish if left unattended without food. When a horse consumes food, it will reduce the decay time, depending on the food consumed. For example, when a horse eats a pumpkin, it will reduce the decay timer by up to 1 hour.
Most transportation methods in RUST benefit from being stored inside, but for horses, it’s the opposite. They are best kept outside, regarding their decay rate, as they will take significantly less damage over time.
For reference, “storing a horse indoors” is equivalent to the center mass of the horse being positioned under a floor or roof building block.
Horse Stabling
The optimal method for keeping horses for extended periods is quite simple: place them in a secure location, often within an enclosed compound under the protection of friendly turrets, and put them in front of a Hitch & Trough filled with a high-calorie yielding food like Potatoes or Pumpkins.
A single horse could last north of 6 days with a full trough, or a pair could last right around 3 days. Horses will survive so long as they’re fed within their 3-hour decay window consistently.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if my horse is killed while I am riding it?When a horse is killed, vessel-based loot containers drop to the ground in the form of the dead horse carcass and can then be looted by any passing player. Players mounted on a horse at the time of its death will simply dismount and may continue on foot.
Do Auto Turrets in RUST shoot at horses?No, but they absolutely will shoot at the rider. Keep your distance.
Can horses jump in RUST?No, and honestly, don’t try. In the past, attempting to leap or go over ledges or obstacles at a high rate of speed could result in a game glitch that kills the riding player.
Can I attach lights to my horse in RUST?No, unfortunately, as awesome as this would be.
Can horses drown in RUST?Horses can only enter water up to a certain point before they can’t go any further. They may be led or ridden back out.
What happens if I crouch while on a horse?Pressing the default crouch button while mounted will result in your horse bucking wildly and emitting a loud whinny.
Horses provide RUST players with a cheap and effective mode of transportation without needing to hit the skies or travel the waterways, making them a valuable addition to the game.
As players further push the envelope of game progression methods, mechanic exploitations, and admin patience, you can be sure that Corrosion Hour will be right here detailing all of the tools they will use for these ends
