Maps in Rust can be huge and span an entire island, covered not only in bases of other players, but also monuments, passive mobs, and many more dangers. Because of this, it can be difficult to navigate through such a dangerous world, where you have to survive while everything is trying to kill you.
But what if we told you, that you don’t have to run around the entire map on your own two feet? Believe it or not, but there’s another way to navigate in the world of Rust. Here’s our guide on all you need to know about Rust horse riding and how to obtain a horse of your own.
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What Are Rust Horses?
While you can’t really find any vehicles in the post-apocalyptic world of Rust, the game allows players to tame horses to use as their own mounts. The horse is a passive animal that can be found wandering the map in various biomes or can be purchased from a ranch. Although they are primarily used for transportation around the map, Rust horses have many more uses, making them a great choice for any gamer, regardless of what’s their playstyle. You can fight from horseback with ranged weapons, allowing you to quickly outmaneuver your enemies, use your horse’s dung for farming and trading, or simply travel further for easier farming.
Of course, to sustain your horses, you have to feed them regularly. Rust horses eat food just like any other creature, and if not fed regularly will expire. Horses can also run away or get killed by other players, so it’s best to treat them as valuable items in Rust. There’s also no maximum amount of horses that you can keep, provided you’re capable of feeding and stabling them. Other players can steal your horses when they encounter them, and a Rust horse is pretty much always an attractive thing to steal, so make sure you protect your horses well in Rust.
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How To Obtain Rust Horses?
There are two ways to get horses in Rust. Players can either tame a wild horse or simply purchase a horse at a Large Barn or Ranch monument.
Taming Wild Horses
Horses in Rust are a type of neutral mob, which can be found wandering the map in different places. Horses will spawn naturally all over the map, however, Temperate and Desert biomes have the largest amounts of horses spawning naturally. If you can’t find any horses in your current location, make sure to travel to one of these two biomes and you’re sure to encounter one of them. On the other hand, horses don’t appear in arctic biomes. While they can certainly be useful there, obtaining a horse while you’re in an arctic biome yourself can mean a long trip on foot.
Once you find a wild horse, you can simply examine it to check its stats, such as horse health, speed, and finally mount them. Remember, when you tame a wild horse, you have to bring them to an enclosed area, so that other players won’t simply steal them from you.
Purchasing A Horse
Another way of obtaining horses in Rust is to simply get a saddle from a Large Barn or a Ranch Rust monuments and mount one of the horses available there. Barn and Ranch monuments spawn across the map in random places, and its not really possible to predict where they appear on the map. However, once you find a monument that allows you to purchase horses, you can talk to the stable shopkeeper to buy one of the saddles. Rust players have two different saddle variants to choose from:
- A single saddle for 75 scrap
- Or a double saddle for 90 scrap, which allows to players to mount the same horse at the same time
Once you purchase any of the saddles, you can walk over to one of the horses on the farm and examine them, before claiming one for their own. When selecting a horse from the stable, make sure to find one that has the best statistics available.
Stealing Horses
Finally, there’s also horse stealing. Any player can engage in it, but stealing horses from other players is always a very risky endeavor. Since horses are so useful (and fun!) most gamers go long ways to protect them, often hiding them inside their base behind a layer of turrets and other deadly defenses. However, if you find a horse that’s not securely stored, you should definitely consider stealing it immediately. One man’s loss is another man’s gain, as they say.
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What Can You Do With A Horse In Rust?
Believe it or not, horses in Rust actually have a couple of different uses. Here are a few things you can do with your Rust horse:
Riding
This one is a no-brainer. Horses are mainly used for riding around the map. They allow you to cross the map faster, often letting you outrace other players on a hunt for resources. Although horses in Rust require a bit of upkeep, the benefits you get easily outweigh this effort. When riding you can not only cross the map much faster, but you effectively become impossible to kill by a melee weapon for any player who’s running on foot. In addition, while riding a horse you’re much more difficult to hit at range, so traveling on horseback is not only more effective but also safer.
Combat
Yes, you can fight on horseback in Rust. Although aiming can be quite difficult, a skilled player on a Horse is a real killer. If you’re used enough to the slight differences in the controls, you’ll easily be able to decimate the enemy players. Horses are perfect for chasing down other players, and can also be of great use when raiding, allowing you to quickly make your escape after a successful attack. A single Horse can be a powerful upgrade for anyone interested in Rust PvP.
Use Horse Dung
Just like in real life, Rust horse excrement can be used as a fertilizer. While it sounds disgusting, you’d be happy to learn that it’s also extremely lucrative, and the fertilizer created with horse dung can be used both for farming, as well as trading at the bandit camp.
Feeding Your Rust Horse
You probably won’t be surprised to learn that you need to feed your horse in order to keep it alive. Horses have a three-hour decay time while they are not in a stable. This means that your Rust horse has to be fed every three hours, or it will disappear. Horses eat plants and vegetables, and each time you feed your horse, its life points will start recovering. To keep your horse alive, it’s crucial to regularly feed it Rust food.
The most optimal way to feed your horse is through a Hitch & Trough. You can construct it with 200 pieces of wood, and when placed in front of your horse in a stable it will automatically feed your mount, provided you put food inside. A fully filled Hitch & Trough can last your horse for six days.
Horse Equipment
Lastly, you can equip your horse with different items that will upgrade its various stats. At the moment, Rust players can equip the following items on their horses:
Basic Horse Shoes – Can be crafted with 50 metal fragments. Horse shoes improve your mount’s speed by 5.4 Km/h.
High Quality Horse Shoes – These horse shoes are more difficult to craft, as they require a Tier 2 Rust Workbench and 4 pieces of high quality metal. However, when equipped to your horse they add 9 Km/h to your horse’s top speed.
Roadsign Horse Armor – A metallic armor made out of roadsings, that not only protects the horse but also the player, by reducing incoming damage to both by 50%, at the expanse of movement speed. Can be crafted with 4 road signs and 2 sewing kits.
Wooden Horse Armor – Just like its roadsign counterpart, this item reduces the damage you and your horse take, although it provides lower protection (on the flip-side, it’s not as heavy, so it won’t slow you down as much). Can be crafted with 300 pieces of wood and 2 ropes.
Saddle Bag – The Saddle Bag is a simple item that can be equipped to your horse, which adds a 12 item container to your mount. It can be crafted with 20 pieces of leather.
In Conclusion
Here is a brief run-down of everything you need to know about horses in Rust. While they can cost resources to maintain, the overall benefits you get from owning a horse or two outweigh the cost of their upkeep. If you enjoyed this article, make sure to check out the rest of our blog, for more Rust guides, tips and tricks, and even free Rust skins giveaways!.
A true gaming enthusiast, especially Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Rust. At SkinsMonkey, he is involved in creating game guides based on his own experience.
