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<blockquote data-quote="Pax" data-source="post: 441361" data-attributes="member: 6875">EVERY time?&nbsp; That's ludicrous; your GM obviously has never sat a horse in his or her life.Now, untrained characters, or those who, despite being trained, have a negative modifier ... I can see a DC2 oll to actually get ONTO the horse, and/or not look like a total goof while doing so.&nbsp; 8)&nbsp; (Been there, done that, lol!).But to calm the horse?&nbsp; Any proper horse won't get unsettled JUST by having someone climb into the saddle; in fact they are trained NOT to get unsettled by that.&nbsp;&nbsp; This actually is an important point.&nbsp; Horses are herbivores; the sight and scent of blood normally makes them quite uneasy; the sight of that blood being spilled by violence, normally scares the bejesus out of them; it's a natural instinctive response which, in the wild, keeps the herd-as-a-whole safe from predation (though of course, individual members of the herd are still taken by the predators).Thus, the (really, ONLY) distinction between a riding horse, and a warhorse.&nbsp; Warhorses have had their instinctive fear trained out of them (it helps that warhorses are almost exclusively stallions, and so, tend towards higher levels of aggression).&nbsp; They are often trained to, if their rider is unseated, stand over them to prevent that rider form being trampled, until the rider can regain his or her feet, and possibly even remount.A ride check to control a non-battle-trained horse, in combat, I can see.&nbsp; Even without the shedding of blood, the short, sharp, loud noises of most combats would tend to spook most horses.But every time you get ON them?&nbsp; I'm sorry, but IMO, your GM needs to be whacked upside the head with a Clue-By-Four ... !</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Pax, post: 441361, member: 6875"] EVERY time? That's ludicrous; your GM obviously has never sat a horse in his or her life. Now, untrained characters, or those who, despite being trained, have a negative modifier ... I can see a DC2 oll to actually get ONTO the horse, and/or not look like a total goof while doing so. 8) (Been there, done that, lol!). But to calm the horse? Any proper horse won't get unsettled JUST by having someone climb into the saddle; in fact they are trained NOT to get unsettled by that. This actually is an important point. Horses are herbivores; the sight and scent of blood normally makes them quite uneasy; the sight of that blood being spilled by violence, normally scares the bejesus out of them; it's a natural instinctive response which, in the wild, keeps the herd-as-a-whole safe from predation (though of course, individual members of the herd are still taken by the predators). Thus, the (really, ONLY) distinction between a riding horse, and a [b]war[/b]horse. Warhorses have had their instinctive fear trained out of them (it helps that warhorses are almost exclusively stallions, and so, tend towards higher levels of aggression). They are often trained to, if their rider is unseated, stand over them to prevent that rider form being trampled, until the rider can regain his or her feet, and possibly even remount. A ride check to control a non-battle-trained horse, in combat, I can see. Even without the shedding of blood, the short, sharp, loud noises of most combats would tend to spook most horses. But every time you get ON them? I'm sorry, but IMO, your GM needs to be whacked upside the head with a Clue-By-Four ... ! [/QUOTE]

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