Ostlers' Guild

Ostlers have a monopoly on breeding, caring for, and selling horses for profit. This monopoly extends to ponies, mules, and donkeys as well. An all-around master ostler has the skills of livery stable manager, equine veterinarian and farrier, tack and saddle maker, and stud breeder.

Most master ostlers work as stablemasters, providing shelter, food, and water (“livery”) for horses owned by others. The majority of these work with innkeepers, either as free or bonded masters, and care for the horses of the inn’s guests and other travelers. Other masters are bonded to major nobles, legions, and fighting orders to look after the mounts used by knights, other mounted warriors, and members of the household. Ostlers are also found wherever horses are raced.

The typical ostler who runs a livery stable will be a jack-of-all-trades, but others in the profession may choose to specialize in one aspect of the trade. Such specialists are most often found in or near larger settlements working as farriers, tackmakers, or studmasters. Farriers look after the veterinary and physical needs of horses, including shoeing them. Tackmakers, often simply known as saddlers, make and repair horse tack, saddles, and related items. Studmasters run stables that specialize in the breeding and training of horses.

A freemaster stablemaster will typically own a stable set in a small paddock or yard. Nearly all large settlements have a common or paddock where ostlers graze the horses in their care. Larger operations may have their own pastures and outbuildings for storing feed and tack. Studmasters usually have large establishments with several stables, outbuildings, paddocks, and often a riding track. Farriers and saddlers typically make do with a simple workshop as part of their dwelling.

Guild Badge

Gold, a bordure vert, a horse-shoe proper. Master ostlers display the guild badge at their stables or workshop to get the attention of potential customers. To differentiate themselves from other ostlers, saddlers often place the badge in the corner of a sign showing a saddle.

Horse Breeds

The breeds most seen on Hârn are listed below and detailed in Horses (COL #4613): 

Lankum: Slender, fast, and strong. The most common riding horse on Hârn.

Reksyni: Large and sturdy, but strong. Their loyalty and fearlessness make them excellent cavalry mounts. Their endurance makes them good draft horses.

Khanset: Prized for their speed but rare on Hârn.

Hacherdad: An elegant horse popular with nobles for hunting. Sturdier specimens are also used as pack horses.

Hodiri and Chelni: These small breeds are seldom found outside the ranges of the Hodiri and Chelni tribesmen, but a few ostlers breed them as light draft horses or mine ponies.

Donkey: Small, sturdy, and hardy. Donkeys are used to protect herds of sheep or to breed mules.

Mule: A cross between a horse and a donkey. Mules have a reputation for being stubborn and slow but are intelligent and able to carry heavy loads. See Teamsters (COL #4836)

The profession of ostler is recognized by the Mangai, an association that fosters and protects the legal monopolies of guilds in western Lythia. On Hârn, the guild has two divisions, one for Chybisa, Kaldor, and Melderyn, and the other for Kanday, Rethem, and the Thardic Republic. Each follows the standard rules and customs set by the Mangai. Each realm has its own chapter, with a council of syndics selected by the master ostlers. The syndics elect one of their own to be the chapter’s guildmaster. Many guildmasters serve for a number of years, some for life.

The guildmaster for eastern Hârn is Iriel of Haskew from Jedes in Kaldor. Iriel is known for combining the best elements of the Lankum, Hacherdad, and Reksyni breeds. Many of his steeds are grays or whites, leading to rumors of cross-breeding with Shava horses (unicorns), something Iriel neither confirms nor denies. Kirdis of Olure, the guildmaster for western Hârn, is studmaster on an estate in the Thardic Republic owned by Harmon Kainel, commander of the Ostenor Cohort. Kirdis breeds impressive warhorses of Reksyni and Lankum lineage.

Career Progression

Many who join the guild are adolescents from ostler families but others are rural workers, even run-away serfs, who have experience handling animals. They start as an apprentice stablehand, mucking out stalls, grooming horses, and providing feed and water. Some stay apprentices for their entire working lives.

Journeymen ostlers are expected to work under a number of masters to build skills across all disciplines. To be made a master, a journeyman must present the chapter council with references from three masters they have served. They will then be examined by the council and guildmaster. Those that fail will need to study under a different master for at least another year.

The typical newly qualified master finds employment as a bonded master with a lord or at an inn. Some aim to run their own livery stable someday, while others may choose to specialize in one aspect of the craft.

It may take several years for a new master to gain their own franchise; many never do. Those who inherit a franchise pay the guild a transfer fee, typically £4. Those rare few who are granted a franchise to set up a new business can expect to pay a fee of £20–£25 for the privilege. A bonded master can expect to earn 936d per year, while a freemaster will hope to have larger profits.

Playing an Ostler

As a guilded profession, ostlers are respected members of society. They often have strong relationships with nobles, dignitaries, members of the military, and frequent travelers. Their skills are in high demand, especially in times of conflict. They may have access to keeps and castles and be trusted by the most senior personages in their realm. Those with a religious zeal may find themselves drawn to service with a fighting order, while others travel extensively with the caravans on the major trade routes. Their skills at looking after horses and being able to ride well make them well suited to adventures in the wilderness.

Starting Skills

A starting ostler gets the followingHârnMaster skills: Animalcraft (Horse)/4, Riding (Horse)/4, and Hidework/4. Animalcraft with a specialization in horses is often simply referred to as Horsecraft. At the GM’s option, they may have militia skills as appropriate (see HârnMaster, Character 27).

Optional Skill Points

Although players can spend their Option Points (OPs) as they like, the following may be especially appropriate: Physician (Veterinary), a second Language, Drawing, Metalcraft, and Woodcraft. Those who accompany caravans or military units may find Survival or Foraging useful skills.

Most ostlers work as stablemasters and care for the horses of others. Their primary service is providing overnight accommodation along with food, water, and basic grooming. Longer stays may involving grazing and exercising the animal on a paddock or common. As general-purpose ostlers, stablemasters know the fundamentals of shoeing, veterinary care, and tack repair, but are seldom an expert in them.

Stablemasters can be found where there are a lot of travelers, such as in towns and on trade routes. Many offer their services in partnership with an inn (see Innkeepers, COL #4812). Others are employed to care for the horses of a fighting order or the lord of a manor, keep, or castle.

Stablemasters bonded to an innkeeper may be restricted to servicing the mounts of the inn’s customers. The innkeeper often negotiates rates and takes payment from the customer directly, while paying the bonded stablemaster a monthly stipend. Free stablemasters, even those attached to an inn, may take on any customers they like. Normally the inn and stables share the same plot of land. A bonded stablemaster may have quarters alongside other members of the inn’s staff, but most sleep over the stable or in a separate dwelling in town.

A few freemaster stablemasters operate independent franchises in the largest cities and towns. They mainly cater to travelers but also care for the horses of townsfolk. Mercantylers and teamsters, in particular, often have riding and draft horses for their trading journeys. Stablemasters may also deal in buying and selling horses, but seldom breed their own.

Lords and constables of keeps and castles tend to have many horses to be cared for. The holder will have war, riding, and hunting horses for himself and his family, the knights of his household entourage, and mounted men-at-arms of the garrison. Many also keep draft horses for pulling carriages and carts. The most expedient way of caring for these animals is to employ a stablemaster, most often a bonded one. These positions are in demand. They are well paid and the stablemasters often have the best and most expensive horses in their care. Although not common, some manor lords, especially those keen on hunting or with several manors to travel between, will employ a stablemaster as one of their household servants.

Stablemaster Skills

In addition to equine husbandry skills, stablemasters need to be well organized and good at handling difficult customers. During their years as a journeyman, they learn to deal with people, not just horses, and seek to build a network of peers, suppliers, and clients.

The Stables

A stablemaster requires a livery stable. Most are long, low buildings with multiple stalls and a hayloft above for the storage of feed. Most stables have their own yard or grass paddock. Stablemasters who care for horses for long durations typically have access to a common for grazing.

Tools of the Trade

Stablemasters need tools for moving feed and hay, such as pitchforks, sack barrows, and block and tackle for lifting items to the loft. Disposing of waste requires rakes, shovels, and wheelbarrows. They have brushes, combs, clippers, hoof-picks, and other grooming tools. Many also have tools for cleaning and repairing tack and for heating and fitting shoes, but few have a forge.

Materials and Trade

The main consumable supplies used by stablemasters are feed and bedding: sacks of grain and a supply of hay and straw. These are generally sourced directly from manors, and stablemasters often have a permanent supply contract with a local manor lord. Horses also need access to salt licks, which are obtained from the Salters’ Guild. Stablemasters purchase spare parts for tack and saddles from specialist saddlers or make their own with leather obtained from hideworkers and fittings from the local metalcrafter or blacksmith.

Feed

Horses eat a mixture of grass, hay, grains, and some vegetables and fruit. Where possible, horses should always be grazed on pasture where they can find a good selection of fresh grass and other plants to eat. Stablemasters with a common available generally charge 1f per day per horse for grazing. Pasture can be supplemented with grain and hay, especially in winter when grazing is not good.

Where pasture is not available, horses are provided with dry feed, a mix of hay and grain that the ostler sources from nearby manors. Barley, rye, and wheat are all suitable grains. Horses also require access to salt and happily eat beets, carrots, apples, and the like as a supplement to dry feed. Ostlers may resell hay and grain to the public. Grain is priced at 5–8d per bushel (around 56 lb) and hay at 6d per bushel (about 1¼ cu ft or 15 lb). The amount of dry feed a horse requires varies by breed and size (see table at right).

Care at the Inn

A typical inn-based stablemaster charges 1–2d per day to stable a riding horse, including feed. Larger and more demanding horses, such as warhorses, will incur a higher cost. In addition to providing a stall and fresh bedding, the ostler will remove and store tack and saddle, clean hooves, and groom the horse. A rider may choose to do these tasks himself or have a squire or servant do them, but there is no reduction in the fee. Additional services, such as cutting or plaiting the horse’s mane and tail, cost extra. An overnight visit may cost only 2d or so for a riding horse, but a warhorse staying several days with pasture and stabling may add up to 3–4d per day. Stablemasters attached to an inn generally have a small staff, maybe a couple of apprentices or a journeyman, to do much of this work.

Care for the Lord’s Horses

Feudal lords with sizeable households usually have a ostler to care for their horses. These animals are prestige beasts, normally the best that the noble can afford, and are treated as such. They will typically not be ridden by their owner every day, but the stablemaster will ensure they are properly exercised. Horses will be kept well groomed, their tack oiled, fittings polished, and saddles cleaned so they look their best when needed. A royal stable requires a large staff, but a typical manor lord will make do with just one stablemaster.

Care for Military Horses

Most fighting orders, mercenary cavalry companies, and Thardic legions retain bonded stablemasters. Whether the horses are light cavalry or heavy warhorses, the emphasis is on keeping the animals fit and ready for combat. Although the knights and soldiers have responsibility for the horses’ training and combat practice, stablemasters see to it that the horses are properly stabled, fed, and have basic veterinary needs attended to. Units whose mounts are likely to suffer injury often have a bonded farrier to see to their treatment.

A military stablemaster may have no apprentices, but will instead have a few skilled journeymen and use common soldiers for menial tasks.

Daily Dry Feed Required

Note: Around 1/10th of these amounts will be grain, the rest hay.

Squires

Knights often require their squire to look after their horses, especially when on patrol or campaign or in other situations when a skilled ostler is unavailable. Knights with the luxury of a stablemaster and a sedentary lifestyle may be happy for the ostler to look after the horses so that the squire can concentrate on more gentlemanly duties.

Away from the Stables

When a mounted group, whether a hunting party or military patrol, is staying away from their stables for the night, their horses require the same attention as when at home. Packs, saddles, and bridles are removed, replaced by a simple halter and hobbles (leg restraints) that allow grazing but prevent straying. The horse is rubbed down, fed, and watered. In hostile areas, the horses will be watched over carefully.

Stable Security

A stable and paddock are a major investment for a stablemaster. Styles vary by region, but tend to be strong and resistant to fire to protect the costly horses within. Apprentices or stablehands usually sleep in the stable, bolting the main doors from the inside at night and attending to any nighttime emergency.

Waste

Horses produce a lot of urine and dung, both valuable commodities to the right buyer. As bulk suppliers, stablemasters are charged low rates by muckers to remove this waste, which they then sell to tanners and farmers.

Although farriers are best known for shoeing horses, they also tend to sick and injured horses and assist with difficult foaling. Every ostler can handle routine shoeing and veterinary tasks, but a specialist farrier has additional training and experience in working with more complicated cases.

Shoeing is a farrier’s most common job. A horse that regularly travels hard roads and trails should have its hooves trimmed and tended to and shoes replaced every 3–4 tendays. A farrier makes a horse shoe by flattening an iron bar, bending it into shape, and punching holes for nails. The iron must be heated repeatedly during this process, and a lot of fuel is required to get the forge to the right temperature. Farriers tend to produce large batches of shoes at once, in different sizes and slightly different shapes, so they have a stock to fit any horse they are likely to shoe. Other ostlers buy these standard shoes from farriers or from metalcrafters.

Fitting a new shoe involves removing the old one using pincers and a hammer. Shoes that remain in good condition may be reused but might require reshaping. The hoof is cleaned and trimmed with a knife, pick, and file to remove detritus and the flaky base of the sole. The new shoe is then shaped to the hoof with a hammer. This is best done with a heated shoe. The shaped shoe is pressed to the hoof while still hot to get an exact fit. After the shoe is nailed in place on the hoof, the protruding lengths of nail are clipped off and the outside of the hoof filed smooth. Farriers generally charge 2d for a shoeing, plus 1d for each shoe replaced.

Since most farriers work on horses unfamiliar to them, it is important that they develop skill in keeping horses calm while their hoofs and legs are being handled. Getting kicked by a horse is a farrier’s greatest danger; a kick to the torso or head can be fatal.

Horses are expensive and a valued part of their owner’s household, so most owners will go to great lengths when one is ill or injured. A farrier’s costs are high and treatments are not guaranteed, but the end result, an alive and healthy animal, is often worth the expense.

Noblemen, military units, and caravan masters employ bonded farriers to provide care as needed. Horse owners without this luxury will take their animals to a nearby farrier, especially for routine care such as shoeing. Some freemaster farriers take their trade on the road and visit horses in a given territory, such as a hundred, known as their “patch.”

Farrier Skills

Basic shoeing and veterinary medicine are covered by the Horsecraft skill common to all ostlers. A farrier will also
have Veterinary Medicine, a specialty of the Physician skill, and will use Metalcraft when forging horseshoes.

Training

An ostler may become a specialist farrier by spending a few years further learning the physiology, nutrition, and diseases of horses. This training is best received from other farriers, as are the metalworking skills specific to the farrier’s work.

Workshop and Wagon

Farriers typically have a hot metalworking workshop and forge, with a yard for working with horses and a stall or two for sick or injured horses. Traveling farriers will have a wagon or cart to transport their portable forge, tools, and supplies.

Tools of the Trade

The most common farrier tools are the forge, anvil, hammers, pincers, and punches needed to shape bar-iron into horse shoes. A farrier’s veterinary kit will contain poultices and medicines in pots and pouches, bandages, sharp knives, probes, and other surgical tools.

Materials and Trade

The potions, poultices, salves, pills, and other medicines used to treat horses are primarily obtained from apothecaries and herbalists. The farrier often carries recipes with him, as a local apothecary may be unfamiliar with how these formulations differ from human medicines.

Farriers buy off-cuts from clothiers and tentmakers for use as bandages and rags. Wrought iron bar and shoe nails are obtained from metalcrafters, as are most of a farrier’s tools. Charcoalers supply the best fuel for the forge. A farrier’s wagon is normally built by a wainwright to the farrier’s specification.

Oxen

Ox hooves are cloven, so two half-moon shaped shoes are required for each. Unlike horses, oxen are not easily able to balance on three legs while a farrier shoes the fourth. Shoeing is typically accomplished by throwing the ox to the ground and lashing all four feet to a heavy wooden pole until the farrier completes the job. Oxen are seldom shod on Hârn.

Injuries

Horses can be injured through accidents or combat or because of overloading and overwork. The most common injuries are lacerations, punctures, tendon damage, and fractures, especially to the legs. Ostlers like to say that horses are adept at finding new ways to injure themselves, often in the most inconvenient circumstances.

Ailments

The cause of many illnesses is unknown or little understood, and treatment is no certain thing. If the horse gets no better, its owner may try prayer or purchase magical spells or potions.

• Colic: A term used to refer to any number of abdominal conditions, ranging from mild stomach ache to intestinal twisting. Treated with calming herbs and exercise. Some intestinal blockages can be cleared be reaching in through the rectum.

• Farcy: Weeping pustules in the chest or groin. Highly contagious. Caused by corruption of the blood and best treated by bloodletting.

• Founder: A term used by Hârnic farriers to cover maladies brought on by stress, overwork, or gorging. Foundering takes various forms, from tiredness and lameness to crippling injury. Mild cases may be resolved with periods of rest or standing in a cold stream, but many foundered horses must be put down. See HârnMaster, Campaign 8.

• Damplung: A respiratory ailment brought on by breathing bad air, such as in marshy areas. Treated with isolation and rest.

• Lockjaw: Characterized by muscle spasms, fever, violent reactions, and inability to open the mouth. Caused by puncture wounds becoming contaminated by soil. As in humans, infections of this sort may be fatal unless countered by magic or miracles.

• Mud Fever: A common infection of the legs associated with wet, muddy conditions. If caught early, can be treated with a balm made of vinegar, garlic, onion, and cow bile.

• Rabies: Symptoms include agitation, paralysis, inability to swallow, then death. Also known as “the Wreaker’s Madness,” it is believed to the work of Morgath and spread by bats. There is no known cure.

• Sleeping Sickness: An uncommon but much-feared disease of unknown cause or cure. Symptoms include lack of appetite, drowsiness, and sometimes blindness. Witchcraft is often blamed.

• Strangles: A swelling of the throat lymph nodes accompanied by nasal discharge and cough; may lead to asphyxiation and death. Common in young horses and passed through contact. Treated by draining and poulticing the abscesses.

• Tying-Up: Muscle breakdown caused by overfeeding, especially after strenuous work. Treated with a balm of snail slime and Karejian spices.

• Worms: Parasites are a normal occurrence in horses but can lead to poor body condition, colic, and general ill health. Severe cases can permanently damage a horse’s intestines and other internal organs. Treated with Two-More-Legs, a potion of the joldraiven plant (see Potions, COL #4852) also used as a horse stimulant by couriers and racers.

Treatments

A farrier’s use of Veterinary Medicine is akin to the standard application of Physician skill. The treatment and recovery tables and rules in HârnMaster can be applied to horse injuries with appropriate modifications.

In general, a farrier tests their skill to diagnose an ailment, then again to treat it. The GM can assess a bonus or penalty to recognize an ailment depending on how common or rare it is. Like physicians, farriers treat cuts and punctures by cleaning the wound and applying salves. Compresses, bandages, and poultices can help relieve bruising and strained muscles or tendons. Minor injuries may heal in a few days, while major ones require many days of treatment. Infection can delay recovery or even kill the horse.

Fractures are one area of difference. A broken limb in a human can be splinted and immobilized. This is seldom possible with horses. A broken limb is usually the end of the animal’s productive working life; euthanasia may be necessary.

Depending on the injury and the cost of medication and supplies, the farrier may charge 3d or more for the initial treatment and 1–2d for any follow-up visits.

Medicines

Compounding medicines is the privilege of the Apothecaries’ Guild. Ostlers in or near towns with an apothecary will usually honor their fellow guildsman’s privilege by buying salves, potions, and such from them. Apothecaries are uncommon in more rural areas, however, so farriers often need to concoct their own herbal remedies.

Saddlers, also known as tackmakers, produce and repair an extensive range of products used on riding, pack, and draft horses. Many of these items are made of leather, and leathercrafting that involves horses is a monopoly of the Ostlers’ Guild, not that of hideworkers. Among the saddler’s goods are saddles, reins, traces, bridles, harnesses, straps, horse collars, pannier bags, barding of leather or cloth, saddle blankets, and pack saddle frames.

The saddle is the most complex and difficult item a tackmaker will make, which is why many of them prefer to be called saddlers. A saddle consists of a wooden frame or “tree” to distribute the rider’s weight and provide most of the strength of the saddle; a seat with a pommel at the front and cantle at the back to help support the rider; various skirts, panels, and flaps to protect both the rider’s legs and the horse’s flanks; girth straps to secure the saddle; and stirrups for the rider’s feet. A saddle pad of thick cloth, quilt, or even lambskin is placed under the saddle to absorb sweat and protect the horse’s back.

Draft horses wear a rigid collar around their neck and shoulders to transfer their pulling force to a cart, wagon, or plow through traces or straps. The collar has a wooden frame and is padded and generally covered in leather. A draft horse is led by short reins from the front or through long lines to a driver behind. Pack horses tend to be fitted with a saddle pad supporting a wooden frame that is strapped to the horse.

Tack is usually designed to be adjustable, mostly with straps and buckles, but still needs to be sized to roughly fit the horse. A warhorse’s tack is a completely different size from a donkey’s. Blankets and saddle pads also vary in size. Barding needs to be fitted for the specific horse so as not to hinder movement or rub. Saddles need to be fitted to both the horse and rider. Most products from a saddler are bespoke and take time to make. Common items may be available “off the shelf ” but most need to be specifically commissioned from the tackmaker.

Saddler Skills

An ostler’s Hidework skill is used when cutting, punching, and sewing leather. Saddlers will typically also have some skill in Textilecraft and Woodcraft due to their crafting of wooden saddle frames and cloth padding and blankets.

Training

Saddle and tack making is a complex discipline requiring mastery of several skills. An ostler can study for 2–4 additional years before being considered an expert in the specialty. Most of this time is spent learning from saddlers, but a journeyman may also spend a year working for a master hideworker.

The Workshop

Other than the Ostlers’ Guild badge outside the door, a saddler’s workshop looks superficially similar to that of a hideworker. Saddlers typically have samples of work on display on the wall, and maybe a highly decorated saddle on a work bench to highlight their skills.

Tools of the Trade

A saddler’s toolset contains a variety of crescent-shaped knives, punches, awls, needles, and hammers. Wood-working tools like saws, chisels, mallets, and clamps, are required to make saddle frames. Most jobs are started using one of the saddler’s many templates and jigs.

Materials and Trade

Lamb skins and a variety of thicknesses and grades of leather are acquired from hideworkers, while hardwood boards for frames are purchased from timberwrights. Guilded clothiers supply heavy-duty thread and a range of cloth, from thick wool for horse blankets to tough buckram for barding. Tools and metal fittings such as rivets, strap-ends, buckles, stirrups, and decorative pieces are purchased from metalcrafters.

Common items crafted by a tackmaker are summarized below, with prices in the table at right. Some items will be available off the shelf, but most require commissioning and fitting to the horse and/or rider.

• Barding: Decorative covering for a horse’s head, neck, and body. Knights may have their heraldry painted on the barding.

• Bit: Metal piece fitting between the teeth of a horse to give the rider control. These become worn and need replacing periodically.

• Blanket: Cloth or thick wool covering to keep the horse’s body warm and dry. Often worn when the horse is out to pasture in autumn and winter.

• Bridle/Halter: A set of straps for the horse’s head, used with the reins to direct the horse’s travel.

• Collar, Horse: Wood and leather collar that transfers active effort from draft horses to their load (e.g., a wagon shaft). Horse collars need to be carefully fitted to a horse and are not universally interchangeable.

• Harness: A complete set of tack, minus horse collar and traces, for a draft horse. Some teamsters have more than one set of harness to allow for breakage and wear.

• Reins: Straps connected to a horse’s bridle and used by the rider to give the horse commands.

• Saddle, Pack: Wooden frame, used with a saddle pad, to attach cargo to pack animals. Two sizes are commonly available: mules and horses.

• Saddle, Riding: The seat used by the rider when astride the horse. Saddles are sized to the rider and often adjusted to fit a specific horse.

• Saddle, Side: Riding saddles used by ladies in skirts who can’t sit astride a standard saddle.

• Saddle, War: A saddle designed for combat has a higher pommel and cantle (front and back), often with horns on the pommel that partially grip the riders thighs to protect the rider and keep them in the saddle.

• Saddle Bags/Pannier: A pair of bags hung on either side of horse, generally behind the saddle. They may carry the rider’s necessities or contain packets being couriered to their destination.

• Saddle Pad: A layer of padding that goes under the saddle to protect the horse. These are often decorated by military units to show their squadron or order’s badge.

• Stirrups: Metal loops for the rider’s feet, attached to a saddle to give stability.

• Tack Set: A complete set of straps and fittings for a riding horse. All the parts can be replaced separately if required.

• Traces: Straps for connecting a draft horse to its load. Used in conjunction with a horse collar.

• Whip: Used by drovers to urge horses on; not intended as a weapon.

Barding and Caparisons

Barding (horse armour) is rare on Hârn. A saddler may fashion bits of leather covering for horses, but these are mostly ornamental. This is custom work and highly variable in price. Protective barding is made by specialist armourers and exceedingly expensive. Knights may use a cloth covering, or caparison, to display their heraldic colors and device. A plain caparison costs around 144d, but one that is painted or otherwise decorated can be a lot more, depending on materials and design. A saddler will typically commission a caparison from a clothier instead of crafting it himself.

SADDLER PRICES TABLE

Embellishment

Tack is usually made to be serviceable and left undecorated, but may be ornamented to make horse and rider stand out.

Leather can be given a high sheen or used in contrasting colors for different parts of a saddle. Extra decoration, or tooling, can be added to leather by carving and embossing designs into it. Metal fittings such as rivets and buckles can be replaced with larger, decorated versions, often in brass polished to shine brightly in the sun. Very powerful or wealthy knights may have gold-plated metal fittings and extra badges and pendants added to give a splendid impression at tourney or at the head of their retinue. Some kings have been known to have solid gold fittings encrusted with gems and enamel work.

The cost of such ornamentation is variable, anywhere from double to ten times the cost of the basic item. The price for a decorated saddle in the list above reflects a multi-hued saddle carved with the owner’s heraldic charge. In the listed decorated tack set, the metal work has been replaced by silver-plated decorative pieces.

The master of a stud farm breeds and trains horses for sale. Some studmasters specialize in a particular breed, such as Lankums, or in horses with a particular purpose, such as hunting or combat. Others breed a mix of several different strains or uses, although no stud operation on Hârn is big enough to have every breed and type.

A studmaster is typically a freemaster, although some have close ties with fighting orders, legions, or other organizations that buy a lot of horses. Most are located in rural areas with access to good grazing pasture and plenty of space in which to exercise the horses. Larger studs require a lot of staff and may employ bonded master farriers and stablemasters. The studmaster’s business is in long term financial speculation, as it takes 4–7 years for a horse to mature fully and realize its greatest sales potential.

Studmasters keep careful records of the pedigree of their breeding animals and will trade with other studmasters to gain animals with specific traits or from certain bloodlines. The productive lifespan of their stock is around 20 years. A mare is typically ready to be bred after 5–10 years and will continue to breed into her 20s, while stallions generally can breed earlier and for longer. Studmasters normally breed their horses once a year, in spring, with gestation lasting 11 months. Morgat is a very busy time for farriers, whereas Nuzyael is the busiest for studmasters.

Foals stay with their mothers for four to seven months, after which they are weaned. A horse’s body isn’t ready to be ridden or to pull loads until they are two to three years old, so they are given time to mature and get used to being handled by people before training starts. It takes one to six months to train a horse depending on its purpose and the temperament of the horse. Most riding horses can be readied in one to two months. Although it takes only a month or so for a pack horse to become accustomed to following instructions, the studmaster must take care to train the young horse with loads appropriate to its physical development.

The basic training for a war horse takes at least six months. The horse needs to be trained to take a rider, obey commands, accept loud noises and sudden motion, handle the weight of a fully laden knight, and to charge at and trample foes. After being sold, most war horses undergo further training to bond with their new master.

Studmaster Skills

A studmaster has a stablemaster’s skills in caring for horses and a farrier’s veterinary skills when it comes to foaling and pregnancy. What distinguishes them is their knowledge in maintaining their stud-stock and cross-breeding them to produce foals with the qualities their customers require.

Training

Most studmasters start their career as a stablemaster, then spend time with a farrier to enhance their veterinary knowledge and technique. Training under an established studmaster is critical to learning the intricacies of breeding stock management. Opening a stud operation requires a significant amount of capital, either saved from earnings, inherited, or secured from investors.

Facilities

A stud farm is similar to a stablemaster’s operation, just on a larger scale. There are usually several stables and paddocks, separate stores, access to common land for grazing, and training grounds. Larger stud farms may have cottages for their staff to live in.

Tools and Materials

A studmaster requires the same trade contacts, materials, and tools as a stablemaster. They may also have a veterinary kit similar to a farrier if they don’t have a bonded farrier.

Horse Fairs

Some buyers travel to a stud farm to see the range of horses for sale, but most trade in horses happens at horse fairs. Many cities and larger towns have a yearly horse fair. The regional guildmaster manages the schedule to allow traders time to attend a number of fairs. Fairs are generally sponsored by the land-holder or the Mangai, who typically charge fees to trade there. Hawking taxes must be paid but are sometimes discounted for the duration of the fair.

Horse fairs attract studmasters from across the realm and sometimes further afield. They will bring horses they have bred themselves as well as those purchased from other owners. Saddlers generally attend as many fairs as possible to secure new commissions. The fair also attracts mercantylers and a variety of other guildsmen, sellers of food and drink, and thespians and harpers to entertain the crowds. The fair grounds will typically have a core of tents and stalls for craftsmen, surrounded by a circle of roped-off areas or temporary paddocks for the studmasters’ horses.

Races and competitions of various sorts are common, with prizes for speed, carrying or pulling ability, and appearance. Studmasters use these events to show off the capabilities of their horses alongside those of local knights, nobles, and teamsters. A few horse fairs coincide with a tournament featuring jousting or melee combat events.

Horses for Sale

Riding horses on Hârn are most commonly of the Lankum breed. A standard riding horse costs around 360d, while a mature purebred Lankum would fetch 480d. A cross-bred Lankum-Khanset trained for racing will set the buyer back around 540d; those with proven track records can be considerably more. Purebred Hacherdad horses are rare on Hârn, but a horse with Hacherdad blood trained for hunting can bring a studmaster 600d. Thoroughbred combat-trained Reksyni warhorses start around 800d.

Working horses are generally lower in price than riding mounts but are still costly acquisitions. A typical Lankum-Reksyni cross used as a pack, plow, or draft horse costs around 240d, with a purebred Reksyni draft horse being double that amount. A smaller draft horse suitable for pulling carts, often bred from Hodiri or Chelni stock, will cost 180d. Mules are most often a cross between a donkey and a Lankum pack horse and typically cost around 180d. The Sorkin Blue mule popular in eastern Hârn is a donkey-Reksyni cross and sells for 240d. A simple donkey will generally cost 120d.

Private Selling of Horses

The Ostlers’ Guild’s monopoly on selling horses is unevenly enforced but most horse owners avoid legal entanglements by selling unwanted animals to a guilded ostler for resale. The ostler generally pays between one half and three quarters of the value of the horse, assuming it is in good condition and not too old. It is not unusual for horses to be given as gifts between noblemen, such as a knight giving a warhorse to a newly knighted squire. The Ostlers’ Guild has no involvement in this practice.

Horse Racing

Horse racing on Hârn dates back to the arrival of the first Jarin tribes and remains common across the island today. Even the Khuzdul of Azadmere, who themselves do not ride, are enthusiastic spectators of the races held by the Baron of Habe. The Chelni and Hodiri tribal nations are both keen horse racers.

Races are often “on the flat,” with sprints over relatively short distances recreating the charges of mounted warriors. Others are over longer routes and involve jumping hedges and streams rather like in a hunt.

Races often occur at feasts or fairs and may include racers from just the local lord’s lands or from across a hundred, shire, or even kingdom. Men and women compete, either separately or against each other. A race of knights on their chargers may be considered the most prestigious, but those involving commoners are no less exciting.

Teamsters compete amongst themselves as well. The log drag showcases the power and strength of the draft horses. Competing horses are chained to a large tree trunk to see how far they can drag it within a set time measured with a sand-glass. Teamsters endlessly debate whether it’s best to go early while the ground gives better footing, or later when the churned-up mud makes it easier for the log to slide.

As yet, no Hârnic ostler specializes solely in racing horses, but as flat racing has become more popular and competitive, some studmasters have imported Khanset stallions from continental Lythia to improve their bloodlines. The cost of these coursers is so high that only better-off noble houses have aspired to owning them. However, Raetil of Cuke, daughter of a wealthy mercantyler from Qualdris, won the most prestigious flat race at the Jedes Horse Fair in 719, to considerable public reproach.