6.16. Horse Riding & Taming — Rust Guide
Horses offer a sificant advantage in Rust, providing faster travel across the vast island and a mobile platform for carrying loot. Taming and utilizing these creatures effectively can drastically improve your exploration and resource gathering efficiency, making them a valuable asset for any survivor.
Taming a horse in Rust is a straightforward process that requires patience and the right approach. Wild horses can be found roaming various biomes, particularly grasslands and plains. They are skittish creatures, so approaching them carefully is key to success. The primary tool for taming is Sugar, which you can craft or find.
Here's how to tame a horse:
- Locate a Horse: Find a wild horse in the open world.
- Approach Slowly: Do not sprint or make sudden movements, as this will spook the horse. Crouch and approach from a distance.
- Feed Sugar: Once you are close enough, you will see an interaction prompt to feed the horse Sugar. Feed it multiple times.
- Mount the Horse: After feeding it enough sugar, you will be able to mount the horse.
- Ride and Tame: While mounted, you'll need to guide the horse. The horse will attempt to buck you off. Continue to feed it sugar while riding to calm it down. The taming process is complete when the horse no longer tries to buck you off.
Crafting Sugar requires 10 Cloth and 5 Wood. Both are readily available resources. Cloth can be farmed from hemp plants or scavenged from clothing items, while wood is gathered from trees.
Once tamed, horses can be ridden using standard movement keys. They have a decent movement speed, sificantly faster than running on foot, and can traverse most terrain. They also have a small inventory capacity, allowing you to carry extra loot.
Key aspects of horse riding and taming:
- Speed: Horses are faster than players on foot, making travel between monuments and resource nodes much quicker.
- Loot Capacity: A tamed horse can carry a limited amount of items, effectively increasing your inventory space for longer gathering trips.
- Combat: While not ideal for direct combat, horses can be used to quickly escape dangerous situations or to reposition yourself during a fight. Be cautious, as horses can be easily killed by gunfire.
- Saddle: For improved control and speed, you can craft a Saddle using 50 Leather and 20 Wood. A saddle sificantly enhances the horse's performance.
- Horse Armor: For protection, you can craft Horse Armor using 100 Leather and 20 Metal Fragments. This makes your horse much more resilient to damage.
Horses are a fantastic early to mid-game mobility option. They allow for safer and more efficient exploration of the map, enabling you to reach distant monuments or resource spots with less risk. Remember to keep your horse safe, as losing a tamed horse can be a sificant setback.