Barding

[roguerouge]

Does a horse need armor proficiency to wear barding?

[Rickmeister]

I would say no, but it does get a -4 on all its attack rolls (if that is applicable).

[Howie23]

roguerouge wrote:

Does a horse need armor proficiency to wear barding?

Nope. But if the horse is not proficient, he takes the appropriate penalties (a penalty equal to the ACP on rolls to hit and some skill checks). If you choose the right barding, that penalty is 0.

Rickmeister wrote:

I would say no, but it does get a -4 on all its attack rolls (if that is applicable).

Rick is confusing armor proficiency with weapon proficiency. There is no flat -4.

[Jadeite]

A horse can wear leather or mithral shirt barding without any malus. Unless you want it to wear breastplate or fullplate barding, light armor proficiency isn't worth the feat.

[asaris]

roguerouge wrote:

Does a horse need armor proficiency to wear barding?

IIRC, all combat-trained horses get light armor proficiency.

[Howie23]

asaris wrote:

roguerouge wrote:

Does a horse need armor proficiency to wear barding?

IIRC, all combat-trained horses get light armor proficiency.

Upon a time, this was a reasonable conservative reconciliation of the rules associated with animal training, the animal type description, etc. It is the rule that I still use as a house-rule in my 3.5 games.

However, in PF, combat-trained mounts to not get any armor proficiency. Rather, mounts must obtain proficiency through the armor proficiency feats. The cavalier class gives light armor proficiency as a bonus feat for the mount, for example. This matter is spelled out in the FAQ entry on the specific topic.