Nothing changes the pace of survival in the Exiled Lands quite like a horse. Once you have a mount under you, crossing the desert, fleeing a sandstorm, or kiting an enemy war party becomes far less punishing. But you don’t tame a fully grown horse in Conan Exiles. You hunt down a foal, raise it in a stable, saddle it, and level it into a battle-ready companion. This guide walks through the whole process, from where to find foals to mounted combat and leveling.
The Feats You Need First
Before you can do anything with a mount, you need two crafting feats. Around character level 15 you unlock the Stablemaster feat, which lets you build a Stable — this is the structure that raises a foal into a horse. Importantly, you cannot raise a foal in a regular Animal Pen; it has to be a Stable.
The second piece is the Saddler’s Worktable, unlocked through the Novice Saddle Maker feat at around level 20. This is where every saddle is crafted. A horse can be placed and led around without a saddle, but you cannot ride it until one is equipped. Plan to grab both feats early, since they gate the entire mount system. If you need a refresher on how feat points and the knowledge tree work, see our feats and knowledge guide.
Where to Find Foals in the Exiled Lands
Foals spawn out in the open world, typically in grassy areas near rivers and lakes. They don’t fight back — you simply walk up and pick one up. A few reliable, well-documented spawn areas players return to:
- The river island around the K6 grid, a popular beginner-friendly spot.
- South and west of Pitfall Pass, in the K5–K6 grids.
- Northeast and southeast of the Northern Aqueduct, around the G9 grid.
- West of the Circle of Swords, in the B10–C10 grids.
To collect a foal, approach it and use the pickup prompt to place it directly into your inventory. Foals are heavy, so they eat into your carrying capacity fast — bringing a thrall along to act as a pack mule is a smart move. In the base Exiled Lands, foals don’t come in distinct breeds; the horse you end up with is determined by how you raise it, not which foal you grabbed.
Raising the Foal in a Stable
Place your Stable down at your base, then drop the foal into it and add food to begin the growth process. Any valid food will work to raise a foal — plant fiber is the cheap, common go-to. The horse will grow over real-time hours while the Stable is fueled and stocked, so check in periodically and keep food topped up.
This is also where coat variants come in. If you feed special fodder during growth you can change the result: Tainted Fodder (from the Riders of Hyboria DLC) steers the foal toward rarer black or white Hyborian coats, while Sorcerous Pet Food instead produces supernatural variants such as the Undead Horse, Wight Horse, or Skeleton Steed. If you just want a functional mount, plain fiber gets the job done. Stables are also a good fit for the kind of fortified, defensible base you’ll want long-term, which we cover in our best base locations guide.
Saddles and the Saddler’s Worktable
Once your horse is grown, head to the Saddler’s Worktable and craft a saddle. There are several saddles in the base game across three crafting tiers, unlocked at roughly levels 20, 40, and 60 through the saddle-maker feats. Each saddle leans toward a different stat profile — defense, maneuverability, agility, or speed — so you can tune the ride to your playstyle.
| Saddle (examples) | Feat tier (approx. level) | Leans toward |
|---|---|---|
| Warhorse Saddle (Light) | Novice (~20) | Balanced / agility |
| Aquilonian Scout Saddle | Journeyman (~40) | Agility |
| Kordavan Tack | Journeyman (~40) | Maneuverability |
| Warhorse Saddle (Heavy) | Expert (~60) | Defense |
| Savage Cavalry Saddle | Expert (~60) | Speed |
Additional saddle skins and variants show up through DLC, the Battle Pass, and the in-game bazaar, but the core stat-shaping options are all available in the base game.
Mounted Combat
Fighting from horseback opens up an aggressive, hit-and-run style. While mounted you can use one-handed weapons (swords, axes, maces), spears, pikes, bows, and the lance. The lance is the standout: it’s a mounted-only weapon that unlocks a charge attack, dealing continuous damage as you ride through a target. Line it up correctly and you can shred enemies — or other players in PvP — before they close the distance.
A couple of warnings. Fall damage is real: leaping your horse off a cliff can injure or kill it. And an unmounted horse left near combat will try to flee rather than fight, so keep it saddled and ridden when things get dangerous. For applying all this in player raids, pair it with our PvP and raiding guide.
Leveling Your Horse
Like other followers, a horse can level up to a maximum of 20, gaining hit points and attribute growth along the way, with bonus perks awarded at the higher level milestones (commonly around levels 10, 15, and 20). Horses gain experience as you ride and fight on them.
The food you feed matters. Only the first food eaten right after a level-up influences that level’s attribute roll, so be deliberate. Feeding vines, for example, biases growth toward vitality (health), pushing up your mount’s HP as it levels. Once it’s maxed, you can switch to a healing food like Asura’s Glory for sustained regeneration. The same follower-leveling logic applies to combat thralls — our followers and war party guide goes deeper on building a strong roster.
One last note for community-server admins: mount growth, taming, and follower behavior are all affected by server settings like crafting-time and harvest multipliers, so the experience can differ a lot between official and private servers. If you run your own world, a dedicated Conan Exiles server lets you tune those rates for your group, and our Conan Exiles server setup docs walk through the configuration.
Frequently Asked Questions
What level do I need to get a horse in Conan Exiles?
You’ll want the Stablemaster feat (around level 15) to build a Stable and raise a foal, then the Novice Saddle Maker feat (around level 20) to craft a saddle so you can actually ride. You can collect a foal earlier, but you can’t raise it without a Stable.
Can I raise a foal in an Animal Pen?
No. Foals can only be raised in a Stable, which is unlocked with the Stablemaster feat. The Animal Pen handles other pets and thrall-like creatures, but horses need the dedicated structure.
What weapons can I use on horseback?
One-handed weapons, spears, pikes, bows, and the lance all work from the saddle. The lance is mounted-only and has a powerful charge attack that deals continuous damage as you ride through enemies, making it the signature mounted-combat weapon.
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