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Draft Horse 5e: Stats, Hauling Math and Which Animal to Buy
A draft horse is a CR 1/4 Large Beast with AC 10, 19 hit points (15 in 2024), a 40-foot speed and Strength 18. It costs 50 gp, carries 540 pounds, and pulls five times that in a wagon or cart. That's more than a riding horse (480 lb.) or a mule (420 lb.), at a lower price than the riding horse. The trade-off is speed: 40 feet, against the riding horse's 60. Its hooves are also a real weapon (+6 to hit), which surprises parties who treat it as furniture.
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Draft Horse Stat Block (2014)
The SRD 5.1 draft horse:
Draft Horse
Large beast, unaligned
Armor Class 10
Hit Points 19 (3d10+3)
Speed 40 ft.
STR
18 (+4)
DEX
10 (+0)
CON
12 (+1)
INT
2 (−4)
WIS
11 (+0)
CHA
7 (−2)
Senses passive Perception 10
Languages —
Challenge 1/4 (XP 50; PB +2)
Actions
Hooves.Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d4 + 4) bludgeoning damage.
Stat block from the SRD 5.1 (2014 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
Strength 18 is the number that matters. It sets the carrying capacity (18 × 15, doubled for a Large creature, is 540 lb.) and the +6 hoof attack.
Stat block from the SRD 5.2.1 (2024 rules) by Wizards of the Coast, licensed under CC-BY-4.0. Check an encounter with this monster in the encounter calculator.
2014
2024
HP
19 (3d10 + 3)
15 (2d10 + 4)
Constitution
12
15
Hooves
+6, 9 (2d4 + 4)
+6, 6 (1d4 + 4)
Everything else (AC 10, speed 40 feet, Strength 18, CR 1/4, 50 gp, 540 lb.) is the same. The 2024 horse is a little more fragile and kicks for 3 less on average. For hauling, nothing changed. The 2024 carrying capacity rule (Str × 30 for a Large creature) gives the same 540 lb.
Draft Horse vs Riding Horse vs Mule
Draft horse
Riding horse
Mule
Cost
50 gp
75 gp
8 gp
Speed
40 ft.
60 ft.
40 ft.
Carrying capacity
540 lb.
480 lb.
420 lb.
Pulls (5 × capacity)
2,700 lb.
2,400 lb.
2,100 lb.
Size
Large
Large
Medium
HP (2014 / 2024)
19 / 15
13 / 13
11 / 11
Hooves (2014 / 2024)
+6, 9 / +6, 6
+5, 8 / +5, 7
+2, 4 / +4, 4
CR
1/4
1/4
1/8
Costs, speeds and capacities are from the SRD 5.1 Mounts and Other Animals table; the 2024 table has the same costs and capacities (and the stat blocks have the same speeds). The mule's 420 lb. comes from Beast of Burden, which treats it as Large (2014) or one size larger (2024) for carrying capacity.
How to choose:
•Hauling a wagon: draft horse. It pulls the most per animal and per gold piece after the mule.
•Riding fast: riding horse. Sixty feet a round is 50% faster in combat, and a gallop matters in a chase.
•On a budget or in the mountains: mule. At 8 gp you can buy nine mules for the price of one riding horse. In 2014, Sure-Footed also helps on bad ground.
•Riding into battle: neither. That's what the warhorse is for.
A draft horse can be ridden. The mounted combat rules assume domesticated horses are trained to accept a rider, and a Large horse can carry a Medium rider.
How Much Can a Draft Horse Pull?
Both editions use the same rule: an animal pulling a carriage, cart, chariot, sled or wagon can move up to five times its base carrying capacity, including the vehicle. Multiple animals add their capacities together.
Team
Total pull
Wagon (400 lb.) leaves for cargo
Cart (200 lb.) leaves for cargo
1 draft horse
2,700 lb.
2,300 lb.
2,500 lb.
2 draft horses
5,400 lb.
5,000 lb.
5,200 lb.
4 draft horses
10,800 lb.
10,400 lb.
n/a
So a two-horse wagon can carry a whole party (call it 200 lb. per character with gear, 800 lb. for four) plus 4,000 pounds of loot. Feed is 10 lb. per animal per day, and it comes out of the same budget.
On the road, characters in wagons choose a travel pace as normal. The 2014 gallop rule (twice the fast-pace distance for about an hour) covers mounted characters, not wagons. SRD 5.2.1 has no gallop rule.
How Draft Horses Fight
The surprise kick. The 2014 draft horse's hooves hit at +6 for 9, the same bonus as a warhorse's. Against AC 16 it hits on a 10 (55%), about 5 damage a round. A frightened team of two draft horses in a narrow stable is a real hazard at level 1.
Party (4 level 1 characters)
2024 budget
2014 guidelines
2 draft horses (100 XP)
Low
Easy
That comes from our encounter calculator, which uses the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines.
How Players Beat (and Protect) Draft Horses
Protecting the horses. With AC 10 and 15 to 19 hit points, a draft horse is the easiest target on the battlefield. Bandits who want the wagon intact go for the horses first, so the wagon can't flee. Parties who want to keep their team should put it behind the wagon, not in front of it.
Calming a panicked team. With Int 2, a frightened draft horse is a target for Animal Friendship in both editions. Charming the lead horse of a runaway team ends the danger without killing anyone's livelihood.
Players as draft horses. CR 1/4 with no fly or swim speed: a druid can Wild Shape into one from level 2 in both editions. It's a strong form for hauling (540 lb. on its back) and a decent bruiser at level 2.
Draft Horse Encounter Ideas
The runaway wagon. A wagon team bolts through a market with no driver. Two draft horses, a full load, and a crowd. Stopping them is a Strength or Animal Handling challenge before it's a fight.
The brewery horses. A brewery's prize draft horses have been stolen the night before the harvest festival. The thieves didn't want the horses. They wanted the brewery's wagon route, which passes a vault every week.
Pulling it out. The party finds a sunken treasure chest that weighs more than they can drag. A farmer two miles away has a draft horse and wants a favor.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a draft horse cost in 5e?
50 gp in both the 2014 and 2024 rules. A riding horse costs 75 gp and a mule 8 gp.
What is a draft horse's carrying capacity?
540 pounds. Pulling a vehicle, it can move five times that, 2,700 pounds including the vehicle's weight.
Can you ride a draft horse in 5e?
Yes. It's a Large domesticated horse, so a Medium or Small character can ride it. Its 40-foot speed is slower than a riding horse's 60 feet.
What's the difference between a draft horse and a riding horse?
The draft horse is stronger (Str 18, 540 lb. capacity, 50 gp) but slower (40 ft.). The riding horse is faster (60 ft.) but carries less (480 lb.) and costs 75 gp.
Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.
This page includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Loreify is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.