[PF] Ride and Handle Animal: Do you need both?

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I'm currently making a character who among other things is a solid mounted opponent, mostly in jousts. My question is simple: Does such a character who spends a lot of time working with horses need both the Ride skill and the Handle Animal skill to be the most effective? Ride is obviously essential for the control of a mount in battle, but I have no idea if Handle Animal is mandatory to cover things like training your horse or things like that (the character doesn't have a mount class feature, so it'd be a horse he buys for himself). If Handle Animal is not needed, then I may just trade it for a Knowledge skill.

[Andion Isurand]

Handle Animal gives you a synergy bonus to Ride checks, and it is used to teach your mount tricks and simple commands. If you want to train your own steed, then yes, you'll need it. Otherwise you can just buy yourself a fully trained steed from someone else.

[KillianHawkeye]

Right, you don't have to train your mount yourself.

Handle Animal is useful for the following things: training an animal, teaching an animal a new trick, raising an animal, or getting the animal to perform some activity it may or may not know how to do. If all you really need is to ride it, then you don't need Handle Animal.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

I forgot, this is for Pathfinder, by the way. :smallredface:

[Engine]

Handle Animal gives you a synergy bonus to Ride checks, and it is used to teach your mount tricks and simple commands. If you want to train your own steed, then yes, you'll need it. Otherwise you can just buy yourself a fully trained steed from someone else.

In Pathfinder there's no synergy bonuses.


I'm currently making a character who among other things is a solid mounted opponent, mostly in jousts. My question is simple: Does such a character who spends a lot of time working with horses need both the Ride skill and the Handle Animal skill to be the most effective? Ride is obviously essential for the control of a mount in battle, but I have no idea if Handle Animal is mandatory to cover things like training your horse or things like that (the character doesn't have a mount class feature, so it'd be a horse he buys for himself). If Handle Animal is not needed, then I may just trade it for a Knowledge skill.

Handle Animal isn't needed, but is useful. Without a mount feature, you're not limited to horses or similar creatures. You could try to find some nasty mounts for your character with useful qualities and most of the times you'll rear them because there's little chance your DM would let you buy a fully trained hyppogriff at the bazaar.

[Cieyrin]

Handle Animal isn't needed, but is useful. Without a mount feature, you're not limited to horses or similar creatures. You could try to find some nasty mounts for your character with useful qualities and most of the times you'll rear them because there's little chance your DM would let you buy a fully trained hyppogriff at the bazaar.

Indeed. If all you want is to ride a Combat-Trained mount and have it carry you around, then you don't need Handle Animal. If you want it to do things independently, like come when called or attack enemies you specify, you may want at least enough to make a DC 12 so that you can get it do any tricks it knows while injured, given Handle DCs go up when trained creatures are hurt. Plus the fact that Ride bonuses tend to come with Handle Animal bonuses, so it wouldn't be hard to get it up there (Animal Affinity and Outrider halfling alternate trait).