Adding Feats to Paladin Mount

[MarcusM]

Is there any way to add feats to a paladin's mount, such as give a griffon flyby attack or hover? Also, if you can, can you do it after you get the mount or you have to consult with the DM to increase the level you can get the specific mount?

[Malcador]

The paladin's mount gets extra HD depending on the paladin's level, according to the table here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/paladin.htm#thePaladinsMount). Any creature, including the mount, gets one feat at 1 HD and another feat at each multiple of 3 (3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18).

For example, a typical paladin's mount is a heavy warhorse (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/horse.htm#warhorseHeavy), which starts of with 4 HD. With those HD, the warhorse took the Endurance and Run feats. If the heavy warhorse is a paladin's mount, it gains 2 additional hit dice (to 6), which will give it another feat. It gets one more feat when the paladin is 11th level (the horse has 10 HD), and another when the paladin is 15th level (the horse has 12 HD).

Of course, the HD increases are tied to paladin class levels. If the paladin took levels in a prestige class (that doesn't explicitly improve the mount), then those levels wouldn't count toward the improvements in the mount's abilities.

A normal animal that gains HD chooses its own feats; typically, animals don't make very good choices, because their intelligence is so low and they aren't player characters. However, because of the special bond between a paladin and his mount, it would make sense that the paladin can influence which feats his mount chooses. (I don't have any rules quotes to back this up, but it makes a lot of sense.)

[MarcusM]

Thanks for the reply

SO that means that i can get the griffon as a special mount at lvl 8, as the DMG dictates, and add it +2HD , raising the total to 9HD so i can give it the flyby attack as soon as i get it. Also the next opportunity to give the griffon a feat is at 14 paladin levle when i can give it the hover feat, is that right?