Crimson Desert: How to Get Horse Plate Armor

TL;DR

• Horse Plate Armor (called Horse Tack) has five slots: Barding, Champron, Saddle, Stirrups, and Horseshoes
• The craftable Well’s Warhorse Tack set blueprint is inside Thornbriar Fortress, southeast Hernand
• Go east of the Steel Mountains, enter the fortress, find the large stone tower, go down the spiral stairs, pick up the blueprint from the wooden table
• Read the blueprint in your inventory, then craft the set at any Smithy under the Horse Tack tab
• Materials required: Iron Ore, Copper Ore, and various Hides
• Equip by mounting your horse, opening inventory, pressing R2/RT to switch to horse inventory, then selecting each piece
• Basic pieces can also be bought from Saddlery vendors and the Contribution Shop early on

Your horse in Crimson Desert takes damage in combat, gets staggered without armor, and burns through stamina faster than it should on bare hooves. Horse Plate Armor — officially called Horse Tack — changes all of that. It makes your mount tougher, more aggressive, and more capable across Pywel’s increasingly hostile terrain.

Most players don’t realize there’s a craftable plate armor set hidden inside a fortress in Hernand. This guide covers where to find it, how to craft it, every other way to get horse gear, and exactly how to equip it all once you have it.

Understanding Horse Tack: The 5 Equipment Slots

Before going after any specific gear, it helps to know what you’re equipping and what each piece actually does. Horse Tack fills five separate slots, and each one boosts a different stat:

Barding — The full body armor covering your horse. Boosts Defense. This is the most visible piece and the one that gives your horse its armored look. Defense values range from +5 (basic) to +20 (Hernandian tier) depending on the piece. Barding is a Contribution Good, meaning the best version requires Contribution Points to purchase.

Champron — The face plate that protects your horse’s head. Boosts Attack. This matters when you use mounted combat — your horse’s kicks and charges deal more damage with a better Champron equipped. Values range from +5 to +10.

Saddle — What you sit on. Boosts your horse’s max HP. Early saddles give +25 HP, mid-tier give +50 HP, and better saddles push +100 to +200 HP. More HP means your horse survives longer in combat before going down.

Stirrups — The foot hoops. Provide passive Health regeneration to your horse over time, measured in HP per second. Basic stirrups restore around +0.4 HP/sec. Better ones can reach +0.6 HP/sec and beyond.

Horseshoes — Boosts both Attack and Stamina regeneration. A good pair of horseshoes both improves combat damage and keeps your horse sprinting longer between breaks. Early horseshoes give +1 to +2 Attack and +1 to +4 Stamina/sec regen.

None of these pieces are upgradeable through refinement like your character’s gear — but they can be dyed to match your aesthetic. To understand how dyeing works, check our How to Dye Armor, Weapons, and Horse Gear in Crimson Desert guide.

Method 1: Craft the Well’s Warhorse Tack Set (Best Mid-Game Option)

The Well’s Warhorse Tack set is the primary craftable Horse Plate Armor in Crimson Desert. It’s the gear most guides are referring to when they say “Horse Plate Armor.” Getting it requires finding a hidden blueprint inside Thornbriar Fortress and then crafting it at a Smithy.

Step 1 — Find Thornbriar Fortress

Open your map and look for the Steel Mountains in the southeast corner of Hernand. The Steel Mountains form a distinctive rocky ridge on the southern edge of the region. Head east of the Steel Mountains and you’ll find Thornbriar Fortress — a fortified structure carved into the rocky landscape.

The fortress is occupied by hostile forces. Depending on how far you’ve progressed and your faction standing, you may need to fight through guards at the gate, or you can use stealth to slip past the outer defenses. If you haven’t dealt with many enemy camps yet, our How to Steal Items in Crimson Desert guide covers stealth approach tactics.

The area around the Steel Mountains and the fortress exterior is also one of the best spots in Hernand to mine Iron and Copper Ore — the exact materials you’ll need later. Consider mining while you’re in the area to kill two birds with one stone.

Step 2 — Get the Well’s Warhorse Tack Blueprint

Once inside the fortress, head up the stairs until you reach a large stone tower inside the compound. Enter the tower and go down the spiral stairs all the way to the bottom floor. On the left side of that room, you’ll find a wooden table with the Well’s Warhorse Tack Blueprint sitting on it. Pick it up.

Open your inventory and read the blueprint. This registers the crafting recipes and makes them available at any Smithy under the Horse Tack tab. Once read, you don’t need to carry the blueprint — it’s permanently learned.

Step 3 — Gather the Crafting Materials

The Well’s Warhorse Tack set requires Iron Ore, Copper Ore, and various Hides. Here’s how to get each:

Iron Ore — Found on rocky cliffs and mountain walls throughout Hernand. The caves and outskirts around Thornbriar Fortress itself are rich with Iron and Copper veins. Bring a pickaxe (bought at the Provisioner’s Shop in Hernand) or use Force Palm to break ore deposits. Once mined, deposits stay marked on your map and respawn over time. You can also buy Iron Ore directly from Mineral Shops in major cities if you want to skip the mining. Our How to Get Iron Ore in Crimson Desert guide has all the farming spots.

Copper Ore — Also found on rocky mountain walls, often in the same areas as Iron. The Steel Mountains vicinity has both in good concentration. See our How to Get Copper Ore in Crimson Desert guide for the best locations.

Hides — Come from hunting and skinning animals in the wild. If you’d rather buy them, the Leathery at any major city stocks hides for purchase. Different animal sizes drop different hide types, so hunt accordingly or just buy what you’re short on.

Step 4 — Craft the Set at a Smithy

Head to any Smithy — the one in Hernand Town is the most accessible and conveniently close to everything you need. Interact with the blacksmith and select Crafting. Use R2/RT on controller or the mouse on PC to navigate tabs until you reach the Horse Tack tab.

You’ll see the full Well’s Warhorse set listed:

• Wells’ Military Barding
• Wells’ Military Champron
• Wells’ Military Stirrups
• Wells’ Warhorse Saddle

Select each piece and confirm the craft. The items go directly into your inventory. They are not automatically equipped — you need to do that manually.

Method 2: Buy from Saddlery Vendors (Early Game Option)

You don’t have to go to Thornbriar Fortress to get any horse gear. Saddlery vendors sell tack at every major stable across Pywel. These aren’t plate armor per se, but they’re the fastest way to get your horse geared up at the start before you’re ready for Thornbriar.

Annabella’s Saddlery — Located northeast of the City of Hernand. This is the first saddlery most players encounter, offering basic saddles, horseshoes, and stirrups. Pick up the Delmar Saddle (+50 HP) and Silver Iron Horseshoes (+2 Attack, +2 Stamina/sec) here as your first horse gear upgrades.

Saddlery northwest of Hernand — Accessible via a fishing side quest from the Hernand notice board. The vendor gives you a fishing rod and asks for some fish — complete it and they unlock the Hernandian Champron (+7 Attack) and improved stirrups for purchase. Both are solid mid-game purchases and worth getting before the crafted set.

Eldred’s Saddlery — In the northern part of the City of Pailune, offering regional horse gear for when you reach that area.

Fiona’s Demeniss Saddlery — Found north of Demeniss Castle with gear appropriate for the late-game Demeniss region.

Stables are marked with a horseshoe icon on your map. The saddlery is always right outside the stable — once you’ve spoken to the stable owner, the icon stays visible. See our general Crimson Desert Horse Guide for stable locations across the map.

Method 3: Buy Barding from the Contribution Shop

The Hernandian Barding — one of the strongest Barding pieces in the game at +20 Defense — is purchased from the Contribution Shop, not a Saddlery. It requires Contribution Points, which you earn by completing bounties, faction quests, and leveling up the town’s Contribution rank.

Haldwin’s Contribution Shop in the City of Hernand stocks this Barding. Build your Contribution level and check back when you can afford it. If you want to prioritize building Contribution quickly, see our How to Use Contribution Points in Crimson Desert guide.

Method 4: Deluxe Edition Horse Tack

If you purchased the Crimson Desert Deluxe Edition, you have the Exclaire Horse Tack Set waiting to be claimed. This is a gold-plated set with red cloth accenting, offering extra Health, Health Regen, Attack, and Armor bonuses on top of the base game’s early tack options.

To claim it, go to the Add-Ons option under Others in the main menu. From there, you can collect the Exclaire set and all other pre-order and Deluxe Edition items. For the full process, see our How to Claim Pre-order and Deluxe Edition Items in Crimson Desert guide.

How to Equip Horse Plate Armor

This is where a lot of players get stuck. Crafting or buying tack doesn’t automatically put it on your horse. You have to equip each piece manually through the horse inventory screen. Here’s exactly how:

Step 1: Summon your horse and mount it by pressing X (PlayStation) or Square (Xbox).

Step 2: Open your inventory by pressing Options (PlayStation) or Menu (Xbox), or Esc on keyboard and mouse.

Step 3: Press R2/RT to switch from your character’s inventory to the horse inventory screen. You’ll see your horse’s stats and five equipment slots highlighted — Saddle, Stirrups, Champron, Horseshoes, and Barding.

Step 4: Select each tack item from the highlighted slots and press Use or Equip to apply it to your active horse. You’ll see the armor visually appear on your mount.

That’s it. The visual transformation is immediate, and the stat bonuses apply straight away. The armor fits any horse you currently have active — if you switch to a new horse, move the tack over using the same process.

Recommended Horse Gear Progression

If you’re trying to build the best horse setup at each stage of the game, here’s the order to work through:

Early game (Chapter 1-3): Pick up the Delmar Saddle and Silver Iron Horseshoes from the saddlery southeast of Hernand. Complete the fishing side quest for the Hernandian Champron and better stirrups. This alone makes a noticeable difference to your mount’s durability.

Mid game (Chapter 4-6): Head to Thornbriar Fortress, grab the Well’s Warhorse Tack Blueprint, farm Iron Ore and Copper Ore from the surrounding Steel Mountains, and craft the full Wells’ Military set. This is a meaningful upgrade across all slots.

Late game (Chapter 7+): Start working toward the Hernandian Barding from the Contribution Shop (+20 Defense) and pick up regional saddlery upgrades in Pailune and Demeniss as you unlock those areas.

What to Farm Near Thornbriar Fortress

The Steel Mountains and Thornbriar Fortress area is a good resource farming hub while you’re picking up the blueprint. Here’s what’s worth doing while you’re out there:

Iron Ore and Copper Ore veins cluster on the mountainsides in this part of southeast Hernand. Mine as much as you can in one trip to cover your crafting costs and stock extra for weapon and armor refinement. Our How to Get Iron Ore in Crimson Desert and How to Get Copper Ore in Crimson Desert guides show every node location if you want to run a proper mining route.

If you need more ores for your own gear refinement as well, check our How to Reinforce Equipment in Crimson Desert and How to Upgrade Weapons and Armor in Crimson Desert guides to understand what you’ll need.

Tips for Keeping Your Horse Alive

Once your horse is armored, a few habits will keep it healthy in combat:

Carry Hay and Sugar Cubes. These are cheap consumables that restore horse health during and between fights. Always keep a stack in your bag. Horse Stimulants restore stamina to maximum and are worth using before long rides through hostile territory.

Save Horse Tonics for emergencies. Tonics fully heal your horse instantly and should be reserved for boss fights or situations where your mount’s survival is critical.

Visit a stable to fully restore your horse. If you’re out of consumables and your mount is battered, ride to the nearest stable. The stable owner restores your horse’s condition for free.

Use mounted combat actively. Your Champron and Horseshoes only matter if you’re using your horse’s attack during combat. The Charge ability (unlocked at Level 2 on all Legendary Horses) lets your mount ram through enemies — having a good Champron maximizes the damage. See our How to Find Legendary Creatures in Crimson Desert guide for the best mounts to pair with this gear.

More Horse and Mount Guides

Now that your horse is properly armored, here are more guides for getting the most out of your mounts in Crimson Desert:

• Crimson Desert Horse Guide — Full overview of taming, breeds, leveling, and management
• Crimson Desert All Legendary Horses Locations — The three legendary horses and where to find them
• How to Get the Silver Fang Legendary Mount — The legendary wolf mount
• How to Get the White Bear Legendary Mount — The legendary bear mount
• How to Get the Snowwhite Deer Legendary Mount — The legendary deer mount
• How to Get a Dragon in Crimson Desert — The ultimate mount
• How to Get a Lion Mount in Crimson Desert — Another powerful legendary mount
• How to Get a Bear Mount in Crimson Desert — Bear mount guide
• How to Get the Reindeer Cloak Deer Disguise — Useful when hunting legendary deer mounts
• How to Fish in Crimson Desert — Complete the fishing quest to unlock the Hernandian Champron
• How to Get Gold Ore in Crimson Desert — For higher-tier armor crafting alongside your horse gear
• Crimson Desert Best Items Early — What to prioritize alongside horse armor in your first hours
• How to Liberate Izvatu Fortress and Beat Samura, the Sandwatcher — A fortress in the Crimson Desert region worth clearing with a well-armored horse

For the complete Crimson Desert guide hub covering quests, gear, bosses, and everything in between, visit our Crimson Desert Guide Hub.

Crimson Desert is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Steam, and Epic Games Store. For the latest news and updates, visit the official Crimson Desert website.