KCD2 Best Horse — All Horses Compared by Stats, Price & Carry Weight

Why horse stats matter more than KCD1

In KCD1 your horse was mostly a mobile inventory locker with a top speed. KCD2 broke that out into four meaningful stats: Speed (overland travel), Stamina (gallop duration before forced trot), Courage (whether the horse panics in combat or near corpses), and Carry Weight (how much loot you can haul). Each stat trades off against the others — a fast horse is light and skittish; a heavy hauler is slow and brave.

The most undervalued stat is Courage. A low-courage horse will rear and flee the moment combat starts, dumping you on foot mid-fight. If you ride into bandit territory regularly, courage 35+ is non-negotiable. For pure peaceful courier and herb-gathering loops, courage matters far less and you can prioritize Carry Weight or Speed.

Horses cannot be retrained — the stats they're born with are permanent. There are perks in the Horse Riding skill tree that bump effective speed/stamina by small amounts, but no perk transforms a Pebbles into a Jenda. Pick deliberately the first time.

All purchasable horses compared

Verdict: Jenda is the best balanced buy if you can afford 3500g. Ruby is the best value at 1200g for early-game players. Brunhilde is the only horse that won't flinch in heavy combat — worth it for combat-heavy playthroughs even at 4200g.

Tobias — your starter horse (and why to replace him)

Tobias is the cheapest horse in the game, sold from Trosky's south-gate stable for 600 groschen. He's there so the player can get mobile without a major investment, and he works fine for the first 5-8 hours of Act 1.

Tobias's problem is courage 28. The moment you ride into a serious bandit fight, Tobias panics, rears, and dumps Henry off mid-charge. You'll be on foot for the critical opening exchange of every combat encounter. For peaceful travel and herb-route loops, Tobias is acceptable. For anything else, replace him.

Don't sell Tobias when upgrading. Stables let you 'retire' a horse — he stays at the stable and you can switch back. Useful when you're carrying loot to town (Tobias holds 90 carry; pair with Jenda at 130 = 220 effective if you stable-swap).

Ruby — the budget combat horse

Ruby is Trosky's mid-tier horse at 1200 groschen. Stats are unspectacular but the package is balanced: courage 38 holds up against typical bandit camps, speed 42 covers daily travel, and 100 carry is enough for normal loot hauls.

Ruby is the recommended first major purchase if your build doesn't need specialized stats. She survives 90% of Act 1 content and lets you transition to Jenda or Brunhilde in late Act 2 once you've accumulated 3000+ groschen.

Trade-off: Ruby's stamina is mediocre (55). Long-distance gallops force a trot break sooner than Jenda would. If you do the Trosky-Kuttenberg corridor frequently, the slower travel adds up. For sedentary play, fine.

Jenda — the best all-rounder

Jenda is sold at Kuttenberg's main stable for 3500 groschen and is the recommended primary horse for most players. Stats: Speed 52 (top-tier short of dedicated racers), Stamina 70, Courage 45, Carry 130. No glaring weakness.

Courage 45 means Jenda will hold the line in Cuman raids and Bohemian noble combat — the encounters where Ruby would have panicked. Carry 130 is enough for serious bandit-loop farming runs. Speed 52 cuts Trosky-Kuttenberg travel time by ~30% compared to Tobias.

The 3500g price is steep. Most players save up via the herb-and-alchemy loop in Act 1 and buy Jenda just before entering Kuttenberg story content. If you're roleplaying patiently, Jenda makes the entire mid-to-late game smoother.

Storm — the tournament racer

Storm is the dedicated speed horse, sold at Kuttenberg's high-stakes stable for 5500g (you may need a tournament invite to access this stable). Stats: Speed 60 (highest in the game), Stamina 80, Courage 42, Carry 85.

Storm exists for one purpose: winning horse tournaments. The Kuttenberg circuit pays 1500-3000 groschen per win, and Storm's speed advantage makes those wins nearly automatic against most field opponents. Recoups her cost in 3-4 tournament wins.

Storm's low carry weight (85) and modest courage (42) make her unsuitable as a daily-driver horse. Combat or heavy hauling will struggle. Treat Storm as a specialist tournament tool, not a replacement for Jenda. Best plan: own both, stable Storm between events.

Brunhilde — the only true combat charger

Brunhilde is Kuttenberg's heavy combat horse at 4200g. Stats: Speed 45, Stamina 60, Courage 55 (highest in the game), Carry 140. The 55 Courage means she won't panic in any combat scenario — including heavy plate-armored Cuman raids that send other horses fleeing.

Brunhilde is the right choice if your build is combat-heavy and you want a horse that fights with you instead of bolting at the first sword swing. Knights and tournament champions in lore ride horses like Brunhilde — she's a destrier, basically.

Trade-off: speed 45 is mediocre for cross-region travel. Pair Brunhilde with Storm or Smoke for fast-travel routes, then swap to Brunhilde when you're heading into known combat zones.

Which horse for your build

Stable mechanics and quirks

Stables in KCD2 do more than sell horses. Each stable functions as a holding pen for retired horses, a healer for injured horses, and a barber for cosmetic changes (mane braids, saddle dye, hoofcare). Fees are low (5-20g per service) and worth the upkeep.

When you 'retire' a horse to a stable, that horse stays there and ages — KCD2 has a soft horse-aging system where a horse left in a stable for too many in-game weeks (~6+) develops a Slower stat. The fix is to ride them regularly (even short rides reset the timer).

Mutt (your dog) is independent of horse mechanics. He keeps up with all horse speeds because the AI cheats his pathfinding. You won't lose Mutt by buying Storm.

Horse maintenance shortlist

• Feed your horse oats (free from peasant farms, ~2g from stables) every 1-2 in-game days to maintain stamina recovery.
• Brush at any stable for a 24-hour speed buff (+5).
• Reshoe at the smith every 30+ in-game days — worn horseshoes slow you by ~10% silently.
• Don't leave saddlebags loaded overnight. Carry-weight stress reduces courage by 1 per day if maxed out.
• Bathe your horse if blood-covered after combat. Bloody horses lower your reputation in towns just like bloody armor.
• Train your horse's stat caps via the Horse Riding skill tree — Companion Bond perk at skill 10 grants +5 to two stats of your choice.