Available at a stable for 150 Scrap, horses are one of the best transport methods in Rust.
Able to travel at far faster speeds than sprinting on foot, they’re perfect for moving loot, getting back into a fight, or quick recycling runs.
Over time, horses can become fatigued and gallop for shorter periods of time. They can also lose health by being attacked or fall damage.
Feeding a horse with some food can replenish health, as well as stamina.
Use a Hitch & Trough to store food for your horse to eat, or simply drop the food onto the floor in front of your horse.
When it comes to food for horses, some items replenish more stats than others. It’s worth knowing which food you should use yourself and which foods you should feed to your horse.
This list is the definitive guide to feeding your horse in Rust, with rankings taking replenishment into account, as well as how easy the food is to acquire.
10) Berries
Health Restored: 0
Stamina Restored: 0.3
Found exclusively in forest biomes alongside a few other items on this list, berries are obtained by the dozens and you’ll quickly get a huge stockpile.
Berry bushes have a massive surface area to make spotting and collecting them a breeze. It won’t take long to get a hundred or so of different varieties.
Constantly feeding them to your horse is a great way of keeping its stamina topped up while on the move.
9) Cactus Flesh
Health Restored: 6
Stamina Restored: 0.3
Most surprising entry on this list, who knows why horses enjoy snacking on these prickly bits of cactus but it’s in the game.
Harvested by Cactus plants found exclusively in the desert, it could be the only reliable source of food for you if you’ve built in the harsh hot climate.
Players can also eat cactus flesh for a nice amount of nutrition but it’d be a lot easier for you to save it for your horse if they need a quick health top up.
8) Cooked Pork
Health Restored: 10
Stamina Restored: 3.8
7) Mushrooms
Health Restored: 6
Stamina Restored: 1
Mushrooms are one of my favourite food items in the game as you can get a few stacks of them in just a few minutes. You’ll need to travel to a forest to forage them.
While they are tasty snacks for your horse, they’re essential for early game PvP as they restore 3 health to the player with each bite.
Most players don’t bother with them, though. If you’re one of them and you always ignore mushrooms, start picking them up to feed to your horse!
6) Cooked Fish
Health Restored: 10
Stamina Restored: 3.8
With the introduction of fishing to Rust, acquiring vast amounts of raw fish to cook is super easy. Get your hands on a fishing rod, head to the closest fishing village and spend a few in-game days slinging your hook.
If you’re utilising other methods of horse food acquisition, you’ll no doubt have a ton of bait collected and ready to go.
Hunting and harvesting Sharks is another viable method of getting raw fish to cook.
A rare catch, such as a Catfish or Salmon, will yield 18 raw fish. That’s enough to restore 180 health, or 38 stamina!
5) Pickles
Health Restored: 10
Stamina Restored: 3.2
Just 10 scrap will get you 60 pickles from the food market in the Outpost. That’s enough to provide nearly 200 stamina for your horse.
If you can afford the trips to outpost, pickles might just be the best food item you can use to feed your horse. They’re basically useless for players though, having an inventory full of pickles isn’t the best idea if you genuinely need to put more time into acquiring better food items.
4) Corn
Health Restored: 12
Stamina Restored: 4.8
One of the best food items in the game for both horses and players, corn grows quickly near rivers. Building near a river is always recommended for new players.
Just not too close as players often visit rivers to stock up on vegetables and no one wants constant encounters while trying to farm or return to base.
Corn’s high health restoration, as well as decent stamina restoration, make it an ideal budget choice for your horse.
3) Cooked Bear Meat
Health Restored: 10
Stamina Restored: 6.4
Killing and harvesting a bear is no easy feat as they have 400 health, super-fast sprint speed and high attack.
Once you do take one down, harvesting it will yield between 8 and 19 bear meat, depending on the tool used.
Such a huge amount of meat will keep you and your horse fed for a long, long time.
With that being said, hunting bears is always a risk as you have a chance of being ambushed by other players.
Definitely kill any bear you come across on your travels but don’t go out of your way to try to find one.
2) Pumpkins
Health Restored: 20
Stamina Restored: 6.4
Found in droves next to rivers, a simple trip (on your horse maybe) can yield dozens of pumpkings. Consume them to receive pumpkin seeds, ready to be planted to produce up to 5 pumpkins per yield.
No other food item will restore as much health to your horse as a pumpkin with it being tied in second for stamina restoration.
The only thing stopping pumpkins from taking the number one spot is their use for players, as they’re easily the best food item in Rust. Save them for you and your friends!
1) Potatoes
Health Restored: 12
Stamina Restored: 8
Found in the Red Forest biome as well as Mushrooms, this food item is remarkably easy to obtain in vast amounts.
Potatoes give a lot of calories to the player but very little hydration restoration so giving a decent chunk of your stockpile to your horse is recommended.
Plenty of health & stamina regeneration is pretty much all you need as you’ll get at least 2 potatoes per wild plant and up to 6 per planted crop.
No other food item is as good for horses as potatoes thanks to their incredible restoration capabilities and easiness to obtain!