Horses/Farming Simulator 19
Horses are a new type of Animal in Farming Simulator 19. Horses do not produce any material, nor do they breed - but their sale value can be massively increased with the help of some basic materials and substantial effort.
Horses are the most expensive animals in the game, costing $5,000 apiece (not including transportation fees). The smallest Horse Paddock available in the base game costs $50,000, and can hold up to 8 Horses.
Each horse has a randomly-generated name that can be changed at will, as well as three stats that are tracked separately for that horse: "Fitness", "Health" and "Cleanliness", each of which is a percentage value (going from 0% to 100%). The horse's sale value depends primarily on the first two stats.
Health and Cleanliness start at 100% for a newly-purchased horse, while Fitness starts at 5% - giving a new horse an initial sale value of $2,976. To increase Fitness, the Paddock must first be stocked with Water, Straw, and either Hay or Oats. Each horse must then be ridden for at least 1 real-time minute per in-game day to improve its Fitness at midnight. A Horse that is not ridden for at least 1 minute a day will instead lose Fitness. If the horses are not provided one of the required materials, they lose Health every hour. Cleanliness only decreases while a horse is being ridden, and can easily be restored by clicking on a dirty horse several times.
Giving proper care to a horse will raise its sale price by nearly $5,000 per day, and will eventually raise the horse's value to a maximum of $50,000 (not including transportation fees). This is a huge profit for any animal, making horses extremely lucrative. However, this fast improvement rate requires a lot of effort in the form of riding the horses around. For maximum improvement, you must provide both Hay and Oats, and each horse must be ridden for at least 5 minutes per in-game day.
The base game provides 8 different types of horses, each in a different color. All types of horses function identically, regardless of color.
List of Horses
The base game provides 8 different types of Horses. These can all be bought at the Animal Dealer. There is no functional difference between any of the different types of horses, only physical appearance.
| Name | Price |
|---|---|
| Horse (bay) | 5,000 |
| Horse (black) | 5,000 |
| Horse (chestnut) | 5,000 |
| Horse (dun) | 5,000 |
| Horse (gray) | 5,000 |
| Horse (palomino) | 5,000 |
| Horse (pinto) | 5,000 |
| Horse (seal brown) | 5,000 |
Horse Paddock
- Main article: Horse Paddock (Farming Simulator 19)
Before purchasing any Horses, you must purchase at least one Horse Paddock from the Store. This is a Placeable that can be placed on any sufficiently-large open space (no obstacles).
The base game provides two different models of Paddocks. The only real difference between them is their capacity (the number of horses they can hold), and their physical size.
Once the Horse Paddock is placed on the map, you can begin to fill it with Horses and their required materials.
Purchasing Horses
To purchase Horses, visit the Animal Dealer and interact with its sale point 
Open Animal DialogueDefault Buttons: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/d/dd/FS17_Logo_PC.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234847 Rhttps://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/6/6c/FS17_Logo_XBOX.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234910 ??https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/e/e3/FS17_Logo_PS4.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170828002413 ??. This will only work if you own at least one Animal Pen, otherwise the menu will not work.
After pressing the button, if you have more than one Animal Pen, you'll be asked which pen you'd like to populate. You must select an existing Horse Paddock in order to purchase Horses. If you do not own such a Paddock, you will only be able to purchase other animals.
Horse Stats
Unlike other animals, each Horse is an independent instance even when put in the same Horse Paddock as other horses. Each horse has its own stats, and these stats influence the horse's value. The goal of Horse Husbandry is to raise a horse's value above its initial purchase price (ideally to the maximum possible value), and then sell the horse for cash.
Each Horse has five stats which are tracked for that individual horse on the Animal Overview menu. The five stats are:
- Name: A unique name for the horse. Allows you to track which horse is where, and to find the right horse to train. You may change the name at any time.
- Fitness: The amount of exercise a horse has received. This increases and decreases every midnight depending on the amount of time that horse has been ridden during the previous 24 hours.
- Health: The relative health of the horse. This increases and decreases every hour based on the materials available to that horse in its Horse Paddock.
- Cleanliness: How dirty a horse is. This decreases constantly whenever the horse is ridden, and can be restored to 100% very quickly by simply clicking several times on a dirty horse.
- Sale Value: How much money you'll get for selling the horse. This value depends on the horse's Fitness and Health, and is very slightly influenced by its Cleanliness.
Initial Stats
When a horse is first purchased, its stats are set to specific amounts. These will change over time, depending on how you treat the horse.
- Name: A horse is initially given a unique name randomly selected from a list of possible names. You can change the name of a horse at any time, as explained below.
- Fitness: Starts at 5%.
- Health: Starts at 100%.
- Cleanliness: Starts at 100%.
- Sale Value: Starts at $2,976.
Name
At purchase time, a Horse's name is set to a randomly-selected name out of a list of possible names.
After purchase, you may change a horse's name at any time. This is done by visiting the Animal Overview menu: Open the Overview Menu Overview MenuDefault Buttons: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/d/dd/FS17_Logo_PC.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234847 ESChttps://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/6/6c/FS17_Logo_XBOX.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234910 ??https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/e/e3/FS17_Logo_PS4.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170828002413 ??, select the Animals tab at the top (cow icon), and select the horse you wish to rename. Then hit the "Rename" button Rename HorseDefault Buttons: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/d/dd/FS17_Logo_PC.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234847 Spacebarhttps://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/6/6c/FS17_Logo_XBOX.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234910 ??https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/e/e3/FS17_Logo_PS4.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170828002413 ??.
You may type in any name you want for a horse. That name will appear in the Animal Overview list, as well as each time you ride the horse. It will also appear in the Hotkey Help box Hotkey HelpDefault Buttons: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/d/dd/FS17_Logo_PC.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234847 F1https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/6/6c/FS17_Logo_XBOX.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234910 ??https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/e/e3/FS17_Logo_PS4.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170828002413 ?? when looking directly at the horse.
Horse names allow you to distinguish between horses on the Animal Overview list, and to find the right horse in the Horse Paddock when looking to ride or clean it.
Fitness
Fitness is the most important stat for a Horse, if only because it begins at 5% for a newly-purchased horse and must be increased in order to improve a horse's value.
Fitness essentially tracks the amount of exercise a horse has received over its lifetime. Every single midnight, the game will update the Fitness value based on how many minutes were spent riding that horse in the previous 24 hours.
If a horse is not ridden for at least 1 real-time minute in a single day, its Fitness will drop by 2% at midnight that day, regardless of any other factor.
If the Horse Paddock does not have Water, Straw and at least one type of food (either Hay or Oats), Fitness cannot improve at all. Riding the horse at least 1 real-time minute per day will simply maintain its current Fitness level.
If Water, Straw and at least one type of Food are present, a Horse's fitness will increase if properly ridden, according to which Foods are available and the amount of time spent riding that horse:
| Foods Available | Fitness Improvement at Midnight | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Ridden for < 1 Minute |
Ridden for 1 Minute |
Ridden for 5+ Minutes |
| Yes | -- | -2% | +1.04% | +5.2% |
| -- | Yes | -2% | +1.36% | +6.8% |
| Yes | Yes | -2% | +2% | +10% |
Note that riding a horse more than 1 minute but less than 5 minutes a day will give a benefit that is linearly proportional to the time spent riding. The formula is:
Fitness Improvement = Maximum Possible Improvement for Available Food Type * (Time Ridden / 5 Minutes)
If both foods are provided at all times, and the horse is ridden at least 5 minutes per day, Fitness should improve to the maximum 100% after exactly 10 nights.
Health
Health is the second most important stat for a Horse. It begins at 100% for a newly-purchased horse, and will only drop if the Horse Paddock is not supplied with either Water, Straw, or at least one type of Food (either Hay or Oats).
Health is updated once every full hour.
| Materials Available | Health per Hour | Total per Day | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missing Water, Straw, or both types of food | -0.75% | -18% | ||||||||
|
+0.03% | +0.72% | ||||||||
|
+0.27% | +6.5% | ||||||||
|
+0.75% | +18% |
Cleanliness
Cleanliness is a minor stat that only has a very small influence on the value of a horse. It begins at 100% for a newly-purchased horse, and will only drop while the horse is being ridden.
While a horse is being ridden (and moving in any direction), Cleanliness drops at a rate of approximately -0.1666% per second of real-time (-100% per 10 minutes).
Restoring cleanliness is very simple: Find the dirty horse inside the Paddock, and approach it on foot. As you get close, you'll get the option to clean the horse. Hit the button Clean HorseDefault Buttons: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/d/dd/FS17_Logo_PC.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234847 LMBhttps://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/6/6c/FS17_Logo_XBOX.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234910 ??https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/e/e3/FS17_Logo_PS4.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170828002413 ?? to restore about 15% of Cleanliness. You may click repeatedly until the option disappears, which means that the horse is completely clean.
You can only clean a Horse while it is inside its home Paddock.
Sale Value
Each horse has a Sale Value that determines how much money you'll get for selling that horse (transportation fees not included).
Horse value is calculated according to the following formula:
(49500 * Fitness * Health) + (500 * Cleanliness)
Since Fitness, Health and Cleanliness are percentage values, and can each range between 0% and 100%, the value of a horse can shift anywhere between $0 and $50,0000.
When a horse is first purchased, its Sale Value will be equal to exactly $2,976. A horse reaches a sale value of $50,000 once all of its stats have hit 100%.
If properly cared for, including full material supply, at least 5 real-time minutes of riding each day, and proper cleaning, its value should increase by $4,950 per day.
You may sell a horse at any time to receive your profit, as explained below.
Material Consumption
A Horse Paddock can be filled with Water, Straw, Hay and Oats. While any of these materials are present, each horse in the Paddock will consume a small amount of that material every 15 minutes, regardless of anything else.
While Water is present, each Horse will consume a total of 50 liters of Water per day.
While Straw is present, each Horse will consume a total of 80 liters of Straw per day.
While Hay is present, each Horse will consume a total of 300 liters of Hay per day.
While Oats are present, each Horse will consume a total of 100 liters of Oats per day.
Note that if either Water, Straw, or both Food types are missing, the horses will continue to consume any available materials despite receiving no benefit whatsoever from their presence. Always make sure to provide at least the bare minimum, and if possible, all four materials.
Horse-riding
Horses can be ridden to increase their "Fitness" value, as a mode of transportation, or simply for fun. They function somewhat like Vehicles, but are also very different.
To ride a horse, approach that horse in the Paddock and hit the "Enter Vehicle" button Enter VehicleDefault Buttons: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/d/dd/FS17_Logo_PC.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234847 Ehttps://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/6/6c/FS17_Logo_XBOX.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234910 ??https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/e/e3/FS17_Logo_PS4.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170828002413 ?? just as you would do when entering any other vehicle. The screen will briefly fade out as the game turns the horse into a rideable entity, and then fade back in to show your character riding the horse.
Horses do not accelerate like normal vehicles. Instead, they have six "Gaits", each with its own set speed. You can step up or down between gaits by pressing the Accelerate button AccelerateDefault Buttons: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/d/dd/FS17_Logo_PC.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234847 Whttps://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/6/6c/FS17_Logo_XBOX.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234910 ??https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/e/e3/FS17_Logo_PS4.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170828002413 ?? or Decelerate button DecelerateDefault Buttons: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/d/dd/FS17_Logo_PC.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234847 Shttps://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/6/6c/FS17_Logo_XBOX.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234910 ??https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/e/e3/FS17_Logo_PS4.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170828002413 ??:
| Gait | Speed (km/h) | Can Jump? |
|---|---|---|
| Backwards Walk | -5 | -- |
| Stop | 0 | -- |
| Walk | 3 | -- |
| Trot | 9 | -- |
| Canter | 18 | Yes |
| Gallop | 36 | Yes |
Each gait has a set speed. The horse will maintain that exact speed even if the Accelerate button is released. Slopes do not slow down nor speed up a horse. In fact, horses can climb very steep slopes as though they were flat ground.
Horses can also Jump JumpDefault Buttons: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/d/dd/FS17_Logo_PC.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234847 Spacebarhttps://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/6/6c/FS17_Logo_XBOX.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234910 ??https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/e/e3/FS17_Logo_PS4.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170828002413 ?? over low obstacles such as the fence around a Horse Paddock. This can only be performed while the Horse is in the Canter or Gallop gaits.
Note: In the Walk or Trot gaits, horses seem to be capable of climbing over certain obstacles as though they were part of the terrain; Whereas in the Canter or Gallop gaits, they will immediately stop when encountering those same obstacles. It is unclear what causes this behavior, as certain obstacles can only be scaled sometimes but not at other times.
Exercise
The primary reason to ride a horse is to give it exercise.
In order to prevent a horse's Fitness from deteriorating, each Horse must be ridden for at least 1 real-time minute per day. If the Horse Paddock is supplied with Water, Straw and at least one type of Food (either Hay or Oats), riding for at least 1 minute a day will will actually increase each horse's fitness. The maximum benefit is received if the horse is ridden for at least 5 real-time minutes per day, and is also fed both Hay and Oats.
Exercise only tracks the amount of time the horse spends moving at any gait. Galloping does not increase exercise any faster than walking (or even walking backwards). However, if the horse stops, exercise will also stop.
You can exercise the horse inside the Paddock, or take it outside to ride around on the map. There is no difference.
The amount of exercise a horse has received as a percentage of the maximum exercise possible per day is listed in the Animal Overview list for that specific horse. It ranges from 0% (no riding time) to 100% (5 minutes or more of riding time). At midnight, this value is reset to 0%.
Horses as Entities
Once a horse is ridden, it becomes a fully-modeled entity in the game world, similar to a Vehicle. You may switch to a Horse Switch VehicleDefault Buttons: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/d/dd/FS17_Logo_PC.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234847 Tab or Shift+Tabhttps://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/6/6c/FS17_Logo_XBOX.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234910 ??https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/e/e3/FS17_Logo_PS4.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170828002413 ?? just as you would to any other vehicle.
One important difference is that if you exit a Horse Exit VehicleDefault Buttons: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/d/dd/FS17_Logo_PC.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234847 Ehttps://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/6/6c/FS17_Logo_XBOX.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234910 ??https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/e/e3/FS17_Logo_PS4.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170828002413 ?? or switch to any other vehicle while the horse is inside a Paddock, the horse will immediately be removed as a modeled entity and return to being an animated part of the Paddock. You will not be able to switch to that horse, and need to approach it physically in order to ride it again.
You cannot manually "reset" a horse that is outside its Paddock; You will have to ride it back to the Paddock yourself. However, if you ride a horse into deep water, it will be reset to the Paddock automatically. If you 'lose' a horse (for example, by switching to another vehicle whilst you are riding through a paddock), it can be located on the Map tab of the Overview Menu, and enabling the display of Tools (the cogs icon).
A horse must be inside its home Paddock in order to be cleaned or sold. You cannot move a horse from one paddock to another, nor sell it at the Animal Dealer, by simply riding it there.
Selling Horses
Each Horse can be sold for a value that depends on its current stats, as explained above. The maximum Sale Value of a horse is $50,000, and there is no point in keeping a horse once it has reached this value (unless you enjoy riding it, etc.).
To sell a horse, visit the Paddock's marked area for animal loading/unloading, and press the "Animal Dialog" button Open Animal DialogDefault Buttons: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/d/dd/FS17_Logo_PC.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234847 Rhttps://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/6/6c/FS17_Logo_XBOX.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170827234910 ??https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/farmingsimulator/images/e/e3/FS17_Logo_PS4.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/30?cb=20170828002413 ??. This will open a menu that allows you to sell horses directly. You will have to pay a Transport Fee of $300 per horse.
Alternatively, place an Animal Transport on the marked area before opening the Animal Dialog to instead move horses into the transport. You can then take the transport to the Animal Dealer and open the Animal Dialog there to sell those horses with no Transport Fees. This would increase your profits substantially.
A horse can only be sold if it is inside its home Paddock. You cannot sell a horse by riding it to the Animal Dealer.
Note: There is only one Animal Transport model in the base game that can carry Horses, and it can only carry 2 at a time.
Profit Analysis
Horses are by far the most profitable animals in the game per animal, and even a single horse can fetch a huge profit very early in the game. Caring for horses can be accomplished with relatively cheap machinery, most of which you'd probably buy anyway for regular crop-growing activities.
Since Horses do not breed, each Horse will always cost you $5,000 (assuming you transport them manually to avoid the transport fees). Under optimal conditions, a horse will reach a Sale Value of $50,000 after only 10 days. This is a gross profit of $45,000 per horse per 10 days, or $4,500 per day. A large Paddock full of (16) horses can therefore earn you $72,000 per day, which is around 60% more than a full Pig Enclosure.
Horse Husbandry requires Water, which is completely free; Straw, which is also completely free; and either Hay or Oats (or both). Hay is essentially free, though it requires special (mostly cheap) machinery to create and quite a bit of manual effort. Oats can be grown and harvested with basic field machinery - the same types of machines used for Wheat and Barley.
Additionally, Horse Husbandry requires quite a bit of time, as each horse must be ridden for at least 1 real-time minute every in-game day to avoid deteriorating Fitness, and optimally 5 minutes to increase Fitness at the fastest rate possible. This is time that cannot be spent working on your farm, unless you hire workers to do your fieldwork while you exercise your horses.
The choice of which foods to provide your horses affects the net profitability of Horse Husbandry somewhat. The factor of effort and time spent on Horses can only be mitigated, not eliminated. Ultimately, however, horses are extremely profitable regardless of which food you give them.
Hay Only
Possibly the least favorable choice is to feed your horses on Hay only (no Oats). This allows you to sell Oats directly for profit (if you grow them at all) instead of feeding them to the horses. However, the process of creating Hay is substantial, and requires specialty machines to mow Grass, dry it, windrow it, and finally collect it. Most of these jobs cannot be performed by a Hired Worker, and must instead be done manually.
You will need 300 liters of Hay per day to feed your horses. Fortunately, a single hectare of Grass can produce around 80,000 liters in a single harvest (if properly fertilized), so this work only needs to be repeated every few weeks or so to feed a Paddock full of horses.
The price of Hay is also very low. Each horse consumes an amount of Hay worth $35 per day at the highest expected market price, which is miniscule compared to the profit.
Naturally, you will also need to find a source for Straw. Assuming you grow any of the basic grains (Wheat, Barley, or Oats), you'll want to produce Straw from those.
On the other hand, feeding your horses on Hay only results in very slow Fitness increase. It will take a horse 19 days with full exercise each day to reach full fitness. This decreases your gross profits to only $2,368 per day, or $2,333 per day when the price of Hay is taken into account. That is just over half the maximum profit possible from horses, requires a lot of effort, and is ultimately sub-optimal.
Oats Only
Feeding horses on Oats only (no Hay) is a significant step up.
It is cheaper to grow Oats yourself, harvest them, and feed them to your horses. Each horse consumes 100 liters of Oats per day, which at the highest expected market price for Oats comes to $129 per day. You can also collect a massive amount of Straw while harvesting Oats, solving that part of the problem simultaneously.
Alternatively, for only $11 per day per horse more, you can avoid the trouble of growing Oats altogether and instead purchase them directly from the Store in Bigbag Pallets of 1,000 liters each - enough to feed a single horse for 10 days. Store-bought Oats cost $1.4 per liter. This can be directly loaded into a Tipper without any additional machinery required. However, you will need to find a different source of Straw, potentially negating the benefits of store-bought Oats altogether.
With Oats only, a horse will take only 14 days with full exercise each day to reach full Fitness. This decreases your gross profits to $3,214 per day. If you grow your own Oats, factoring their value into the calculation gives a net profit of $3,085 per day, which is not bad at all. Even with store-bought Oats, the profit is still substantial at $3,074 per day.
Nevertheless, this is still only about 2/3 of the possible profit, making this option sub-optimal as well.
Both Foods
The best option in terms of sheer profit is to feed your Horses on both Hay and Oats - but of course this is the most time-consuming option as well. It requires you to mow, dry, windrow and collect Hay, as well as cultivate, sow, weed, lime, and harvest Oats. You do get Straw from these Oats, of course.
With this option, fully-exercised Horses only take 10 days to reach full fitness. Thus, profits jump to their highest level, at a gross $4,500 per day per horse. Factoring in the value of Hay and Oats consumed each day, the net profit is $4,336. This is far higher than the profit from any other animal.
Effort and Riding
Beyond the effort in creating the necessary materials, there is the issue of exercising your horses.
Each horse needs to be ridden for 5 real-time minutes every in-game day to achieve maximum Fitness increase every midnight (and thus maximum profit per day). Failure to perform this task will result in decreased Fitness, and thus loss of profit. This is a major time-waster, as you cannot perform any other job while riding a horse. With a Large Paddock full of 16 horses, you will spend 1 hour and 20 minutes of the day riding horses!
Fortunately, the actual "effort" of this job is minimal, since riding only requires you to point the horse towards a large open space and accelerate to the "walk" gait. After 2.5 minutes, turn around and return to the paddock. You can keep track of the horse's riding time by keeping the Animal Overview menu open, and turning the horse around as soon as you hit 50% riding time.
If you plan to raise horses, take this into account; You can make obscene amounts of money, but the work is mostly bland and uninvolved - and will take a huge chunk of your time.
Optimal Strategy
One important thing to note about horses is that while they consume food every 15 minutes, their value only increases at midnight. Additionally, fully-ridden horses go up in value by the same amount every day, so a horse that has just been purchased will make you as much money at midnight as any other horse.
As a result, you can save massive quantities of money and work on Straw, Oats and Hay by buying horses just before midnight, riding them for 5 minutes each, and selling them immediately after midnight. This way, horses barely spend any time in the Horse Paddock, and thus barely consume any food - yet their value will increase the same as if they had spent the entire day at the Paddock.
Naturally, this strategy requires more work; You would need to transport Horses to and from the Paddock every single midnight. The small size of the only available Horse Transport model means that multiple trips would be necessary. For example, if you want to do this with a Lizard Large Horse Paddock, a total of 16 trips between the Paddock and Animal Dealer are required in order to make the maximum possible profit -- $80,000 per night!.