Enchanted Realms Rulebook
Barding
The mounted warrior would want to protect his expensive mount wherever possible. To this end, it would be logic to armur the mount as well as it’s rider. There are three types of barding that can be used: leather, chain and plate.
Leather barding provides a mild protection for horses or borgaaz. This grants an AC:12 to the mount. If the creature, such as a lizard steed, already has that degree of AC, then the leather barding offers no further protection. The downside is this barding slows the mounts base movement by 5 feet. Leather weighs 10% of the animal's base burden weight or 25 pounds, whichever is greater.
Chain barding takes the form of a coat the horse would wear, fitting around the base of the neck and hanging down to the horse’s hips. An extended coif-like garment protected the neck and head. Padding was usually worn underneath, as was the practice with the rider. This grants an AC protection of 15 for the mount. If for some reason the beast of burden is equal or exceeds that value, then the chain barding will not aid the mount. Lastly, the wearing of this barding lowers movement by 10 feet. Chain barding weighs 20% of the animal's burden or 50 pounds, whichever is greater.
Plate barding encloses the horse’s body in plates, and has an articulated extension for the neck. The horse’s head will be guarded, but protection does not extend to the jaw and underside of the head, these areas being hard to attack anyway. This will convey an AC 18 to the mount, but at the movement penalty of 20 feet. This plated protection weighs 30% of the animal's burden or 75 pounds, whichever is greater.