To respond to this:
everyone buys a horse for a blanket (speed or other) buff is just silly.
Really? That seems odd considering that's what horses are, a better way of getting around.
Of course horses for faster strategic movement across the landscape.
But if horseback combat on the engine works just like before, only with a different model and +50% (or so) speed, the result would be ... more insane than cool in my book. For example, meet the riding rogue who zips to backstab with blinding speed from atop his sleek black stallion.
Further the melee AI having no other response to a faster enemy but to keep on chasing and chasing creates endless options for farming and cheesing when the PC is faster than the enemy. While the farming horse archer is rather obvious, perhaps a bigger spoiler could be the horseman who tags all the melee enemies to run around futily after him, while his friends shoot away with impunity. That "tactic" has the potential to seriously break many if not most battles - DM spawned or not. I've seen it used effectively even without "horse-grade speeds".
So I'm playing the devil's advocate here, saying that while adding nifty new features for players to use is cool and stuff, if it breaks the AI of the game you're essentially playing against, or adds nonsensical "features" when coupled to rules already present, in the end it can remove far more from the overall game experience than it adds.
All that is not to say horse-riding isn't seriously cool and I daresay the most long-waited addition to the game engine ever since it first came out. And I'm just as blown away as the next guy by how cool and well-made those horses and riders look
I was just seeing some mechanical sillyness lurking forward, and decided to drop a word of caution, for what it's worth, noting people to consider holding their horses awhile instead of adding simple speed bonuses on horseback. Suppose shows how new I am to how ALFA works, to assume something would go forwards in haste and need a calming word
The bright side is that there's no mechanical changes to the engine needed to allow for the first bit of strategic movement speedup with horses: Simply relax the no-run across landscape policy on horseback! With a change in only how your PC looks, you *can* do silly things while on horseback, like sneak attack or dive down a cellar, but at least you're not rewarded with a combat bonus like extra speed for it. Without a bonus in there, people are far less likely to come with whatever contrieved justifications that yes, riding their horse is just fine in this dungeon.
For even more simple strategic mobility on horseback, perhaps consider ports between key map locations that are only activateable on horseback.
