Original post makes a valid point but the solution (just nerf the numbers) is less than optimal. I would like to try and explain the problems with Rawhide more conceptually.
1) It might be worth noting that compared to a real horse, Haven horses have no limit in turning speed and outside of the current raw hide, obey the rider blindly and unquestionably. (as long as they have Pony Power.)
2) Horses provide game-breaking advantage in movement-based combat. (Worst case scenario for a rider fighting a Titan on foot was that they need to flee.)
3) Developers also added "dismount rider" that theoretically could solve the previous problem, but since it uses a "
flower menu" to access, it is clunky at best and inaccessible to people with high ping at worst.
4) "Rawhide!" was implemented as blunt way to remove horses from PvP fights entirely.
5) Addition of "Rawhide!" fulfilled its primary goal - horses couldn't be used in PvP fights at all due to how accessible "Rawhide!" was even before the XP cost was reduced.
6) While you can still use horses for travel and even as "battle taxi", lot of people simply ignore them to not have to worry about "Rawhide!" or dismount/flee immediately if unknown player is spotted.
7) This effectively left "Rawhide!" as a tool to kill sprucecaps and hermits who may not even be aware that "Rawhide!" is a thing and think they're safe(r) horseback. It wouldn't even be irrational to think that talking to strangers, travelling on foot, when you're on horseback, would be perfectly safe. After all, you're much faster than them and could simply flee the encounter should it turn hostile. Then your horse starts "dancing" for some reason..
