Pony

A pony is logistics with hooves. CR 1/8, AC 10, 11 HP, walk 40 feet. The stat block exists so a halfling, a gnome, or a child NPC can ride into the next scene without breaking encounter math. Treat the pony as a mount-shaped vehicle with a personality the party can fuss over at an inn.

In travel, the pony's job is carry weight. A pony hauls roughly 225 pounds at a walk and double that for short bursts, which stops being a backpack problem. Light riders get 40 feet speed for tactical movement, and the pony fits through a five-foot doorway when a riding horse cannot. For overland speed, the pony matches normal travel pace and tires like a person, so plan short days if tracking exhaustion. If not, call the day at sundown and let it graze.

In combat, the pony is a liability. AC 10 and 11 HP means any goblin with a shortbow drops it in a round, and the rider is on foot in an enemy line. Tell the player that the pony bolts the moment a creature within 30 feet attacks. If the player insists it fights, default to Hooves at +4 for 1d4+2 bludgeoning, and watch it die two rounds later.

Name the pony at the table. Players who have named it will fight harder to keep it alive than for a 200 gp warhorse.

A hostile pony is a stretch with real table use: the wild herd or the haunted mount. A stallion-led meadow group sees the party as predators. A necromancer has reanimated a stable and the party is pursued by a dozen dead horses. A fey curse has pulled a child's pony into a hunting nightmare.

Run them in a herd of six or more. A single pony at AC 10 and 11 HP folds to one arrow. Six ponies are a stampede, and the encounter is Dex saves for prone and bludgeoning damage as the party avoids hooves. Default a kick to +4 for 1d4+2 bludgeoning, with the real threat being momentum. On a failed Dex save, a PC is prone in the path of more hooves. The fight ends when enough ponies drop to break the rest's flight, or when the party gets behind cover and lets the herd pass.

Ponies do not coordinate and do not surrender. Wild Int 2 keeps them on simple instincts: they run from fire, scatter from loud thunder, and follow the lead horse until that horse drops.

If the players spare the herd, give them a chance to tame one in downtime.