The expensive horse mounts from the zoologist in Terraria feel like bragging rights items - if you don't spend significant time terraforming/building roads, the cheaper and easier flamingo mount she sells is a better adventuring tool.
The horses might have a higher top speed and the ability to trample but you need a long flat surface to use those things. The flamingo is noticeably faster than walking with has good acceleration, swimming/buoyancy (summoning to get to the surface of the water can be a lifesaver)
I'm not saying don't buy a horse if it fits your aesthetic, but it's basically an expensive vanity mount, especially since the pylon network makes building roads kind of redundant by the time you qualify for a horse.
I thought "20+ gold? Must be seriously good." and spent all my money on one right before a traveling merchant showed up with an Extendo Arm for sale. Big time buyer's remorse.
The pylon network system is pretty sweet and both makes the game easier and deeper. At first I thought the need to keep them "staffed" with two villagers each would make it annoying, spreading my people out so I had to travel to use their services just so I can teleport?
Buuut when you've got multiple bases that each have a pylon in them, it sort of feels like it's all one base. And in some ways it makes it easier to keep things organized, once you start organizing.
Being strategic about where you put the pylons can make quality of life so much easier. There's no Dungeon Pylon (I don't think?) but I just put the underground pylon in a little shelter underground right before it.
It took me a while to figure out how to get the ocean pylon before defeating the Wall of Flesh since the only ocean-aligned NPC you can get at that point isn't a merchant, but I did manage it...
Rot13 cipher for spoilery solution.
Gur nezf qrnyre yvxrf gur qrfreg ohg ur vf rpfgngvp gb or nybar naljurer jvgu gur ahefr, fb vs lbh ubzr gurz gbtrgure nybar ng gur bprna ur'yy fryy lbh gur bprna clyba. Znl jbex sbe bgure ovbzrf? Qba'g xabj vs gur fnaq guerj uvz bss.
Gur nezf qrnyre yvxrf gur qrfreg ohg ur vf rpfgngvp gb or nybar naljurer jvgu gur ahefr, fb vs lbh ubzr gurz gbtrgure nybar ng gur bprna ur'yy fryy lbh gur bprna clyba. Znl jbex sbe bgure ovbzrf? Qba'g xabj vs gur fnaq guerj uvz bss.
...I suppose where the horse might be useful is the Old One's Army event, if the trample damage is good enough.
