What it does
Horsemanship is an evasion ability that works like a more exclusive version of flying: a creature with horsemanship can only be blocked by other creatures that also have horsemanship. Since horsemanship is incredibly rare—it appeared almost exclusively in the Portal Three Kingdoms set—creatures with it are effectively unblockable in nearly every game.
The common misconception is treating it like flying or fear. Reach, flying, and similar abilities do nothing to block horsemanship; only horsemanship blocks horsemanship. It also doesn't interact with "can't be blocked except by" effects unless they specifically reference it.
In Commander, horsemanship matters most because the iconic card is Rofellos isn't it—actually it's creatures like Xiahou Dun. The big deal is the Portal Three Kingdoms commanders, which are pricey collector cards. Functionally, expect horsemanship creatures to connect every turn, making them excellent for commander damage or saboteur triggers.
Iconic cards with Horsemanship
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