Survival sandbox Rust continues to grow and change, having added hot air balloons, electricity, and even underwear in the past 12 months. Back in June, horseback riding was added, which set the stage for this most recent and extremely important update to Rust: Horse armor.
(And no, you don't have to pay $2.50 for the horse armor. It's free.)
Horse armor will help protect your steed from incoming damage as well as providing additional protection for the rider ("This might seem like it isn't very realistic, but it doesn't matter," reads the dev blog). There are two types of horse armor, one made of wood, and the other (and far more fun) is the armor made of road signs seen above. You can also craft horseshoes, which will make your horse faster, and saddlebags, which will increase your horse's inventory size but reduce their max speed.
As is always the case with Rust updates, there's plenty more to it, including changes and improvements to the electrical system, tweaks to weapon balance, exploit fixes, and more. View all the changes here.