Since I am a bit of a newb at this game, this may well have been discussed before... but instead of having to get the materials to make cars and such, why can't there be a project, etc, where you can capture and train a horse to ride, and save on the travelling time. Also, if say you and your new horse was in a mountainous area for example, you would have to feed it from your own suplies, as grass, etc for the horse to eat wouldn't be very plentiful in mountains.
You could also name it......just a suggestion.
