Horse writes its working state locally as you use it. You can also export selected Trails as Markdown for a separate, readable copy.
This is useful when a project has crossed the line from “open on my laptop” to “I will be incandescent if these sources disappear”. The export is ordinary text, so it can live in your usual backup system without needing Horse to open it.
Export selected Trails
- Select one Trail, or select several with ⌘-click or Shift-click.
- Choose Copy Trail as Markdown or the multi-Trail copy action.
- Paste the result into a plain-text editor.
- Save it as a
.mdfile somewhere separate from the computer.
Open the file once after saving it. You should see the Trail names, hierarchy, and links you selected. A backup you have never inspected is a wish wearing sensible shoes.
What this copy does and does not contain
The export preserves the selected links and hierarchy. It does not include every Horse Trail unless you selected them, and it does not back up settings, credentials, application files, extension state, or every kind of local data.
Keep the file somewhere separate from the Horse installation and, ideally, separate from the computer itself. A cloud drive, encrypted archive, external drive, or version-controlled notes folder can all do the job. Choose the place you already remember to maintain.
You can bring the exported structure back through File > Import Trails. See import and export for the full workflow.