Mine finally bonded this morning. The difference being mounted on one and not is amazing. I took so much more damage after my dragon barding armor broke. Someone mispriced one in housing for 1,000 gold this AM so I snagged that up.
I'm planning on having a couple extra swamp dragons bonded and armored in the stables and then i'll carry pet balls. If I wipe out, and my dragon croaks I'll use a pet summon ball and call another, rather than having to wait 10 minutes for the vet to res. Assuming there's even one nearby!
Everyone says to use exceptional barding, what is the difference between exxceptional and non exceptional. Is there less damage absorption?