3 Nephi 3:22-26

²² And it came to pass in the seventeenth year [17 A.D.], in the latter end of the year, the proclamation of Lachoneus had gone forth throughout all the face of the land, and they had taken their horses, and their chariots, and their cattle, and all their flocks, and their herds, and their grain, and all their substance, and did march forth by thousands and by tens of thousands, until they had all gone forth to the place which had been appointed that they should gather themselves together, to defend themselves against their enemies.  ²³ And the land which was appointed was the land of Zarahemla, and the land which was between the land Zarahemla and the land Bountiful, yea, to the line which was between the land Bountiful and the land Desolation.

²⁴ And there were a great many thousand people who were called Nephites, who did gather themselves together in this land.  Now Lachoneus did cause that they should gather themselves together in the land southward, because of the great curse which was upon the land northward.  ²⁵ And they did fortify themselves against their enemies; and they did dwell in one land, and in one body, and they did fear the words which had been spoken by Lachoneus, insomuch that they did repent of all their sins; and they did put up their prayers unto the Lord their God, that he would deliver them in the time that their enemies should come down against them to battle.

²⁶ And they were exceedingly sorrowful because of their enemies.  And Gidgiddoni did cause that they should make weapons of war of every kind, and they should be strong with armor, and with shields, and with bucklers, after the manner of his instruction.

3 Nephi 3:22 – 26 (Emphasis mine)

When Lachoenus’s proclamation had gone forth, the people began to move to the land of Zarahemla.  They took their horses, chariots, cattle, flocks, herds, grain, and all their substance.  Tens of thousands departed their homes and went to the place of safety.

In Book of Mormon times, an agrarian life was crucial to a satisfactory society. When grain was insufficient, famine prevailed (see Alma 3:2; 4:2; Helaman 11:5-6; 3 Nephi 4:3, 6). Most people farmed. Yet nothing in the book suggests that the people prepared or cultivated the land using anything other than their own hands. Although "flocks and herds" were kept, it seems that they were used mainly for food (see, for example, 3 Nephi 3:22; 4:4).[1]

Among the things mentioned were horses.  Robert Bennett discusses the issue of horses.

Horses were known to some Nephites and Lamanites from about 600 B.C. to the time of the Savior. They were found in the "land of first inheritance" during the time of Nephi, son of Lehi (see 1 Nephi 18:25), and in the land of Nephi during the days of Enos (see Enos 1:21). They were also utilized by at least some of the Lamanite elite during the days of King Lamoni in the same general region during the first century B.C. (see Alma 18:9—12). The text does not mention horses in the land of Nephi after that time. The only other region associated with horses was the general land of Zarahemla at the time of the war with the Gadianton robbers, just prior to the birth of Jesus Christ (see 3 Nephi 3:22; 4:4; 6:1). There is no indication in the text that horses were indigenous to that region. The Savior's reference to horses in 3 Nephi 21:14 is a prophecy of the latter days and need not be interpreted as referring to Nephite horses. In the Book of Mormon, horses are never mentioned after the time of Christ.

In short, the Book of Mormon claims only that horses were known to some New World peoples before the time of Christ in certain limited regions of the New World. Thus we need not conclude from the text that horses were universally known in the Americas throughout pre-Columbian history. Moreover, the Book of Mormon never says that horses were ridden or used in battle, although some passages suggest that at times they may have been used by the elite as a draft animal (see, for example, Alma 18:9; 3 Nephi 3:22).[2]

When gathered, we read the people filled the land of Zarahemla as well as the land between the land of Zarahemla and the land Bountiful.  They avoided the land northward, “because of the great curse which was upon” that land. 

This land is the land of the Jaredites, discovered by the people of Limhi (see Mosiah 8:7-11).  In Alma, Mosiah₂’s son, Aaron was preaching to the Lamanites near this area.  Mormon describes the land:

And it bordered upon the land which they called Desolation, it being so far northward that it came into the land which had been peopled and been destroyed, of whose bones we have spoken, which was discovered by the people of Zarahemla, it being the place of their first landing.

And they came from there up into the south wilderness.  Thus the land on the northward was called Desolation, and the land on the southward was called Bountiful, it being the wilderness which is filled with all manner of wild animals of every kind, a part of which had come from the land northward for food.

Alma 22:30 - 31

The people who gathered were moved by the preaching of Lachoneus.  The repented of their sins and prayed to the Lord for deliverance should war come.

Gidgiddoni used this time to have the people make weapons of war.

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[1] The New World Promised Lands Economic Base, Insights Volume - 23, Issue – 5, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed October 17, 2012.

[2] Horses in the Book of Mormon, Robert R. Bennett, Provo, Utah: Maxwell Institute, accessed October 17, 2012