What golden-horned deer was captured by Heracles as his third labor?

The golden-horned deer captured by Heracles as his third labor was the Ceryneian Hind.

The hind was an enormous, exceptionally swift female deer associated with Ceryneia in Arcadia. Ancient descriptions give it golden antlers and bronze or brass hooves, although some versions instead describe unusual coloring or other supernatural traits. It was sacred to Artemis, making the assignment especially dangerous.

Heracles was ordered to bring the animal back alive, not kill it. He pursued it for about a year, with different traditions placing parts of the chase as far away as Hyperborea. Eventually he captured it near the river Ladon, sometimes by trapping it or wounding it lightly. On the journey to Mycenae, Artemis and Apollo confronted him, but he explained that Eurystheus had commanded the task and was allowed to continue.

The hind is often confused with the Erymanthian Boar, Heracles’ fourth labor, or with an ordinary stag. “Hind” normally means a female deer, while the golden antlers create a deliberate mythological contradiction; some later interpreters have therefore connected the creature with reindeer.