Horses

Horses can be purchased and used by adventurers to quickly travel between far-flung destinations. There are several ways in which you can acquire a horse:

Buying a Horse

You can purchase a horse at the stables adjacent to each of the five major Hold capitals; the four minor Hold capitals (Morthal, Dawnstar, Winterhold, and Falkreath) do not have stables.

Each stable sells a particular type of horse. The price of each horse, regardless of its type, is 1,000 gold pieces. This price is fixed and isn’t affected by your Speech skill, Speech perks, or other effects (such as a Potion of Haggling). Horses are all identical in terms of speed, health, and performance; the only difference is their color.

Available Horses

Owning a Horse

Horses you own are always saddled and have your name added to their title (e.g., “Prisoner’s Horse”). This helps you differentiate between your horse and any others that may be around—just look for the name and saddle.

You can own all five types of horses, providing you have the gold to pay for each of them. If you own more than one horse, the horse you’ve most recently ridden travels with you if you decide to Fast-Travel to a location. All of your other horses return to the stables where you purchased them and wait for you there (you can return and use them whenever you wish).

Borrowing or Stealing a Horse

You can steal horses from several different locations. The best places to look are the stables where you can purchase a steed, any military camp or military fort, and in World Encounters. To steal a horse, simply walk up to it and mount it. Stealing a horse adds 50 to your bounty for that Hold. Dismounting from a stolen steed and then mounting it again counts as a separate theft, adding 50 more gold to your bounty. Horse rustling can get expensive fast.

Occasionally, you can “borrow” an unowned horse (one not marked “Steal”) from a location, World Encounter, or military fort. Unowned horses behave in the same manner as stolen horses, except that riding them isn’t a crime and your bounty won’t increase.

Using a Horse

It is important to learn what you and your steed are capable of. Horses can move at a canter (run) and gallop (sprint) speed equal to your very best run and sprint speeds while on foot. However, horses aren’t weighed down by your armor, and they likely have more stamina than you do, making them a faster way to travel overall. Plus, you get to conserve your stamina so you won’t be worn out if you find yourself ambushed by brigands on the road.

Horses can charge through or leap over low or small obstacles (essentially anything you could jump across when on foot). Larger obstacles can’t be jumped, so avoid them or move around them.

By nature, horses are not aggressive, and although able to attack, they generally flee from combat once you dismount.

Your Followers can’t ride horses. If you ride off on horseback, your Follower will run after you but is likely to fall behind. When you approach your destination, you may want to stop and use the Wait command, which will give them a chance to catch up.

Controlling a Horse

When riding a horse, it’s important to note the following controls:

• The camera is locked into a third-person view, and the View-Switch button centers the camera behind you.
• The Activate button allows you to dismount. You must dismount in order to activate objects or speak to others.
• The Jump button causes your horse to rear dramatically. You can jump while riding a horse if you’re running at a moderate pace.
• The Sprint button allows you to gallop.

Fast-Traveling and Horses

If you own one or more horses, the horse you most recently rode will Fast-Travel with you. This is handy if you’ve lost your horse after a fight or emerged from a dungeon in a different location. Simply Fast-Travel somewhere nearby, and your horse will be standing next to you.

If you’re riding a stolen or borrowed horse, your horse will only Fast-Travel with you if you’re riding it when you trigger the Fast-Travel. Otherwise, you’ll leave it behind.

Horses won’t accompany you into cities, dungeons, or other interiors. If you Fast-Travel to a city, your horse will be left at the stables just outside.

The Death of a Horse

While riding a horse, most of the damage from falls and enemy attacks will be absorbed by your horse. When a horse is reduced to 10% of its health or less, it drops you and tries to flee. If your horse takes lethal damage, it will die.

If you own a horse and it expires, a new horse of the same type will become available for purchase at the same stables as previously indicated. The same cannot be said for Frost or Shadowmere; when they expire, it is usually permanent.

Mounted Combat

This information is designed to be read after you’ve familiarized yourself with the section on Horses (see above).

For the warrior, charging a group of bandits on the Whiterun tundra has never been so epic, especially if you’re riding a steed and bloodying your blade while on horseback!

The Basics of Mounted Combat

Before you ride off with bludgeoning from horseback on your mind, it’s worth having a small amount of practice first and learning the rudimentary rules for fighting from a horse:

• You’re able to use one-handed weapons, two-handed weapons, or archery (bows/crossbows) in mounted combat. You can’t use staffs, torches, shields, or spells of any kind.
• Only the weapon equipped in your right hand is used for mounted combat. If you equip a weapon in your left hand, it can’t be used.
• In mounted combat, you wield two-handed weapons with one hand, but they swing much more slowly than one-handed weapons do. You still can’t equip anything in your left hand while using them.

Weapon Attacks

The Left Hand button will use your equipped weapon to attack to the left of the horse. The Right Hand button will use your equipped weapon to attack to the right of the horse. If you hold either the Left or Right Hand buttons, you will draw back and hold your attack until you release the button. This makes it easier to time a “ride-by” attack. This strike is also a power attack (which costs Stamina, hits harder, and does more damage). If you don’t have enough Stamina to perform the power attack, you’ll just perform a regular attack instead, as you would if fighting on foot.

Bow Attacks

Bow attacks work as usual, although you cannot aim behind you. Archery Perks like Eagle Eye (zoom) and Steady Hand (slow time while aiming) will still work, although Ranger (faster movement speed) will not increase your speed while riding a horse.

The Subtleties of Mounted Combat

Once you’re able to maneuver around a group of foes and rip them apart from your steed, consider the following advanced tactics:

• If you’re wielding a one-handed weapon, equip a shield. Even though you can’t actively block with it, the shield still increases your armor rating.
• If you’re a dual-wielding specialist, don’t despair! You may not be able to use your left-hand weapon in mounted combat, but just having it equipped will still allow you to take advantage of the Dual Flurry (faster attack speed) and Dual Savagery (higher power attack damage) Perks, if you have them.
• More generally, any One-Handed, Two-Handed, or Archery Perks you have will still apply during mounted combat, although you may not be able to perform certain attacks (such as directional power attacks) while mounted.
• You can sprint on the horse while attacking. This doesn’t affect your attack in any way (damage, stagger chance, etc.), but it will make it a little easier for you to flee.
• During mounted combat, virtually all incoming damage will be absorbed by your horse. While horses have a fair amount of Health (around 300 points), this damage adds up quickly, and you have no way to heal your horse while mounted. If you aren’t careful, your horse will die, and replacing horses can get expensive fast. If you plan to use mounted combat extensively, you may wish to consider a more sturdy beast (Shadowmere) or one you can recall if he should die (Arvak).
• Mounted combat keeps you and your horse together. Particularly when riding Shadowmere, you may want to consider whether you could be more effective fighting separately.

Advantages of Mounted Combat

• Your horse acts as a damage shield, taking almost all of the damage that you would otherwise suffer.
• Remaining on horseback allows you to move quickly and make a getaway if the combat turns against you.

Disadvantages of Mounted Combat

• Your combat options are much more limited, since you can’t block or cast spells. You may find it more difficult to time and aim your attacks.
• Once you dismount, most horses will usually flee, although this does distract enemies and absorbs damage from anyone who attacks them.
• However, once you dismount, if you’re riding Shadowmere (the Dark Brotherhood’s special horse), he is free to attack, giving you an extra ally in your fight.

Unique Horses: Arvak, Frost, and Shadowmere

There are three unique horses you may wish to seek out:

• Frost: As part of Side Quest: Promises to Keep, you’re tasked with stealing Frost from the Black-Briar Lodge in the Rift. At the end of this quest, you have the option to betray the man who sent you on that mission, Louis Letrush, and keep Frost for yourself. If you do, you gain legal ownership of Frost. Aside from the fact this didn’t cost you any gold, Frost is a normal horse in every other respect.
• Shadowmere: At the start of Dark Brotherhood Quest: The Cure for Madness, Astrid—the leader of the Dark Brotherhood—summons Shadowmere, a powerful steed. From this point forward, you have ownership of Shadowmere. In addition to this not costing you any gold, Shadowmere has other advantages:
• He has twice the stamina and almost five times the health of a normal horse.
• When injured, his health regenerates rapidly, making him extremely difficult for foes to kill.
• He is much more aggressive than a normal horse, fighting with you instead of fleeing from danger.
• With glowing eyes, a unique saddle, and a jet-black mane, Shadowmere is one of the ultimate steeds of Skyrim!

Arvak: Complete Regional Activities: Soul Cairn: Arvak the Spectral Steed*, and find Arvak’s Skull within this realm. Return it to the lost soul in the cairn. In gratitude, the soul teaches you a spell that causes Arvak to appear before you.

Summon Arvak to aid you on your travels. Select Magic > Conjuration > Summon Arvak, and with enough Magicka, you can conjure the spectral horse in the Skyrim Exterior, Blackreach, Forgotten Vale Exterior, Soul Cairn, Dayspring Canyon, and Solstheim Exterior.