The Witcher 3 Remastered Updated Horse Controls

Roach rides noticeably better in The Witcher 3 Remastered thanks to several tweaks. The update improves steering, collision avoidance, mounting and dismounting animations, and general responsiveness while riding. Here are all the different changes made to horse riding in The Witcher 3 Remastered.

All Roach Changes in The Witcher 3 Remastered

Change	What It Does
Improved Steering	Roach responds more precisely when changing direction and making smaller adjustments.
Horse Control Input Sensitivity	Adds a slider that lets you adjust how strongly Roach reacts to directional input.
Improved Collision Avoidance	Roach automatically handles nearby obstacles more effectively while riding.
Improved Mounting	Geralt can mount Roach more smoothly when approaching from different directions or while moving.
Improved Dismounting	New animations make getting off Roach smoother, including while moving.
Updated Canter and Gallop Animations	Roach’s faster movement animations have been polished.
Loot While Mounted	Geralt can collect nearby loot, including herbs, without dismounting Roach.

If you remember Roach getting caught on trees or feeling slightly floaty when turning, those are the areas where the Remastered changes are easiest to notice.

You can call Roach towards you by using the whistle

Roach Handles Better in Remastered

Roach feels more precise when turning and making small directional adjustments. This is most noticeable when riding off-road, through forests, or around settlements where you have to steer around obstacles and trees instead of relying on the automatic road-following.

Horse Control Input Sensitivity

The Witcher 3 Remastered also adds a Horse Control Input Sensitivity slider under the Controls menu. Lower it if handling Roach’s directional changes feel too abrupt, or raise it if you want stronger responses to directional input.

Improved Obstacle Avoidance

Roach is better at automatically avoiding trees and other nearby obstacles while riding off-road. Geralt also has new animations where he leans to either side when passing close to objects, making movement through forests feel smoother. Roach is also noticeably more responsive and consistent when there are hurdles in your way that can be jumped over such as small broken bridges or fences.

Mounting and Dismounting Roach Is Smoother

Geralt can now mount Roach more naturally when approaching from different directions or while moving. You don’t have to position yourself in the exact spot to mount Roach anymore, which is a much needed quality of life change. Dismounting is also smoother, with different animations depending on your movement speed and whether you’re in combat or not.

Cantering and Galloping Look Smoother

Roach’s cantering and galloping animations have also been improved, making transitions between riding speeds feel and look less abrupt. The existing road-following system still works as before, so Roach can continue automatically following paths while you hold the gallop or cantering input.

You Can Loot Herbs While Riding Roach

Geralt can now collect nearby loot without dismounting Roach, including herbs and other harvestable items. This makes exploration and resource collection much less tedious and is a great quality of life update.

Do Roach’s Old Controls Still Work in Witcher 3 Remastered?

Yes. Under Settings > Controls, you can turn ‘Use New Horse Controls’ off to restore Roach’s Original handling.

With the new controls enabled, you get access to the Horse Control Input Sensitivity slider. Switching back to ‘Original’ removes that option and returns Roach to the legacy steering behavior. Roach’s other familiar systems still work as before, including stamina, automatic road-following, jumping, and fear around enemies.

Roach’s improved handling is one of the most noticeable changes in the Witcher 3 Remastered. Better yet, you can tweak around with it further by checking out the new modding system.