Horse
Basic Info
Level	4
	289
	0
Stamina	106
	10
Soul Size	Lesser
Base ID	0010982B
Sound

For this creature in other games, see Horse.

Horses are mammals that ease the burden of travel in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. There is only one breed of horse in Skyrim. All horses are a type of draft horse, possibly a Clydesdale or Shire, though horses can be obtained in five colors. Horses can be rented from stables outside of each major city. (Rented means only that the horses live in the stable from which they were purchased. The horse belongs to the player after its purchase.) Special horses are available by completing quests.

All horses have the ability to rear and jump. Of the quest-obtained horses, Shadowmere possesses higher health than a non-unique horse, Arvak (Dawnguard) possesses several unique traits as a summoned creature, and Frost possesses higher stamina than a non-unique horse. Patch 1.6 introduced mounted combat.

Contents 1 Purchasing 2 Types of horses 2.1 Shadowmere 2.2 Frost 2.3 Arvak 3 Borrowing and stealing 4 Riding and mounting 5 Mounted combat 6 Loot 7 Bugs 8 Appearances

Purchasing

With the exception of the three unique horses Shadowmere, Arvak (Dawnguard), and Frost, horses are available for purchase at any of the stables listed below for 1000 regardless of one's Speechcraft skill. All non-unique horses differ in appearance only, and are otherwise identical in performance. Only one of the non-unique horses has a name prior to purchase, which is Queen Alfsigr or Allie for short (spelling is speculative) in Whiterun.

Once purchased, a horse is considered owned and can be identified by the "Player's horse" label on the HUD. One can own multiple types of horses and multiple horses of the same type. The horse last ridden or fast traveled with is the one that accompanies the Dragonborn. Any other owned horses return to the stable where they were purchased.

Stables can be built for manors in Skyrim's Hearthfire DLC. A horse can then be purchased from the chosen Steward.

Types of horses

Horse type	Hold name	Location of purchase	Price
Black	Whiterun	Whiterun Stables	1000
Bay	Eastmarch	Windhelm Stables	1000
Dapple Grey	The Rift	Riften Stables	1000
Paint	The Reach	Markarth Stables	1000
Palomino	Haafingar	Katla's Farm (Solitude)	1000
Frost	The Rift	Special: Quest: "Promises to Keep"	N/A
Shadowmere	Falkreath	Special: Dark Brotherhood questline	N/A
Karinda	Whiterun	Only available through the use of console commands.	N/A
Arvak	Soul Cairn	Special: Dawnguard questline	N/A

Shadowmere

Shadowmere, who makes a reappearance in the game during the Dark Brotherhood questline, is a unique horse. Shadowmere has a breastcollar and fancier saddle than the other horses, as well as a different bridle. It appears to be the same speed and build as the other horses, but is extremely tough and can hold its own against Skyrim's hardiest foes, but please note Shadowmere can be killed in extreme cases of combat or during falls.

Frost

Another unique horse is a palomino stallion called Frost, obtained during the Riften quest Promises to Keep, if the Dragonborn is able to pass the Speech check. Frost can gallop for the same length of time as Shadowmere, but lacks Shadowmere's strength, having the same stats as other palominos.

Arvak

Arvak is added with The Elder Scrolls V: Dawnguard. Arvak can be summoned with the Summon Arvak spell unlocked after completing the quest Find Arvak's Skull. Arvak is an undead horse, with purple flames as tail and manes.

Borrowing and stealing

Stealing horses is considered theft and is a crime against the owner. Mounting a horse that is labeled "Steal horse" is a crime and generates a bounty. Common places to find horses to steal include military camps, (both Stormcloak and Imperial), or forts, as well as being located within war encounters. Each time a stolen horse is mounted, 50 gold is added to the player's bounty, making horse theft an expensive crime. However, it is possible to mount a stolen horse and not incur a bounty if not witnessed by anyone, including the horse, as in previous games. Even if ridden away right in front of the stable/camp guards, there will be no bounty.

Occasionally, the opportunity to borrow a horse is given. A horse that is available to borrow is indicated in the HUD by the simultaneous lack of the "Steal horse" label and the "Player's horse" label. Arguably, the easiest horse to borrow is from the Riften Stables. After completing the quest for the stable hand Shadr, or defeating Hofgrir Horse-Crusher in a brawl, he will allow a horse to be borrowed from the stables. However, this horse will walk away after dismounting, as stolen horses do.

Bandits dressed as a faction may be encountered. They say that this is none of the Dragonborn's business and will attack. Once they are dead one will find a horse that can be ridden. This doesn't count as stolen but it will leave when dismounted as stolen horses do.

During the Civil war quests you have the opportunity to attack a broken down cart with weapons and gold, after the guards are dispatched you are able to ride the horse that would have been attached to the cart. It has no saddle so you'll be riding it bareback and once you dismount it will wander off. Fast traveling puts the horse back at your position and you can remount it.

Riding and mounting

One can walk, (by toggling run off), canter, (run), and gallop, (sprint), at one's unmounted walk, run and sprint speeds, and will possess greater stamina and strength while mounted that allows for greater load capacity and sprint time. This increased load capacity while mounted allows for fast traveling while overburdened. In addition to their increased strength and stamina, horses can also charge through and leap over obstacles with similar restrictions as the unmounted player character. As with unmounted navigation, larger obstacles will pose similar problems. If a player presses the jump button while the horse is walking or standing still, the horse will rear and neigh. This has no effect except to slide the horse backwards a little. Horses can also swim, although they are slightly slower than the player. Horses can easily die from fall damage, so one should be careful when riding in mountainous terrain.

Horses cannot be ridden inside houses, tombs, or other marked locations that require going through a door. They can be ridden into Orc Strongholds. When approaching the gate, the player must simply press the button to open the door, though no prompt will appear, and the gate will open for the horse. If a player fast travels into a city, the horse will be found at the stable outside the city. For cities without stables, the player will remain on the horse and will be able to ride it around the area.

Horses are usually non-aggressive and will often flee when dismounted in combat situations. However, horses have been regularly observed attacking aggressors or even defending the player character which can lead to their untimely and expensive death. Horses often pursue the target and are sometimes hard to find after doing so. It is not advised to let a horse to go anywhere near a Dragon as even the weakest Dragon will be able to kill the strongest horse in one gust of breath. * This is not true with Shadowmere and Frost, but care should be taken nonetheless.

Followers cannot ride horseback and will quickly fall behind a mounted player. To compensate for this discrepancy in traveling speed the player can utilize the "wait" feature to allow for the follower(s) to catch up.

Mounted combat

As of patch 1.6, mounted combat is available. When wielding a melee weapon a player can swing either side of the horse using either the primary or secondary attack buttons. Note that since the attack buttons are used to decide the direction the swing is unleashed, it is impossible to block or attack with a secondary weapon although power attacks are still possible. Some two-handed weapons (e.g. Warhammer) can be wielded with one hand.

The Dragonborn may also utilize a ranged weapon when mounted, however, as the camera is locked to 3rd person whilst riding, it may be difficult to hit a target accurately. It helps if the player has the Archery perks Eagle Eye and Steady Hand.

Spells and shouts (e.g. Aura Whisper) cannot be initiated from horseback, but you can dismount, cast your spell, remount and the effect will be sustained for its normal duration. Similarly, spells that normally can be toggled on or off (e.g. Night-Eye) cannot be used while the player is mounted.

Loot

• Horse Meat
• Horse Hide

Bugs

Click to see the full list of bugs

PC   360   PS3  A bug that may occur very rarely sometimes when dismounting a horse, The horse flies a mile away, Although neither the Dragonborn nor the horse gets hurt. This bug is very common on the PC version and an update has fixed this bug on every platform.  PC   A bug that may occur is sliding a long way back while rearing. This will usually put one about seven or eight strides behind where the horse reared, and happens most often in rough or hilly terrain.  360   After mounting the horse, the Dragonborn will float in the air in the sitting position with the player still controlling the horse, giving the impression of becoming the horse being ridden. The rider will also move and rock back and forth while floating in the air. The Dragonborn reappears when the horse is dismounted.  360   One must have the ability to turn into a Werewolf, wait 1 hour, then before transforming back, get on the Horse. The camera will switch to the horse and show a Werewolf transforming back to a humanoid, then disappearing behind the horse. It is risky, (many have experienced crashing of the game and the map disappearing). Needs Confirmation on PS3. This also happens on the PC, except it forces one to transform into a Werewolf, being ejected off of the horse and causing the glitch.  PC   360   PS3  If one rides a horse to the water he will start to swim, but if dismounted and then remounted, the horse will start walking as if on solid ground and will be able to canter and gallop as long as it stays on the water, but if leaves the water and reenters, the process will have to be repeated. This is very useful when traveling a long distance over water.  PC   Another bug that involves water, which is also very useful when traveling long distances over water is that if the horse is in front of a waterfall and jumps while moving forward the horse will float over the water and land on the surface on top of the waterfall.  360    PS3   The horse might slide away from the Dragonborn when dismounting, regardless of terrain. It can slide up mountain sides, but will float on air if the ground slopes beneath it. The camera will also follow the horse until it stops sliding. The Dragonborn can also be attacked and killed while the horse is moving, and will be unable to respond or perform any actions until the glitch stops.  360   Occasionally when the Dragonborn dismounts a stolen horse, the horse will launch into the air, often dying upon landing. May also occur with owned horses.  360   Horses may briefly turn invisible when hit by an Ice Spike.  360   When fast traveling to the College of Winterhold on horseback, the horse normally appears at the beginning of the the path, in Winterhold. The Horse may accompany the player who arrives on horseback in the usual spot as if not on horseback. It's very dangerous, as the horse, basically being a rectangle of graphics, will clip above the walls of the walkway, causing it to run off of the path onto the rocks/water below along with the rider. Travelers on horses may spin around while riding the horse  360   Despite the 1.6 update, for some unknown reason you cannot seem to do mounted combat. This is unknown as to whether it is a bug or was purposely intended.

Appearances

• The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall (First appearance)
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Creatures and Enemies (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)
Animals	Bear • Cave Bear • Chicken • Cow • Deer • Dog • Elk • Fox • Goat • Hawk • Horker • Horse Ice Wolf • Mammoth • Mudcrab • Rabbit • Sabre Cat • Skeever • Slaughterfish • Snow Bear • Snow Fox • Wolf
Creatures	Chaurus • Frostbite Spider • Frost Troll • Giant • Hagraven • Ice Wraith • Spriggan • Troll
Daedra	Dremora • Flame Atronach • Frost Atronach • Storm Atronach
Undead	Corrupted Shade • Dragon Priest • Draugr • Magic Anomaly • Skeleton Subjugated Ghost • Wisp • Wispmother • Vampire
Animunculi	Dwarven Centurion • Dwarven Sphere • Dwarven Spider
Dragons	Dragon • Blood Dragon • Frost Dragon • Elder Dragon • Ancient Dragon • Skeletal Dragon

Start a Discussion Discussions about Horse (Skyrim)

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  Glitches with my horse!

  28 messages
  • 
    TodKarlson
    Just experienced a funny bug with the horse.  It was standing a little close when I started mining an iron ore deposit and somehow it bec... 2013-02-16T14:48:45Z
  • 
    A Wikia contributor
    my horse died bought a new one and it says its my hourse and he or she walks away all the time what can I do???  2013-05-12T23:59:30Z
• 

  horses

  3 messages
  • 
    A Wikia contributor
    shadowmere is a great horse get it its awesome!!!! (: 2013-05-10T19:14:42Z
  • 
    AlxCj
    it's probably a bug... just ignore it... 2013-05-10T19:27:05Z

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