Horse (Skyrim)

Horses in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim offer more gameplay options, on a whole, than did Horses in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. There is only one breed of horses in Skyrim, but it comes in five different colours, all horses have the same base health and stamina, with Shadowmere being the only exception. Horses will die from a big drop and so it is wise you stick to paths and roads, than go off roading on a horse.

Purchasing
With the exception of the two unique horses Shadowmere and Frost, horses are available for purchase at any of the stables listed below for 1000 Septims regardless of your Speechcraft skill. Here can be seen how to obtain Shadowmere, the best horse in the game.

Ownership
Once purchased, the horse is considered owned and can be identified by the "[player]'s horse" Label on the HUD. You can own multiple types of horses and multiple horses of the same Type. The horse that you have ridden and fast traveled with most recently is the one that will accompany you; other owned horses return to the stable where they were purchased.

Borrowing and Stealing
Stealing horses is always considered theft and is therefore a crime against the owner. Mounting a horse that is labeled "Steal horse" will result in a crime. Common places to find horses to steal include military camps or forts, as well as being located within war encounters. Each time you mount a stolen horse will add 50 gold to your bounty which can make horse theft a highly expensive crime.

Seldomly you will be given the opportunity to borrow a horse. A horse that is available to borrow is indicated in the HUD by the simultaneous lack of the 'steal' tag 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, he will allow you to borrow a horse from the stables. However, this horse will run away after dismounting, as stolen horses do.

Riding and Mounting
You can canter (run) and gallop (sprint) speed equal to your best unmounted run and sprint speeds but 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.

Horses are mostly non-aggressive and will generally flee when you dismount 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.

Followers cannot ride horseback and will quickly fall behind if you travel while mounted on a Horse. To compensate for this discrepancy in travelling speed the player can utilize the "wait" feature to allow for the Follower(s) to catch up.