Horse (Skyrim)

Horses in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim offer more gameplay options than the Horses in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. There is only one breed of horse in Skyrim, but it comes in five different colors. All except Shadowmere, Arvak (Dawnguard), and Frost, (quest-obtained horses), have the same base health and stamina.

As of Patch 1.6, mounted combat is now available.

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 septims regardless of one's Speechcraft skill.

Once purchased, the 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/fast traveled with is the one that will accompany the player, any other owned horses return to the stable where they were purchased.

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 adds 50 gold to the bounty which can make 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, one 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 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, 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 will 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.

Horses can be earned at the Riften Stables by challenging Hofgrir, the stable owner, to a brawl. Once the battle of fists has been won, he will offer to sell a horse. If this offer is declined, he calls the Dragonborn cheap and lets him ride the Riften horses for free. The free horse will walk away after dismounting.

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 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. {C}

Mounted Combat
As of patch 1.6, mounted combat is now 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 weilded with one hand.

The dragonborn may also utilize a ranged weapon when mounted, however, as the camera is locked to 3rd person whilst riding, this may make it difficult to hit a target accuractly. 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 while the player is mounted.

Loot

 * Horse Meat
 * Horse Hide

Bugs

 * 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.


 * 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.


 * 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.


 * 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.


 * 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.


 * An uncommon glitch can occur while dismounting a horse. The horse will slide away from the Dragonborn, 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.


 * 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.


 * Horses may briefly turn invisible when hit by an Ice Spike.


 * 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.

{C}Лошадь