I like to ride my horses. Fast travel is fine for map edge-to-edge travel, but if it's just around the hill, I'll ride or walk. I have a very nice Appaloosa-colored horse at Windstad that's my favorite, and I've named him Storm due to the color of his coat. (Not sure if each house always spawns the same color horse for that particular locale. My Lakeview has a Palomino, and Heljarchen has a Black).

I arrived at Windstad to drop off some food for my housecarl, steward and bard. Having finished within the house, I stepped outside and walked right into a bandit attack! Storm was being chased by the bandit leader, and having my hands full with three other bandits (everyone else was inside ), I couldn't go to his immediate rescue.

Finishing off the bandit lackeys, I charged down the hill in the hope of saving my horse. The fact the bandit leader was headed back up the hill didn't bode well, which made me rather angry. I immediately immolated him with YOL TOOR SHUL , then cut his throat with my Glass Dagger of Malediction, trapping his damnable soul in a Black Soul Gem I obtained in a previous foray with a Dragon Priest.

It being night, I had to search carefully amongst the marsh bracken and rocks, but I eventually found my dappled companion -- dead by the water's edge. Saddened, I headed back to the house to ask Brelyna to find me a new horse. She wasn't inside, so I went back out to the front of the house, and -- lo and behold - there stood Storm, right next to the stable!

Ok, narrative over. Are Hearthfire horses immune to death?

No. They usually don't respawn, either. Sounds like you benefited from a glitch!

Interesting!
Do you know about the types of horses that you get at each house? Does it always work out that Lakeview gets a Palamino, Hleljarchen a Black and Windstad an Appaloosa for every character? Or are the horses randomly assigned by the game to each house for different characters?

well for my houses this exactly what i received

I don't know for sure (I avoid buying horses, as I never use them), but I'd expect they'd be random. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will weigh in on this, though!

Hmm, ninja'd already!