They say these horses are hearty and strong, but they seem to be sluggish and move very awkwardly. Even Clydesdale horses can run with some finesse and agility. The jumping is also very weak. I kinda hope they work on that. In addition, I would really like to see the different breeds have different attributes to them, such as, speed, stamina, strength, and even willingness to fight or flight.

Yeah, the lack of variety in horses is disappointing.

I've gone back to playing Red Dead Redemption, and I was blown away by the huge increase in quality with the horses. They move faster, they take more hits, they move realistically, and they actually are necessary.

I understand Bethesda not wanting to force us to get horses, but they could have at least made them appealing. So far, here's my pro and con list for horses:

Pro:
They come in a variety of colors
They're slightly faster than you are
They have little to no regard for the laws of physics
They're pretty inexpensive
They allow you to circumvent carrying capacity

Cons:
All the horses (save two named ones) are completely identical stats wise
They get killed often because they run headlong into battle with little regard for what it is they're trying to kill
You can't interact with the world while riding them, and the time it takes to get on and off them is considerable
You can't name them
They aren't that much faster than you, and unless you pay no regard to stamina when you level up, you'll soon be able to sprint much further than they can
No first person view
They aren't all that impressive to look at
You can't really find any in the wild

All in all, I find horses to be more trouble than they're worth in the long run.

I agree, that they are really easy to kill. Too easy. I would also like to see saddlebags added for carrying. You are basically riding a work horse and they aren't working all that hard, they are meant to be able to take weight if needed to. I love that mounted combat is coming to my version. That is a big bonus. Also, they need to fix the torce while you are riding. In Oblivion, you could ride your horse and hold your torch with one hand, in Skyrim, you hold no torch; Although you can equip it; the light seems to emit from your character's crotch. So, essentially you have a fire lit under your balls, which doesn't really suit.

http://i.imgur.com/Xaoka.jpg

I never even used a horse. The only time I ever rode one was when it was forced upon me during a quest. I have another one too (which I didn't want but as a reward during a certain quest line) but I have no idea where the hell it went.

I would only use a horse for one reason.

That reason would be if I have collected and killed everything along the pathway, and I'm simply saving myself some time.

I would not a buy a horse, for there are a handful of dead owners around Skyrim. It's much faster and less expensive to use the carriages.

Every one of my characters collect ingredients, so using a horse in general is a major inconvenience. I'd much rather just walk.

Plus, they die almost as fast as dogs do, except for Shadowmere, perhaps.

I'm not complaining, just stating how I feel about them.

I'd like to see a Wild Stallions mod where you'd have packs of horses running wild in the wilderness. Instead of buying a horse i'd like to try and break in a wild one instead. There could be a perk tree for horse abilities...i don't know...it just sounds fun.

I call Skyrim horses, Phat Poneh's.
I enjoyed Oblivion's horses because of the speed they had, oh and they weren't fat ass horses....

My theory: Skyrim Horses are slow because they are fat, they must have been eating the pigs growth hormone spell effected food. >.>.....

I would like it if Beth made horses a little faster, skinnier, and add more of a variety of horses. UNICORNS? A pegasus just so we can fly... I own a PS3, so I will never be able to fly in Skyrim without falling to my doom.. x.x..

There should definitely be an Equestrian skill tree, especially now that the game has mounted combat (if you're not on the PS3 anyway *grumble*).

I'm a fan of horses and I do enjoy taking them on little joyrides once in a while, but I certainly don't travel on horseback for the convenience of it. What's the point in a steed when my character can run faster and for greater distances on her own two feet? It's just an inefficient way of getting around.

There is a mod with wild horses. Real Wildlife has them. The Steam only mod Wild Horses... Has wild horses.