First horse I ever bought lasted about 15 minutes, before we fought off a dragon, then a pack of wolves, then he got killed by a saber cat. (all random encounters)

Second horse I bought lasted about 5 minutes before something similar happened (Different set of bad guys!)

Third horse I found at an abandoned camp. I guess the guy was dead so his horse was there for the taking. I literally walked 100 yards in game distance before another pack of wolves killed him.



Unless they make some changes to the horse thing I'm just not bothering.

I buy a horse, I end up trying to follow a faint trail that passes as a road, I fall, horse dies, I'm out a grand.

I used a horse once and found it to be too much trouble...I personally enjoy walking/running everywhere despite the distance. I say nay, but it depends on you.

Horses are useless. They aren't fast and logistics will bore you really quickly.

Say, you're wondering with your horse,

• Saw a bear? If you immediately drop of the horse, your horse will get pissed and start attacking the bear, if you're playing on higher difficulties, bear may kill your horse before you get a chance to draw your weapon/spell.
  
• See a rare herb? Get off your horse, and pick it up, get on it again.
  
• See a dragon far away? Try to find a place where nothing will attack your horse, but will be close and distinctive enough that neither the horse or dragon will attack each other, and will allow you to find it again after you kill the dragon.
  
• Dragon jumps on you before you could see it? Tough luck, because that horse will attack the dragon no matter what. And the dragon will probably ignore your attempts to take it away from the horse and will land on the horse as soon as you get out of the range.
  
• You use a follower? LOLOLOLOL

This game really relies on your character to be on foot. Constantly getting of the horse to actually DO stuff gets very old, very fast.

Price? 1k gold? Pfft, pocket change. My characters don't loot anything below glass/ebony, I'm still swimming in gold just by looting smart. Last time I was encumbered was a week ago, for looting 2 dragons on a row. So price is not an issue, the issue is the mechanic itself.

Its kind of like putting your armor away before you sleep, utterly useless mechanic wise, perfectly logical role-playing wise.

TL;DR Don't use them, they're not worth the time you spend on them, they are only worth it, if, you like role-playing. Even then it gets old.

I play exclusively in third person because I find I can see the enemies behind me much better and I do use a horse but I also have the mod that makes horses essential. In Oblivion, if you put your horse somewhere it stayed there. In Skyrim, the horse doesn't. It's a pain if the horse attacks but making it essential (while really a cheat) does give you what Oblivion already gave.

Isn't the point of playing a role playing game to role play?

A tip if you are having trouble controlling your horse (it took me awhile to get used to). Always use the forward button to move ('w' key on PC) and if you need to make a tight turn, hold down shift/toggle caps lock (if in always run mode) to move slowly, using your mouse to turn. You can also sprint by holding down alt (some don't seem to realize this).

I can't make myself buy one.

I have found some and used them and it's kinda cool, but completely impractical for anything. Having to dismount to fight anything is a major pain. Seeing your companion follow behind on foot is just wrong.

If I ever buy one it will be just for the look of it. But other than that I don't think they are worth it.

NOTE: I would have given anything to have had one in MW.

The reason why having a horse is so good in situations like this (especially for my stealth archer), is that you can turn around and sprint away, dismount, and then sneak back up. Very valuable for playing DiD, or those who despise the reload button.

BTW seeing a companion lagging behind seems to verify that horses really are faster than travelling on foot (contrary to what others are saying).

I like having a horse. It can be a pain sometimes but it just makes it so much quicker traveling from place to place. And also, horses let you fast travel even if you're over-encumbered.

They're great when moving all my crap to a new house in one trip. That's about it.

For me horses are very eager to commit suicide against the first semi-hostile whatever they detect. It's like every horse in Skyrim was gifted with Shadowmere's mental problems.

My playing style involves collecting lots of ingredients and if you're on a hoss that's not going to happen. I prefer to get around on foot as this allows you to take in the scenery better.

Now is it true that if I load myself up with 1000 pounds of Dwemer junk I can still get on my horse and travel normal speed to the nearest blacksmith?

If that's is true it may be worth having a horse for that reason alone.

If I can clear a dwemer ruin out. Fast travel to town. Grab my horse. Fast travel back. Load up. Get on horse and ride back to town. Doable?

So far i have to say i usually never ride a horse but since i found out i can fast travel while over encumbered they went up few points on my consideration ...and 1000 gold that is nothing i just started the game for the third time iam lvl 12 have almost 30000 gold 1 horse and the house in Whiterun fully equiped.
So having a horse helps for loot: usually i go and kill everything on the dungeon then track back to the entrance grabbing everything that isnt nailed down hop on my horse and sell the stuff on the nearest city

Don't care for them. Find them more of a pain than a help. I just run or fast travel.

Yes, get a horse.

1. A horse will let you fast travel when you are encumbered.
2. A horse is faster than sprinting (which depends on your stamina) and certainly faster than non-sprint running.
3. Horses are better at ascending terrain you couldn't do on foot
4. The $1000 price tag is steep at the game's start, but it doesn't take long for it to be a forgettable sum of money.


The only reason NOT to get a horse is that they sometimes decide to attack enemies you'd rather pass up. Its annoying, but infrequent, and as a counterbalance the horse has drawn the aggro off me on numerous occasions.

^ Dont forgot you if you hit any drops the horse goes Splat and they are super aggressive at lest all the one I brought are. Dismount anywhere there a bad guy in sight you better be ready to save your horse from his kamikaze charge of doooom!!.

barely ever used a horse. the inability to leave your horse behind and go on foot really annoyed the crap out of me. if i want to leave my horse in the stables and head into the mountains, i should have that option... but as soon as you fast travel, he is right there with you.

If there was mounted combat in this game, horses would totally be worth it.

If Bethesda released a mounted combat DLC, I would totally buy that. Then they could sell a horse armor DLC again

I've only busted my horse's back once, so I don't consider that a really common problem. Then again, I'm not jumping off low cliffs very much either.

As for the horse in combat, I tend not to worry about it. I've progressed far enough that a $1000 replacement is cheaper than dirt.

good for traversing steep mountain faces but beyond that they are pretty useless. added to the fact you cant fight from horse mount. it an enemy get to you he will have a first hit advantage cuz u have to take the time to get off the horse and prep your weapons. you can pack mule them too but i wouldn't recommend it unless its for a quick trip to town or something. and if they die then thats gold you cant replace. i only used a horse once and it got killed. havent needed one since. most of the sidequests you do will take you to a new place on the map and ususally u can just fast travel to the nearest visited locations and walk from there, or at least thats what i do. so its really up to you mate

yep. i mean i would be happy if we could at least shoot arrows from horseback. hell Zelda ocarina of time on the N64 had that. Perhaps someone can mod that into the game once the CK is released

You can't climb mountains when on a horse.

I have climbed up the mountain that leads to High Hrothgar without setting foot on the stairs. I did not know they existed, I ran straight from Whiterun to the mountain and just zigzag+jumped my way to the top. It took me a while but sure was worth it.
Climbing is surprisingly easy actually, I learned the talent back in Fallout 3...


As for horses I've stolen a few but they always return to where I got them when jumping off them. No horse combat. I have no idea how to tell the horse to stay where I leave it
Plus, I've killed myself more than a few times when jumping off cliffs on a horse. On feet I can easily maneuver my drop and land well, but the horse forces itself to dive forward, maximizing the drop and killing us both.

IF they'd just put in fighting from horseback than I'd say they're usefull...right now my stamina is so high I can sprint for 2 min straight....then I need an asthma inhaler.

I hate that if I agro somehting...I gotta hop off my horse to deal with it.

Spears would be awsome in this game...why no spears?!

Best and worst horse, since if you decide you don't want a horse following you to your fast travels, you cannot ever get rid of him since he's invincible.

I like the regular horses myself. Nice and disposable. If I get bored of having a horse, I just drive him off a cliff, break his back, watch my character flop around on the floor helplessly for a few seconds, then I cut myself a chunk out of dear ol binky and I'm on my way.