So I was wandering around Skyrim, started from Whiterun and was heading to Riften or Ivarstead (can't recall). Anyways I fought some bandits along the way and after the fight I see a horse just standing there. I immediately assume that it will pop up as "steal horse" but to my suprise it said "ride horse" so I mounted it and rode all the way to Riften or Ivarstead. I finish up whatever I was doing and leave without taking the horse because it wandered off. Then after awhile of more traveling to different places and picking up certain quests it always seems to find me as if I own it. Even when I fast travel to different holds it always appears at the stables...? I didn't buy this horse, is it possible it's owner died and I assumed the role as new owner? The wierd thing is whenever I dismount it always wanders off, so it doesn't really act like I own it.

Sorry if this is old news I just find this a bit odd.

I've had this the last couple of days as well.

I bought a horse at Whiterun, rode it around once or twice, and then it always appeared when I fast travelled somewhere. Eventually, it stopped appearing, and I assumed it had been killed. A few days ago, I fast travelled a bit, and each time there was this 'new' horse appearing, which I could ride. It wasn't the horse I bought, and it never stayed where I parked it, and always wandered off as soon as I dismounted or fast travelled someplace (on foot). I've also noticed that I have been able to mount several other horses around the place as well...including one tonight that I found nudging a dead bandit marauder.

I'm going to buy another horse just to see if that clears the random one that seems to follow me around. In any case, it sure beats the dead hargraven that used to appear when I fast travelled places...that was just too weird.

none owned horses will always make their way back to where you got them from

Lol @ the hagraven I only had that happen to me a couple times. That sounds almost exactly like what I've expierienced except I never bought a horse with this character - at least I don't think I did, I'm pretty sure I didn't though.

I did find a horse next to its dead master who was killed by bandits, and I was surprised that attempting to ride it didn't come with the "steal horse" option - it was free. I then rode it to Whiterun and left it in the stables, thinking it would stay there, but the horse immediately started walking off to who knows where (back to it's dead master?). As it was free, I didn't bother to follow it and went about my business.

If you borrow a horse, as you have, it will try to go home after you dismount. Same as if you steal it. But, if you Fast Travel again before it gets home, then it will travel with you, even it if it is halfway across the map when you fast travel. It probably does this because it is not stolen where as a stolen horse just goes home. I had to wait about 73 game hours (which I did for another reason) before the horse finally made it home. Or it died. But, it quit following me around.

How odd this just happened to me yesterday. I was doing the civil war quests and cleared a fort and a horse was there. Just for some pics I mounted it. Got off and moved on. Now everytime I fast travel the horse appears beside me. I honestly don't want it but I hate to kill it just to get it to stop following me around.

This happened to me one time. I was going back and forth getting my loot from a ruins and suddenly there was a horse standing there waiting for me and it wasn't stolen. I had it for a few days till it finally just wandered off on its own somehwere, Never to be seen again.

Just wait 73 hours after it wanders off.

This has happened to me a bunch of times. There are free horses all over skyrim, just as there are free beds if you know where to look (not just bedrolls, but actual beds).

I don't think this is a spoiler, but there's always a free bandit horse behind whiterun from the beginning of the game. Go outside the gates, turn right, and follow the rocky perimiter as if making your way to the northern watch towers (whitewatch).

There are 3 levels of horse ownership:
- purchased: will stay wherever you dismount. Will fast travel with you. Will attack your enemies in range.
- found: will go back home after dismount. Will fast travel with you. Will only defend itself.
- stolen: will go back home after dismount. Will not fast travel with you. Every time you mount it is a new crime.

At level 37, I have avoided horses up until this point. Last night, I was exiting Riften with Iona when an elder dragon attacked. There were lots of guards and npc's around so I concentrated on healing Iona and allowed her to the do the dirty work in order to avoid a bounty. Unfortunately, several guards and the entire riften stable workers perished. I looted their bodies and got keys to the riften stable. Entered the stable and could take (not steal) anything I wanted. Then, went outside and "rode" not stole horse. It was my first horse ride since Oblivion, and after a distance, I dismounted and the horse started walking off... I presume back to the Riften stable. Not sure how this plays out, or if anyone eventually takes over the stable, but it would have been great to earn the stable house, and a horse early in the game if it should remain abandoned.

Co-incidentally this just happened to me for the first time today. I was walking back to Riften, admiring the scenery, when I spotted a horse standing next to a dead bandit. When I walked up to it I got the "ride horse" option so I got on (I've never owned a horse with my current character). I rode it to Riften stables, thinking that perhaps I could sell it, but when I dismounted it wandered off. I followed it just to satisfy my curiosity and it went back to the spot I found it, by the dead bandit. I thought it was just faithful dogs that stayed with their dead masters?

This happened to me too. I was wondering why it kept following me, I guess it was the 73 hour thing.

Even weirder, for a while, there was a horse in the Solitude stables named as 'my horse', as if I owned it, even though I never bought it. I eventually took it with me and it either got lost or killed, I can't really remember, but it never came back and now there's an empty space for where that horse used to be in Solitude.

Also, soon after this, a non-owned horse that looked like a Solitude horse started appearing in Riften. This wasn't the free horse you can take in Riften after you help out the stable boy. That one was there as well, so in total there's 3 horses in Riften for me now. One owned by the stables that has the Riften color pattern, another one also owned by the stables that has the Solitude color pattern, and the third one, Riften breed, that's the free horse I can just take.

If anyone can explain what all that is about, I'm eager to listen. I stopped using horses as a regular basis some time ago and I lost track of all these strange things.

I recently saw one that was "Ride"able, but I kept running because I was afraid it would bug my owned one out and I would end up having to buy another.

Fixes mentioned don't always seem to work.

I found a free horse near Bleakcoast Cave at what looks like a small hunter's camp.

Now it always appears when I fast travel.

So, I fast travelled to Bleakcoast Cave. Sure enough, it walked home, then stopped.

However, on fast travel, there it is again. Waited 73 hours, fast travel, still turning up.

Had a nice free horse a while back, turns out it could open gates too. I tried trapping it in an Orc stronghold while I sorted out some quest details with a local and when I turned round it was off.
Maybe how it got out there in the first place.

I joined Thieves Guild and now I can take the horses in Riften Stables like I own them

They will always try to go back to Riften, yes, but the issue here is that they're horses that I am supposed to buy

And not just the saddled one. The two of 'em are ridable

If it's the one I think you mean by the over-hang, it's marked as "steal" in my game. Shame.

Even if stuff belongs to dead people, you can take as much as you want off of their dead body, crime free. But take their food. Sleep in their bed. "Borrow" their PREVIOUSLY owned horse before they are killed (not neccessarily by you) and you are marked as a thief (ie you have stolen items from a dead person).

I wish the ownership flag would change (especially for a certain murderer in Windhelm after he's dead), so you could take over their horse, sweetroll, bed, whatever. Surely it would have been quite simple to impliment. (Though possibly glitch the game even more. But that doesn't seem to have been a major design concern so far, eh? )

It may not be allowed because it may encourage people to murder for their items so that's why it hasn't been implimented. And we can't have Skyrim encouraging people to do horrific things like that now, can we...?

EDIT: Unbalance the game? Well, in regard to horses, the amount of horses I go through in one day due to their own 1000g's worth of intellect and desire to be Dragon fodder, bandit practice, Saber tooth tooth sharpeners or a giant's giant baseball, -especially right in the middle of nowhere, I think I know where the word "unbalanced" would fit in.

Failing any hope of the above, a "STAY!" command would be nice. But I guess even the dogs don't respond to that...

Sorry. A bit jaded today.