After reading and hearing about Shadowmere I finally got him.

So what is the big deal? I thought he would be as fast as the wind but he seems to be the same speed as any other horse.

Level 50
Superfast Healing Rate
Glowing Red Eyes
Black Handprint on his Blanket

Maybe it's because he looks the coolest? He's also pretty much unkillable so if you want, you can watch from a distance as he kills dragons. It takes a really long time but he always wins.

I don't ride horses all that often because the visual is too awkward. But he does go with you everywhere, even if you FT when not riding him. The annoying thing is that he doesn't seem to be there that often when you come out of a dungeon, overloaded with loot, thinking that he's going to be there.

I haven't had that problem yet. FWIW I always put him right up by the door/entrance though. I am paranoid about him running off to fight something if the entrance is right on a road.

He can sprint for twice as long compared to any other horse, he's MUCH tougher in combat, has more health, etc.

And he also looks hardcoe as all hell.

He does stay put (so far) when you get off him. That's a plus.

Then you haven't dismounted within any kind of range of a 'red dot'. He'll charge right at any enemies that are hostile to you...even go up stairs.

THAT could be interesting. That I gotta see.

Yeah, that's another thing about him/her. Shadowmere's health and combat health regen are ridiculously high, s/he's been known to tank dragons on Master apparently. S/he's not essential/unkillable like in Oblivion, but the only way for him/her to die is to leap off a mountain or a fall a long way.

Is there any way to keep regular horses from wandering off? I'm on level 41 now and I have just discovered my first free horse to ride and it wandered away when I got off it.

I agree about the visuals, plus you can't graze on all the ingredients you stroll by wandering around on foot.

Horses that are stolen or found on world encounters always end up going back to where you originally found them once you dismount. The only ones that stay where you dismount them are horses you buy, Shadowmere, and Frost if you chose to keep him after the "Promises to Keep" quest.

She's an immortal demon horse from the void, is there a bigger deal to be had with a horse?

Yeah,i thought that too until i ran into a briarheart guy that took two swings at shadowmere and killed him outright...i was shocked and slightly angry.

Well that's plenty discouraging. I've just read things about Shadowmere being an unstoppable killing machine. On all my characters, I completely flip out whenever something attacks him/her and run in to slaughter them immediately. Not taking chances with my horsie. ;o;