Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim How To Get A Horse
With a world as large as Skyrim, you don’t want to waste any time getting a Horse. They’re very easy to obtain, doesn’t take very long and is available straight after the introduction. This Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim How To Get A Horse Guide will give you the basic information to buy your own horse.
Once you escape Helgen Keep, you need to head to Whiterun to buy your Horse. If you’re just started, following our Character Creation guide will make sure you have enough cash by the time you arrive at Riverwood. To get to Whiterun, head South East from Helgen Keep until you reach the stones, from there follow the road East and eventually you’ll arrive at Whiterun stables.
To obtain your Horse simply speak with the guy at the stables and he’ll offer to sell you the Horse for 1000 gold. You should have enough to cover that if you’ve gathered enough loot before this point.
Check out our Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Walkthrough Guide for all our guides, including Housing, Trainers, and Treasure Maps. We’ve also got a Tips and Tricks article that tells you how to get Free Skill Training, how to get rare artifacts and more!
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You can also get a horse for free in Riften.
Inside the Bee and something Inn there is a guy that wants you to speak to maeven Black-Briars son that is in jail. He wants you to speak with him and get the bloodlines paper and such for the Black-Briar horse “frost”. not to spoil anything from the quest itself, but in the end you can threaten or with high enough speech persuade him to give you the horse. Free white horse named “frost” 🙂
this article is a lie, you cannot purchase a horse at riverwood.
Anon, you should learn to read before questioning the validity of the guide. It simply says you should have enough gold by the time you get to riverwood. Following that it says you buy the horse at whiterun stables.
You can also have a (beautiful black/white!) free horse following the South road below Riverwood, the one going on along the big lake..at a point, there is just after a rock a location that is apparently a random encounters area; everytime i got there (ideal area for hunting^), i had new weird encounters..but at one time, i noticed a dead horse on the floor(!)..but also a beautiful one near the river ; apparently his rider was killed(!)..just needed to pick him up. problem; apparently, every time i roe out, he wanted to go back to his location..and no stables in riverwood..was early in the game, so no whiterun yet..i did the mistake to let him outside when i needed to go sleep a little in riverwood, he seemed to wait outside the town..but after i woke up he disappeared^! but im sure if we have stables he could stay, arf)
There’s also a horse ready to be stolen (no bounty apparently) found on the way to Lvarstead from Riverwood. Somwhere between Helgen and Lvarstead. I found it everytime I was heading off for High Hrothgar or going back to Riverwood
Hello Captain,
Even though this guide is about obtaining horses, it might be worth adding into this guide a little more information about horses as a companion for your character once purchased.
For instance;
– even if you do not choose to ride your horse across Skyrim, leaving it behind, your purchased horse will always show up outside the gate of whatever main city you exit. Also while exiting caves and dungeons. This is not true with stolen horses, or mounts that are randomly found in the wild.
– horses will defend themselves against wild animals, including dragons! They will rear up and kick, dealing damage to the attacker. However, you must be dismounted in order for this to happen.
– your purchased horse can die!
– you cannot fight enemies while riding your horse even when the attacker is at your horse’s feet dealing damage. No swinging swords or shooting arrows from the saddle. You must dismount in order to engage battle.
– sometimes a horse can get you to difficult places atop mountains where taking foot has failed, ironicaly. I am guessing it is due to the way a horse covers ground as opposed to how your character covers ground. Be careful though, because falling off rocky cliffs to your death is easier done while on horseback.
– A pro to riding horseback is that it gets you to your destination faster, and it is easier to run away from those saber tooth cats and giants that you know you cannot best! However, a con is that you miss so much obtainable stuff while on your journey, such as collectible ingredients and food.
I killed the guy who sells horses. How do I buy a horse now?
I got a free horse in riften go to the stables and the onwer liks to brawl beat him then. I went up to the horse and the writing wasn’t in red so I wasn’t stealing
Horses can be earned in Riften by challenging Hofgrir, the stable owner, to a brawl. Once you win the battle of fists, he will offer to sell a horse to you. If you say that you would rather walk then he calls you cheap and you can ride the Riften horses for free. The free horse will walk away after dismounting. Although the horse is not technically not owned by the player, it will travel with you when you fast travel. A benefit to earning and using this free horse is that you can simply go to Riften and take a new horse if yours dies in battle which saves 1,000 of your hard earned gold.
You can also get a free horse if you complete The Dark Brotherhood. Then you get a black horse named Shadowemere (the same horse you get in Oblivion) Shadowemere almost never dies and can kill dragons on his own. If Shadowmere dies it comes back in 2 days. If you fast travel you’ll find shadowemere in the stables or standing next to you 😉
also outside of solitude there are two horses you can have for free
Can u do it with a horse in the game for easy level ups?