While walking and sprinting are perfectly okay in Skyrim, you can acquire a horse that lets you cover vast distances without having to stop and build up your stamina again. In Skyrim, horses can be acquired in several ways.
In this guide, we’ll go over all the ways you can acquire a horse in Skyrim including which horses are the best. Additionally, we’ll also cover some helpful horse mods you can install to add more to your Skyrim experience.
How to Get a Horse in Skyrim
There are several ways in which you acquire a horse in Skyrim. You can either buy them, complete quests for them or you can steal them if you don’t want to cough up the money.
- Purchase from Stables: Each MAJOR city has a stable that will sell you a horse for 1000 gold coins. You can simply go to the seller, pay him, and he will direct you to the horse. Simply locate a stable on your map and make your way to its location to purchase a horse
- Tasks/Quests: You may get to use a horse or get one as a gift by doing the quests given by the people/stable owners. You can get quests in both the Riften Stables and Katla’s Farm.
- Steal: 1000 Gold Coins are quite a lot to pay for a horse at the start, so an alternative is to steal the horse. If you run away with a stolen horse, then the guard/soldiers will be alerted of the crime, and you will get a 50-gold bounty.
After you’ve acquired a horse, it can be identified by the Player’s House label on the HUD. Multiple horses of the same type or different types can be owned by the player. The one that is last ridden continues accompanying the Dragonborn. The other horses are returned to the stable where they were originally purchased, so if your horse disappears check the stable it was originally purchased at and it should be present there.
Additionally, you can’t purchase armor for your horse in Skyrim and If your horse dies, it cannot be revived and you’ll have to purchase a new one. Stables also allow you to rename your horse.
All Purchasable Horses in Skyrim
These are all the horses you can purchase in Skyrim. You can also purchase a number of horse saddles from the stables.
| Type | Name of Hold | Location | Price |
| Black | Whiterun | Whiterun Stables | 1000 |
| Bay | Eastmarch | Windhelm Stables | 1000 |
| Dapple Grey | The Rift | Riften Stables | 1000 |
| Piebald | The Reach | Markarth Stables | 1000 |
| Palomino | Haafingar | Katla’s Farm | 1000 |
| Frost | The Rift | Quest: Promises to Keep | – |
| Shadowmere | Falkreath | Questline: Dark Brotherhood | – |
| Karinda | Whiterun | Console Commands | – |
| Arvak | Soul Cairn | Questline: Dawnguard | – |
Best Horses in Skyrim
While most horses in Skyrim have the same attributes, the game has four unique mounts that all possess additional skills which makes them a better choice.
- Shadowmere: This horse has better stamina, more health, and a unique look. It is obtained if you participate in the Dark Brotherhood quest line and complete the quest The Cure for Madness.
- Frost: Frost has better stamina, and it’s obtained by doing the quest Promises to Keep (Riften).
- Arvak: This horse was added to Skyrim through the Dawnguard expansion. One may use the Summon Arvak spell to call the horse. The spell is acquired after the quest Find Arvak’s Skull is completed. This is an undead horse that has purple flames instead of a tail and a mane. Arvak can be summoned again from the Soul Cairn if it dies
- Dwarven Horse (Skyrim 10th Anniversary Edition): This horse is part of the Creation Club content, added to the game’s 10th Anniversary rerelease. It can be acquired after completing the quest “The Dwarven Horse” This horse is invulnerable to damage and is incapable of dying.
Skyrim Best Horse Mods
There are several mods available in Skyrim that add more substance to the game’s rather shallow horse pool. Some of these can be found on the Creation Club while others are available on forums like NexusMods. These are our picks for the best horse mods for Skyrim:
- Carry My Stuff Horse: This mod essentially gives you a second inventory as you’re able to store your items on your horse
- Simple Horse SE: This mod allows you to summon your horse through a whistle. Since the game doesn’t officially have this feature, this is a great mod to have
- Faster Horses: This mod makes all horses in the game faster, which makes their stamina more effective and allows you to travel long distances very quickly.
