The Elder Scrolls Online horse is a dependable, loyal animal sworn to carry your burdens.
One of the things that I enjoy in The Elder Scrolls Online is overland adventuring. There’s something to be said about foregoing fast travel altogether and simply striking out on your own across the vast tracks of Tamriel. There’s always something to see and something to do, and there’s no better way to “hoof it” from one place to the other than with an Elder Scrolls Online horse.
The Elder Scrolls Online Horse
The Elder Scrolls Online horse really is a neat animal, and a variety of mounts are available for sale at any stable in the game. The upfront cost of a horse is out of reach for beginning players (17,200 or 42,700 gold), so if you’re looking to start out the game with a ride, your best bet is to pony up the extra money for the ESO Imperial Edition (yes, I know this is a terrible pun). Imperial Edition gamers are given an exclusive white horse for a single gold piece (for more information please see Elder Scrolls Online Imperial Edition – Is It Worth It?).
Buy an Elder Scrolls Online horse at any stable.
Types of Horses
Including the Imperial, there are a total of five horses for sale in The Elder Scrolls Online, all with different beginning stats:
Unlike Skyrim, you can actually level your horse and increase its stats by feeding it at any stable:
Feeding your mount Apples will increase its speed.
Feeding your mount Hay will increase its stamina, allowing it to sprint longer and take more hits before becoming dismounted.
Feeding your mount Oats will increase its carrying capacity.
A few things to keep in mind when leveling your Elder Scrolls Online Horse:
Each feeding will cost 250 gold.
Speed, Stamina, or Capacity will increase 1% after each meal, and your horse will gain a level.
You can only feed your horse once every 20 hours (a countdown timer begins after feeding).
At level 21 your horse gains additional visual add-ons : leather and chain harness, leather saddle bags, etc. (props to Jesus De La Torre for this valuable bit of information).
Level 50 is the max level obtainable.
You’ll need to spend a minimum of 12,500 gold and 1,000 hours to fully level your horse.
You can feed your horse only once every 20 hours.
Odds and Ends
There are a few other useful things to know about The Elder Scrolls Online horse:
Don’t like your horse’s name? You can easily change it by going to the Stable menu and clicking the quill and paper logo immediately to the right of your horse’s name.
Want more than one horse? You can have multiple horses by first buying extra space at any stable for 100 gold. To change horses, simply go to a stable and switch your mount.
Mounting or dismounting? Press the “H” key.
Gallop? Press the “Shift” key while moving. A separate green bar will appear immediately below your Stamina bar, measuring your horse’s ability to sprint.
Want to fight on horseback? As of now, fighting on horseback isn’t possible. Could this functionality be added in the future? Perhaps. After all, fighting on horseback wasn’t possible when Skyrim was first released, but was later added to the Skyrim Legendary Edition.
Horse racing? Yesterday, the devs announced that a horse racing feature will be added shortly. Time to level up your Elder Scrolls Online horse and get ready for the races!
Click the quill and paper icon immediately to the right of your horse’s name to make a change.
Shane Scarbrough is the founder of the Skyrim Fansite. He's a business owner, video game journalist, and role playing game aficionado. When he's not working he enjoys reading, writing, and playing video games. He's currently on his third playthrough of Skyrim, and is playing as a Templar in The Elder Scrolls Online. You can find Shane on Google+ and FaceBook.
At first I thought you had to feed your horse to keep it from dying like a Tamagatchi LOL!