Does your horse follow you in Skyrim?
As a passionate Skyrim player, the first question I always get from new gamers is: "Does your horse actually follow you around?" The answer is a resounding yes! When you fast travel across the epic fantasy landscape, your special mount teleports right along with you. Let‘s dive into the details on how this incredibly useful mechanic works.
Your Most Recently Ridden Horse Sticks By You
Skyrim lets you own multiple horses, but only the last one you rode will remain at your side when fast traveling. Any other horses you purchased will automatically return to their original stables while your main ride stays to accompany you.
For example, if you have three horses from different locales, the one you mounted last before teleporting will loyally follow as you explore. The rest vanish back home to await your return.
This system ensures you always have a mount without ending up with a whole herd stampeding behind you! It also allows keeping favorite horses at their respective stables while still having a temporary adventuring companion.
Key Horse Fast Travel Facts
| Behavior | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Sticks by your side | Teleports with you when fast traveling across the map |
| Returns home if not chosen | Any non-ridden horses go back to their origin stable |
| Last ridden takes priority | The last horse mounted before fast travel follows you |
As you can see, the mechanic is straightforward: wherever you roam via the map interface, your last saddle-upped stallion (or mare) trots merrily along.
Your Horse Can Wander Off When Dismounted
Now, there is one quirk to be aware of: horses behave differently than humanoid followers when dismounted. Rather than idly waiting for you to return, they‘ll start wandering around freely to graze, flee from enemies, or simply explore.
This can lead to a frantic search if you lose track of your new found steed! Though loyal when ridden, horses exhibit more independence while on foot.
My advice is to keep your horse nearby whenever adventuring in a risky area on foot. Tether them to a fence post if possible or use calm/courage shouts to prevent panic. You want to be able to quickly remount when enemies approach or loot needs carrying!
Avoid Losing Your Mount – Best Practices
- Calm spell to prevent fleeing
- Tether to fences when exploring on foot
- Courage shout to negate scare effects
- Check horse item tracking menu if lost
With just a little care, you can avoid losing your prized Skyrim stallion to the tangled woods and icy blizzards when adventuring alone.
No Respawning – Take Care In Battle
This brings me to a critical point about horses in Skyrim that catches many gamers off guard the first time:
They can permanently die in combat if enemies attack and kill them – no rerespawns!
Trust me, there‘s nothing worse than saving after shadowmere gets mauled by a savage ice troll, only to realize she‘s gone for good when reloading…which leaves you stranded afoot deep in a blizzard far from town.
You‘ll have to hoof it all the way to the nearest stable to buy an overpriced replacement mount if yours gets slain. And while you can augment horses with upgraded armor or courage shouts, even mighty steads can get overwhelmed when balls-to-the-wall battling mammoths and elder dragons on the regular.
My #1 piece of advice? Don‘t let your priceless palfrey perish prematurely! Give them a wide berth from the fray whenever clashing in close quarters chaos. Using ranged attacks from horseback or drawing aggro away on foot are great tactics to avoid an untimely equine expiration.
Key Horse Combat and Death Facts
| Risk | Impact |
|---|---|
| Permadeath if killed | No respawn – buy a replacement horse |
| Powerful enemies can overwhelm | Elder dragons, giants etc. hit hard |
| Use cavalry tactics when fighting | Circle strafe, lead enemies away, fight at range |
Avoiding unnecessary horse fatalities takes some battlefield awareness and skill. But master proper tactics, and you can ride safely on adventures for hundreds of hours through Skyrim without a catastrophic mount demise!
Other Cases Where Horses May Not Follow
For completeness, I want to mention there are a handful of odd edge cases where your horse can fail to accompany you after fast travel in Skyrim:
- Teleporting into tight, cramped interior spaces
- Transitioning between world map layers (underground, etc.)
- Buggy exception cases that break scripts
However, these issues are quite rare in my extensive experience. Almost always, your special stead follows you like glue when zipping around the epic fantasy realm.
How Do Horses Compare to Other Mounts?
Let‘s do a quick comparison against exotic options like dragons and flying mods:
Horses
- Available early game for fast overland travel
- Decent all-around stats like speed and stamina
- Provide inventory space to lug more loot
- Obtained easily from major stables
Dragons
- Very strong in aerial combat with dragon riding mod
- Breathe fire and frost destruction magic
- Super fast flight and climbing ability
- Hard to tame and control at first
So in summary:
Horses make the perfect ground mount for exploration, inventory hauling and general travel. But for sheer awe-inspiring power against apocalyptic demons and gods – nothing beats riding a fierce, fire-breathing dragon as your personal star-apex predator!
Of course, base-game Skyrim doesn‘t let you tame the epic flying lizards without mods. So start with acquiring an equine companion first on early adventures, then graduate to a legendary dragon steed once sufficiently powered up!
Useful Mods That Enhance Horses
The modding scene has created some amazing additions that integrate cleanly with Skyrim‘s systems to make horses even more dynamic and useful. Some top picks include:
- Convenient Horses: Extended saddling/gear options and mounted combat
- Horse Armors: Upgrades looks and protects your mount
- Horse Storage: Access inventory while riding
- Dragon Mounts: Ride mythical creatures into battle
I highly recommend convenient horses as it fleshes out cavalry gameplay tremendously. And who doesn‘t want to blast foes with magic while galloping or access gear without dismounting? Horse armors are also fab for protecting your investment.
The full mod lists provide many more options too – from cosmetic tweaks to fright train night mares!
Key Tips For Mastering Horses
In closing, I want to impart essential tips from my extensive hours for mastering horses:
- Learn to fight on horseback using ranged and magic
- Level up blocking to fend off attacks
- Resist temptation to charge everything headfirst
- Utilize courage and healing hands frequently
- Always keep health, stamina and gear topped off
Follow these guidelines and your trusty steed will carry you safely on epic adventures across every inch of wondrous Skyrim – right by your side wherever you roam!
So I hope this guide gives you confidence in answering definitively:
YES your horse does loyally fast travel and follow you as a constant companion everywhere in Skyrim!
Just be kind to your stallion, fight smart together on the battlefield, and enjoy all the splendor, spoils and stories the northern realm has to offer from horseback!
