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How can you get a Tears of the Kingdom horse? While Link has plenty of modes of transport in Tears of the Kingdom, horses have always been a reliable staple in the series, and you’ll want to get an understanding of how to obtain one as early as possible in The Legend of Zelda TotK.
When you’re not using Tears of the Kingdom fast travel to get around the revamped and expansive Tears of the Kingdom map, you’ll need some alternative for quickly travelling from A to B.
How do you get a horse in Tears of the Kingdom?
The first thing you’ll want to do is find a wild horse in the overworld. Once you do, you’ll want to sneak up on it by crouching (pressing the left analog stick) and slowly inching toward it from behind. From there, you should get a prompt to press the A to mount it, and then you can begin taming the animal.
To tame a horse, you’ll have to press the R button when the prompt appears while it flails around. Do this enough times, and the horse will calm down and become rideable. It should be noted that taming a horse requires stamina, so there’ll be certain better horses that you won’t be able to get until your stamina wheel is increased.
How to register a horse in Tears of the Kingdom
To register a horse, you’ll need to ride it to a stable and speak to the stable owner. There’ll be a registration fee, but once that’s been paid you’ll be able to name and keep the horse at the stable.
Additionally, if you have a save file from Breath of the Wild on your Nintendo Switch, you’ll be able to take out the horses you had from that playthrough. The first time you register a horse in TotK, you’ll be told about this, and unlock the option to use these old horses in future.
Can you keep multiple horses?
Yes. You can register and keep several different horses at a stable. To switch between them you simply need to go to the stable, speak to the stable owner, and you’ll be able to choose which horse you want to take out. However, only one horse can be taken out at a time. As a bonus, each horse you board at stables earns you a pony point which can be spent for rewards. These range from a Towing Harness and saddles to access to higher quality beds at each stable.
Are some horses better than others?
Every horse in the game has a series of stats to determine its quality. These stats are Strength, Speed, Stamina, and Pull. Strength determines how much damage it can do if it runs into an enemy. Speed and Stamina determine how fast and for how long the horse can sprint for. Pull relates to how good the horse is able to tow anything behind it.
If you’re seeing herds of horses and wondering which one to go for, there’s a good tip to help you out. In general, horses that have multiple colours or spots have worse stats than those that are one solid colour. If you want to know a horse’s stats, simply tame it and bring it to a stable to find out.
Once you’ve met the Horse God Malanya, you can upgrade your horses to give them better stats. So if you’ve got a favourite horse that perhaps isn’t as useful as others, you can upgrade it so that it’s brought up to scratch.
There are also a few unique horses that you can acquire either through side quests or amiibo. The Giant White Stallion and Princess Zelda’s golden horse are two examples of horses that can be found through quests. While Epona, Link’s horse in previous titles, is in the game, she is only available through scanning the Link Amiibo at present.
Can you only ride horses?
An interesting feature of TotK is that you can ride animals that aren’t horses. The most useful of these is the Stalhorse, a skeletal horse found in the Depths that can be used to traverse pools of gloom. Aside from this, you can ride deer, bears, and even the Lord of the Mountain. Unfortunately, none of these can be registered at stables, though it will unlock some unique dialogue.
If you’re looking for further information about traversing Hyrule, we have a Tears of the Kingdom vehicles list as well as an explanation regarding the Tears of the Kingdom Sky Islands ahead of the game’s release. It’s also worth tracking down all the Tears of the Kingdom stable locations so you’ll have spots across Hyrule to take out a horse.
