Horses - why bother?

[Maximus38]

They're expensive, they don't travel much faster than you can run, they're difficult to control, and can't jump over things.
I'd like to hear from someone who has put them to good use!

[ashes2233]

black horses are much faster than running and they are easy to control i use 3rd person view while on them and they are good for finding places that you can fast travel to at that moment

[Dowaco]

You CAN jump with the horse. Just use your regular jump key.

I agree though. I had 4 horses my first time through but by the time I got Shadowmere, I did not use them anymore. Second time through, I will save my money.

[qizatch]

Manually, I've used horses twice. First time around I stole a horse outside the Imperial City, Water District if I remember correctly. It probably took me about 3 minutes before I dismounted and continued on foot... Second time around was when I was given Shadowmere, and I actually rode all the way to the next quest objective. Since then, all normal travelling is done on foot.

If it was possible to fight and cast spells while mounted I might make more use of horses, though with the navigation interface being as it is, I probably still would refrain from using horses.

Horses will be used by your character when you fast travel. So, if time actually did matter in the game, that would make it a benefit. Other than that the two things I can think of that might be beneficial is if you can't fast travel and desperately need not to level your athletics as well as if you wanna jump off cliffs without taking damage. In the latter case you might actually kill your horse instead. Come to think of it, that is probably the best way to go - just kill the beast.

[Orfinn]

Horses are great and all but sometimes they disappear I'll try to explain, one example, are when (we are both, outside of town) I map travel with my horse to another city at the stable, I leave the horse and go into town, If I then map travel around in town then map travel back to the stable with my horse, my horse have disappeared or walked faaar away. Or in another case. I map travelled with my horse into a new town, and I get the message then if I fast travel to any location in town, then fast travel to the stable outside my horse have yet again gone far away or just dissapeared. So to solve this problem I ALWAYS avoid to fast travel in town when my horse is as mentioned above "Your horse have been stabled outside of town"
Or I have map travelled to the stable then goes into town. And always go through the main gate to the stables, that ensures your horse are there. I lost my bay horse thanks to the things described earlier in my post so I had to buy a White one and Im very careful on how I enter, exit and fast travel in and around in town.

BTW, is it just me or are paint horse somewhat smaller than white horse, are the horses of different sizer or do my eyes play tricks with me? If so that would explain why larger horses are usually faster...

[Belthan]

One thing horses are good for is getting to hard-to-reach places you can't fast-travel to. A combination of strafing and switchbacks will allow a horse to climb nearly vertical surfaces that your player can't even begin to climb. Because, of course, everyone knows that opposable thumbs are useless for rock climbing, while hooves are perfect for the job

Come to think of it, maybe that should have been my candidate for the "silliest moment in oblivion" thread...

[qizatch]

[QUOTE=Orfinn](...) I map travel with my horse to another city at the stable, I leave the horse and go into town (...)[/QUOTE]

Why bother? Map travel wherever you want to go and you'll see "Your horse has been stabled outside the city"!

I've never travelled to a stable as I don't care about my horse and I've never lost it. Every single time I go to another town or fast travel within a town I'll get the same message. Every single time I travel to an outdoors location my blasted horse is there blocking my way or just interfering with the occasional battle.



[QUOTE=Belthan]Come to think of it, maybe that should have been my candidate for the "silliest moment in oblivion" thread...[/QUOTE]
hehe, it's a good one for sure. I've been wishing for a mountaineering skill, or at least a hill climber skill as my character can't seem to ascend a 30 degree slope... Perhaps I should take up horseaineering some day.

[Fljotsdale]

I've tried with horses a couple of time. Prior Maborel's Paint Horse. Both times I took it back to the Priory and left it there.

Yeah, so it's faster if you fast-travel on horseback, but not that much that it matters. And if you want to pick the flowers, or pick up stuff on the ground, you have to get off. Using a horse loses some of your character's freedom of movement.
And you can't take a horse into any of the cities. Which annoys me. Why do the cities have roads when there is no transport whatever, not even horses, in the cities? Why bother with pavements? (Sidewalks to you Americans). Inside the walls of all cities is an exclusive pedestrian area. The Elder Scrolls peoples have not even invented the wheel yet! Not even Horse-and-Cart transport available!:laugh:

[Mr. Arrow]

the shadowmare is worth it. it's crazy fast. if you have only used paint horses you are missing out. black horses, white horses, shadowmere, they are all very fast and very durable. i always have a horse with me. they are worth the money.

[Kyle09]

i think horses are a great feature, the black horses allow me to quickly go to locations in areas where i haven't discovered that make locations yet and can't fast travel