Horses are one of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s most majestic creatures. Aside from being cute and badass at the same time (we did not even think that was possible), they are Link’s most useful companions helping him evade enemies and travel around Hyrule faster. In this guide, you will learn how to obtain horses in the game.
Horse’s Mane Area
Horses can be found all over Hyrule and are commonly found in fields, like the Faron Grasslands and Hyrule Fields and stables. Wild horses usually gather in herds giving Link different horses to choose from.
Stable-ised
To catch a horse, you should:
- Sneak towards the horse. Move slowly and do not startle the horse or it will run away. Startling one horse from a herd will startle the other horses too.
- Mount and calm it down fast. Different horses are harder or easier to soothe as this depends on their personality. Horses that are wild are a bit harder to tame, but they also have more stamina and can run faster. Regular horses mostly require 15 L button presses to soothe but there are also horses that require 18 to 25 presses. Soothing is easier if Link has more stamina, which means he must soothe the horse before the stamina gauge runs out.
- Take it to a stable to register it for 20 rupees so you can give it a name, bridle, and saddle. Here you can also see the horse’s temperament, strength, speed, and stamina. It is worth mentioning that only five horses can be registered at a time.
Horses in the game have two temperaments: Wild and Gentle. Wild horses tend to have better stats than gentle horses. As for a horse’s other stats, strength refers to the horse’s HP or how much damage it can take, speed refers to how fast it is, and stamina refers to the number of spurs the horse has.
Hold Your Horses
Horses will automatically avoid obstacles and follow paths when Link is riding them. Upon obtaining them, however, a horse’s bond with Link will be at a low level which can also be found with the stats when registering to the stable. This can range from 0 to 100. If a horse’s bond level is lower, it will occasionally buck, wander off a path, and be uncooperative, which would require Link to soothe it to control it again. To increase the bond between Link and a horse, you can do the following:
- Soothe the horse after a gallop. This will increase the bond by 3 points
- Soothe the horse after it wanders off the path. This will increase the bond by 5 points;
- Feed the horse Apples, Endura Carrots, and Swift Carrots to increase the bond by 10 points per food.
A higher bond level means the horse will be more likely to listen to Link. A higher bond level can also allow you to customize its mane or swap its bridle or saddle.
Final Thoughts
Sneaking is not the only way of mounting a wild horse. Link can also mount them by landing on them from above. Given that there is a higher ground to glide from, this is not only easy but very cool-looking and satisfying to do too.
There are perks of riding horses in battle. Melee weapons’ attack power is doubled when used on horseback. Also, while on horseback, Link can ram enemies for 30 damage to their HP. However, the horse’s gear does not protect the horse or do anything to its HP. Additionally, feeding horses will not restore the horse’s HP. It serves no other purpose than increasing the bond level with Link. The horse’s HP can only be restored by boarding the horse back into a stable or reloading a save file.
It is also important to note that Link’s horses can die in battle. If this happens, they can be resurrected by talking to Malanya the Horse God in Malanya Spring. Exchange an Endura Carrot for each deceased horse to be revived. Only horses with the maximum bond level can be revived.
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