Lately, I've been finding my horse to be more of an annoyance to use than an asset to have. But, maybe I'm missing something that could resolve this – or maybe it's the game that's missing this. I'm hoping someone here can help.
First, there's the bit about not being able to fight while on horseback. Okay, I'll acknowledge that's a game limitation and we have to live with it. But, it's still no less annoying and actually leads in to the problem I'm really asking about here.
There's often times where I'll get off my horse to do battle, or perhaps explore something in the area that's caught my eye. Then, in the course of natural events, I'll shortly find:
- I've wandered too far from my horse, in too many odd directions, to quickly find my way back to it.
OR - Something's attacked or otherwise spooked the horse into wandering from where I'd left it.
In either case, I'm then left out in the middle of nowhere (a description that probably fits about 85% of the land area in Skyrim) and often times I was well on my way to somewhere that I don't have a nearby Fast Travel location I can jump off from to get to.
My options here are:
- Wander around aimlessly and hope I stumble across my horse.
OR - Walk the rest of the way to my destination.
OR - Fast Travel to the nearest available location (which may not really be so near) and start my trip over again with my horse, who's then magically teleported nearby.
Two much more ideal options would be:
- Whistle for my horse to come to me. (Must be within a certain range of the horse.)
OR - Add a horse tracker to my compass.
Are these features that I'm missing, or features that the game is missing? Does anyone have other suggestions as to how I can avoid these situations, or better recover from them?
Best Answer
Cast the Alteration spell, Detect Life, or use the Aura Whisper dragon shout (longer range than Detect Life) to try to find your horse. The horse will usually be within the range of Detect Life or Aura whisper, after a battle.
If that fails, you can fast travel to any nearby location. You should find your horse waiting nearby the fast travel spot (or in the nearest stable, if you fast traveled to a city).
Tip mentioned by agf: "Rather than fast travel to a far location, go to whichever icon is the least greyed out on your compass -- that's the closest location. Then you can fast travel to there from there and not lose any distance."
For those playing on the PC, there are mods like Horse Whisper, which will allow you to call or summon your horse.