Tears of the Kingdom Horses: Unlock, Types, Upgrade

In the early phases of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, players need an effective method of traveling that helps them move around on the map more quickly. Horses can be ideal in this situation as they are easier to find, but mounting them will give you a tough time.

This guide will cover everything about horses and how to mount them. This also includes all horse types players are expected to find throughout their extended Tears of the Kingdom gameplay. 

Finding Horses

Complete the quest by placing a wooden slab on the roof using the Ultrahand ability. Use your controller joystick to rotate the slab according to the roof geometry. When done, stable owner Lester will guide you about horses and where to start looking. 

Wild Horses roam around in the grass area close to the stable locations. They are hard to catch as they stay in groups of three and four, so if you approach one, the others get alerted and start running away.

How To Mount A Horse

Mounting a Wild Horse can be a tough job. Approach a nearby stable and search the grass area around it. You will likely witness three or four horses roaming around in a group.

There are three ways players can follow to ride a horse. All of them are effective and require equal effort. 

1. Stealth

Approaching Horses safely:

1. Stealthy Approach: Approach from behind while crouched to avoid alerting them with your footsteps.

2. Avoid Startling: Horses can run if they detect you. Get close quietly to prevent them from fleeing.

3. Quick Mounting: When near a horse’s back, mount it swiftly to prevent it from running away.

4. Soothe the Horse: After mounting, press the “L” button repeatedly to soothe the horse. This consumes stamina, so press quickly to conserve energy.

2. Using Food

This one is my personal favorite and tested one. Taming a horse can be facilitated by having a food item, such as a carrot or an apple, on hand. These items are readily available and can be helpful in the taming process.

When approaching wild horses, some may accept your food offering and become tame, while others might run away.

To tame a horse:

1. Offer a food item to the horse.
2. As the horse starts eating the food, mount it.
3. Soothe the horse while it eats to establish a bond and make it your mount.

3. Dropping From Sky

If you fail to experiment with the first two methods, you can always take the easy way out. When using a paraglider for flying, you can land directly on the Horse’s back and soothe them by spamming L so they don’t kick you.

Look for a tower or a tall tree. Players can climb any of these to gain altitude and then drop so the paraglider can be used effectively. Ensure you spot a horse before going into the sky so you know where to land. 

Registering A Horse

After successfully mounting a horse, the next step is registering it at a nearby stable. There are 17 stables where you can either register your Horse or stay for a night. 

Here’s how to register your horse at New Serenne Stable:

1. While on your horse, approach the front counter and talk to the stable manager.
2. The manager will guide you through the registration process, starting with taking your name for membership.
3. You can choose a name for your wild horse during registration and see its statistics to understand its strengths and weaknesses.Horse Statistics are visible after registration is complete
4. The registration fee is usually 20 Rupees, but the manager will do the first for free.
5. Stables have a Pony Points system, and you can earn points by registering multiple horses or staying at a stable.Your record of Pony Points is kept in this book.
6. You’ll find a Pony Point card in your inventory, which shows your points and the rewards you can earn.
7. The first reward, worth three points, is the Towing Harness, allowing you to connect a wagon to your horse for easier transportation.

Types Of Horses

Wild Horse

These horses can be found in the fields of Hyrule. They always stay in groups of three or four and need help to mount. Approaching them from behind gives you a better opportunity to mount them.

All wild horses vary in statistics, and there is no common trend to follow. But, horses with more stamina can run for a longer time. Taming wild horses can be challenging as they are not used to this behavior. 

Zelda’s Golden Horse

To obtain the special Golden Horse belonging to Princess Zelda, follow these steps in the side quest:

1. Quest Initiation: Go to the Lucky Clover Gazette east of Ritto Village in the Herba Region. Look for Traysi and interact with her to start the quest.

2. Reporting Zelda Sightings: The quest requires you to report sightings of Zelda near stables to Traysi. These sightings will lead you to the Snowfield Stable and Harlow.

3. Missing Golden Horse: Upon reaching the Snowfield Stable, you’ll discover that the Golden Horse is missing. Your task is to locate it.

4. Exploration: Explore the North Tabantha Snowfield to find and tame the Golden Horse so it becomes familiar to you.

Epona

Epona is a legendary horse with excellent statistics. While she’s not a new addition and has appeared in previous Legend of Zelda games, there are multiple ways to acquire her early in the game:

1. Amiibo Method: The quickest way to obtain Epona is by using the Link amiibo or the Twilight Princess amiibo. After completing the Sky Island tutorial at the beginning of the game, you’ll gain the ability to scan amiibos. Use this scan ability on the Hyrule Kingdom surface to summon Epona to your location.

2. Alternative Location: If you don’t have the mentioned amiibos, you can find Epona at the New Serenne Stable.

3. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Save File: To access Epona, you must have an existing Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild save file. Without it, Epona won’t appear, denying you the opportunity to mount the horse.

Following these methods, you can acquire the legendary horse Epona early in the game.

Giant White Stallion

This giant horse is essential during intense combat and when completing quests. However, it is slow as it has no stars for stamina or ability to pull the wagon.

1. Head south of Central Hyrule to the Highland Stable.
2. Cross the Horse God Bridge to find the Giant White Stallion.
3. Use stamina to recharge items, as soothing this horse consumes stamina quickly.
4. Employ stealth and mount techniques to calm the horse.
5. When stamina depletes, use inventory items for recharge.
6. Take the horse to any stable to check its stats or leave it for later use.

My Recommendations For Horse

To progress your character, I strongly advise players to upgrade their horses as it can significantly improve your gameplay. 

When you register any horse for the first time, its stats are exposed to your character. Some horses are fragile and might require upgrades to be more efficient during traveling. This is possible in Tears of the Kingdom, but you must visit Malanya, the Horse God. 

To max out your desired Horse on stats, give Malanya food items. All stats require different things to be delivered to the Horse God. here are some horses like Epona whose stats can’t be upgraded.

That is all about the horses and how to tame them. They are handy for long-distance traveling as it is effortless to ride them. Ensure you keep collecting Pony Points to buy amazing cosmetic rewards for your horses. 

• BEST Tears of the Kingdom Armor.
• Tears of the Kingdom Best Horses.
• Tears of the Kingdom Orb Locations.