Horses Make a Comeback in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

If you’re a fan of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, you’ll be pleased to know that horses are back in the latest installment, Tears of the Kingdom. In fact, they are even more useful this time around. Our horse taming guide will help you find, catch, soothe, bond with, and equip the new towing harness to your horse. Let’s dive in!

Finding Wild Horses

According to Link’s Hyrule Compendium, wild horses can be found most commonly in the Hyrule Field and Akkala Highlands regions on the Surface. They tend to hang out in wide, grassy areas. If you’re looking for good starter horses, try checking out Ulri Mountain Skyview Tower in the Akkala Highlands (3891, 2366, 0074) or the Hyrule Field region to the south of Jiosin Shrine (-0253, -0563, 0019). Don’t forget to upgrade your Purah Pad to detect nearby horses using the Sensor + upgrade from Robbie during the “Presenting: Sensor +!” side adventure.

Increasing Your Stealth

Sneaking up on a wild horse can be a challenge since they are skittish and will run away if they notice you. To increase your stealth and improve your chances of approaching a horse undetected, try the following methods:

• Remove your weapons, bow, and shield to decrease noise
• Eat a meal or drink an elixir that grants a stealth up effect
• Wear the complete Stealth Armor set, obtained during the “Gloom-borne Illness” side quest

Soothing a Wild Horse

Now that you’ve successfully approached a horse, it’s time to soothe it. Simply mash the L button while the horse bucks around and drains your stamina. For low-level horses, this should be sufficient. However, better horses require more soothing and stamina.

Using food and elixirs can assist you in this process. Cook a meal with ingredients like stamella shrooms, endura shrooms, stambulbs, courser bee honey, or staminoka bass to make an energizing meal that restores stamina. Additionally, brewing an elixir with critters like tireless frogs or restless crickets and a monster part can create an energizing elixir with the same effect. Remember to turn in your Lights of Blessing at the Goddess Statues to receive stamina vessels.

Increasing Your Bond with Horses

The bond between Link and his horse determines how well the horse listens and follows roads. A higher bond also improves their overall performance. While riding, hit the L button when the horse responds correctly, gallops, or stops. This will increase the bond, albeit slowly.

If you’re looking for a faster way to increase the bond, use food. Dismount your horse, open your inventory, hold up to five apples, and stand in front of the horse. The horse will eat the apples from your hand, and your bond will increase with each apple. Usually, it doesn’t take more than five apples to maximize the bond.

Registering Your Horse at a Stable

Once you have found, approached, soothed, and bonded with your horse, it’s time to register it at a stable. After registration, you can summon your horse to any stable you visit, as long as you have space available. However, keep in mind that transferring horses from Breath of the Wild may fill up your slots quickly.

Getting Rewards for Your Horse

In Tears of the Kingdom, each horse has a set of stats including strength, speed, stamina, and pull. Pull refers to how well the horse works with the new Towing Harness. Additionally, stables now feature a new system called Pony Points. By utilizing the stable for activities such as sleeping or registering a horse, you can earn Pony Points. These points can then be redeemed for rewards at the Pony Points Ledger book located on the right side of the check-in desk at the stable.