Skyrim: Here’s How To Call Your Horse
Horses are an essential means of travel in Skyrim. Besides using fast travel which a lot of players consider immersion-breaking, there are a few traveling methods at your disposal. Going on foot and riding a horse. Horses are relatively cheap, convenient, and fast and you can even use them in combat. But what happens when you are in need of your horse but it’s not around? It happened more times than I can count. Is there a way to call your horse in Skyrim? And if there is, how?
Are horses useful in Skyrim?
Horses are extremely valuable in Skyrim, they allow you to significantly increase your movement speed, even while you’re encumbered. If you get attacked while traveling on horseback, horses can distract enemy NPCs and beasts, and you can even attack while riding them as mounted combat is available, however, it’s not possible to use magic while mounted. They can also break your fall if you jump from heights.
Generally, horses will follow you wherever you go given that you are their legal owner. If your horse is stolen or acquired by befriending its owners, as soon as you dismount the horse will start moving toward its starting default location.
Can you whistle for your horse in Skyrim?
You cannot whistle for your horse to appear in Skyrim. Even though similar games have this function implemented, Skyrim doesn’t. Once your horse is considered “lost” the best you can do is to fast-travel to a nearby location and it should reappear near you.
If it doesn’t appear, you can always return to the stables which you purchased the horse from. If you lose Shadowmere, a horse gifted to you during the Dark Brotherhood storyline, you can find it at the pool where you first claimed it. Near the entrance to Falkreath Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary.
The only horse that can be summoned via a special spell is Arvak, an undead horse.
How do you get Arvak?
Arvak is a special type of undead horse that can be claimed as a prize after completing the quest Soul Cairn Horse Quest. When you first enter Soul Cairn you will come across a “Distraught Soul”. After engaging in conversation with a Distraught Soul you will learn that its horse is missing. A quest should appear in your journal with the objective “Find Arvak’s skull”. Alternatively, if you manage to find Arvak’s skull before you run into Distraught Soul, the quest will still register as acquired and you will be able to finish it.
You can find Arvak’s skull in one of the towers near Valerica’s hideout. The tower stands out from the rest by being surrounded by 4 souls that will turn to Mistmen as soon as you approach. Arvak’s skull should be on a pedestal in the middle.
After you claim the skull return to the Distraught Soul and it will reward you with the ability to summon Arvak.
In short, to claim Arvak you need to do the following:
- Talk to Distraught Soul to pick up the quest
- Head to the tower east of Valerica’s hideout, it will be surrounded by 4 souls
- Return to the Soul and interact with it
- Summon Arvak spell should be added to your magic menu
Arvak is the best horse in the game because it can be summoned at any time as long as you’re somewhere in the open world and not in a building. As it’s technically not a living creature it cannot be killed. Arvak is also the only horse that you can summon in Blackreach and Solstheim. You will never be able to lose him, even when you dismount him, after 60 seconds the horse will disappear but can be re-summoned instantly again.
Do you lose Shadowmere when you get Arvak?
As soon as you mount Arvak or any other horse for that matter, Shadowmere goes back to the pool where you first found him. So in short, yes you do lose Shadowmere when you get Arvak but this is not permanent by any means as you can always claim him again at any time. Due to Arvak being clearly the superior horse, I don’t see the need for it though.
Can you get Arvak if you side with Dawnguard?
If you decide to join Danwguard instead of vampires, you will still be able to claim Arvak. Joining Dawnguard does not stop you from traveling to Soul Cairn with Serana. However, before entering through the portal you will have to choose between being turned into a vampire and getting partially soul trapped.
Once there, you will be able to do the quest related to Arvak normally. Dawnguard and Volkihar vampires mostly have the same quests, and all rewards related to Soul Cairn are identical.
And that’s about it. This is pretty much everything you need to know related to horses and riding them. As you can see your horse should generally follow you, but if that doesn’t happen for any reason you can always fast-travel to force your horse to appear near you. The only horse that can be summoned directly is Arvak. Arvak is claimed during the Dawnguard DLC questline that takes you to Soul Cairn. The horse is free, immortal, and can be summoned practically anywhere in Skyrim and Solstheim which makes it the best horse in the game.
Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!