There are so few unique horses in vanilla Skyrim that you can count them on one hand. Shadowmere is obtained via the Dark Brotherhood and Frost is found through a questline in Riften, while Arvak can only be acquired after downloading the Dawnguard DLC. The options are lacking, to say the least, which is where Skyrim Anniversary Edition comes in.
Skyrim Anniversary Edition adds four new unique horses and seven tamable wild horses, giving players a lot more options for customizing their character's chosen mount. These mounts are all included with the upgrade, though each can also be individually purchased via the Special Edition Creation Club.
Updated December 10, 2021 by Erik Petrovich: The Daedric Horse is a bit of an outlier amongst the normal Skyrim mounts as it needs to be summoned and doesn't stay persistent. Shadowmere, the mount given to the player during the Dark Brotherhood questline, is also a summonable mount and the Daedric Horse works much the same way. The Dwarven Horse, Unicorn, and Reindeer are unique and beautifully designed in their own ways, but the Daedric Horse takes the medal for being the most intimidating mount in Skyrim. Like some other unique horses in Anniversary Edition, the Daedric Horse can only be acquired once the player completes its associated questline found during the progression of The Cause, which only starts at high levels.
The Dwarven Horse
- Associated Creation: Forgotten Seasons
- How To Get The Dwarven Horse: Head to Runoff Caverns, inspect the Dwarven Horse parts outside the entrance, and complete the quest "The Dwarven Horse"
- Special Traits: Takes no damage from any source, including fall damage, physical and magical damage, and even console commands
The Dwarven Horse is also a mount The Elder Scrolls Online, brought to Skyrim through the Forgotten Seasons Creation. This Creation takes players through a new Dwemer ruin located beneath Runoff Caverns, which itself is located between Markarth and Falkreath. Just outside the cave's entrance, though, is the limbless body of a deactivated Dwarven Horse.
Interact with the body to begin the quest "The Dwarven Horse", which takes players through the Dwemer ruin of Vardnknd to collect the legs of the horse. All of the pieces are specifically found in the Autumn's Bells area of the Dwemer ruin, themed after Fall and the harvest. Once all pieces have been found the room at the end of the dungeon will contain a Horse Head, which can be reattached along with the other pieces to reassemble the horse, complete the quest, and get a fancy new mount.
The Daedric Horse
- Associated Creation: The Cause
- How To Get The Daedric Horse: Pick up Spell Tome: Summon Daedric Horse in the Deadlands
- Special Traits: Summoned for 60 seconds, high Health pool
The Daedric Horse is a new mount introduced with The Cause, a new creation with Anniversary Edition that focuses on the Mythic Dawn cult after the Oblivion Crisis. As such, players must go up against hordes of Mythic Dawn cultists throughout the quest's progression and eventually make it to the Deadlands, Mehrunes Dagon's personal plane of Oblivion. It is here among the lava and spiked towers that players can find the Spell Tome: Summon Daedric Horse after fighting one face-to-face.
This Spell Tome teaches players an Apprentice-level Conjuration ability that can be used to summon this ridable steed, but it only sticks around for one minute. This can be extended by simply staying on the horse, as the timer will not run out unless the player dismounts. The horse is hardy, too, with more than 1600 health to help it kick enemy heads in. It does count for a Conjuration summon slot, though, so be wary if you have more than one summon out.
The Reindeer
- Associated Creation: Saturalia Holiday Pack
- How To Get The Reindeer: Head southwest of Dawnstar to find a campsite near Windward Ruins, can be purchased from Argrane Peryval at the camp
- Special Traits: None
The Reindeer is one of the few non-horse mounts in Skyrim, and it's one of the easiest mounts to acquire included with Anniversary Edition. The Reindeer is symbolic of Saturalia, which itself is The Elder Scrolls' take on the real-life holiday of Christmas (and, more specifically, Saturnalia). Its not particularly notable for its Health or Stamina totals, but it sure is a beautiful-looking creature to traverse Skyrim atop.
The Reindeer mount is found at Argrane Peryval's campsite located to the southwest of Dawnstar, between the city and the Windward Ruins. It is hard to miss as the campsite and Peryval himself are clad in colorful clothing. Talk to Peryval and purchase the Bill of Sale to be able to ride this splendid Reindeer, and don't pass up his other festive goods.
The Unicorn
- Associated Creation: Wild Horses
- How To Get The Unicorn: Start the "Creature of Legend" quest at the College of Winterhold, then find and tame the Unicorn in a cave northeast of Riften
- Special Traits: Marked as an essential NPC, preventing death, and has increased Stamina compared to normal horses
The Unicorn is a mount referenced in Oblivion during the Daedric Prince Hircine's questline, brought forward in time by the Psijics to ensure the species' survival. It's part of the Wild Horses Creation, meaning that if players want to ride the Unicorn they will first have to tame it. Start the "Creature of Legend" quest by reading Soran's Journal at the College of Winterhold's Arcanaeum (it can be found on Urag gro-Shub's desk).
After starting the quest travel to Riften and head northeast until reaching Lost Prospect Mine, just a few minutes' jogs away. To the west of Lost Prospect Mine is a pond which the Unicorn typically spawns next to. Be prepared to get bucked off a few times, and don't try to tame the Unicorn near any tall cliffs. Taming this beautiful creature is as hard as any other horse, but the Unicorn sets itself apart for its vastly increased Stamina and its status as an essential NPC, rendering it unkillable – the Unicorn's horn is nice, too.
Seven Tamable Wild Horses
- Associated Creation: Wild Horses
- Types of Wild Horses: Black Horse, Chestnut, Dappled Brown, Pale Mare, Red Horse, Spotted Grey, Spotted White
- Special Traits: Must be tamed
There are seven other Wild Horses included with the Wild Horses Creation that dot the landscape of Skyrim. They can be found throughout the province's many holds, though each has its own specific location. Horse Maps that guide the player to these out-of-the-way spots can be purchased from Stablemasters in nearby cities.
- Black Horse: Near Falkreath, outside Evergreen Cove
- Chestnut: Near Helgen, east of the village
- Dappled Brown: Near Solitude, near a Dragon Mound
- Pale Mare: Near Windhelm, outside Yngol Barrow
- Red Horse: Near Whiterun, north of the city
- Spotted Grey: Near Markarth, north of Salvius Farm
- Spotted White: Eastmarch Hold, near Stony Creek Cave
Taming a horse is simple – catch up to it, jump on its back, and hope you don't get bucked off too much. Eventually, the horse will submit and become your new primary mount. These Wild Horses are no different than normal Skyrim horses except aesthetically, though taming them doesn't cost the player any gold.
Skyrim Anniversary Edition is available on PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X|S