Having a faithful steed can be a great asset in many video games. They usually provide a faster form of travel, companionship, and possibly generate hilarious memes. A great example of this is found in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The strong stallions and mares of the northern province offer great benefits; sometimes without tangible reason.
Other times, they make the game's physics engine freak out or forget the basic laws of reality. Most attribute this to Bethesda's trademark janky coding. Regardless, these elements often yield fascinating outcomes, though the logic for these happenings sometimes defies explanation.
10 They Grow Too Fast
Sometimes accidents happen. When gallivanting about the tundra with one's equine companion, possibly fending off saber cats or giants, it can be easy to lose sight of the path directly ahead. Cliffs obscured by tufts of grass disguised as harmless hills have been the doom of many horses for many Dragonborn. But when seeking to replace a steed, one might find that they reappear using stables as spawn points every 10 in-game days. 10 mere days to be conceived, born, and fully grown seems quite lacking in consequence, almost taking the lives of horses for granted.
9 They Sometimes Get Teleported Away
The physics engine in this game is notorious for misunderstanding the laws of its own world, and sometimes causes characters, objects, or the very landscape to act strangely. On a rare occasion, PC gamers have reported that upon getting off their horse, their mount would sometimes fly away rapidly to a different location, unharmed, but inconveniently distanced.
8 They Can Moonwalk
Rough, or otherwise uneven, the terrain can cause a fair deal of organisms trouble to traverse. However, one can sometimes cross tough terrain with unrealistic, immersion-breaking techniques. When rearing back on their hind legs, a horse will sometimes slide backward for a few paces. This is more common on uneven surfaces, for some reason.
7 They Cause Riders To Float In The Air
Xbox 360 players have reported events where they will mount their steed but will appear to hover above the horse while riding. The player's model is still that of them in riding posture, just a few feet above where they should be. When the Dragonborn gets off the horse, they appear back upon the ground as normal.
Most of this has been verified by players in 3rd person view, as in the first person the perspective they simply see their normal riding point of view. They are simply missing their character, although the shadow of the player can still be seen.
6 They Can Walk On Water
A horse's hooves are magical. There's no better way to explain it because they seem to grant equines all-terrain powers. One of which is walking on the surfaces of Skyrim's many rivers and lakes. When the Dragonborn is riding along and they enter a deep body of water, their steed will begin to swim automatically. If one dismounts when in the water, they will continue to do so but if remounted they will sometimes stand above the surface of the water as if it was ice. They can also continue to do so until their hooves make contact with the land once more.
5 They Can Steal The Spotlight
Usually, the camera follows the player model. In the third person or first person, the camera will essentially be connected to their physical presence. One of the few exceptions to this is when the player mounts a horse. The camera will then shift to that of the player's equestrian companion. Though, sometimes when dismounting, the camera will not return to the player's perspective and will stay with the horse. If the steed runs away and takes the camera, the player could be rendered blind of all actions about their person.
4 They Can Turn Invisible
Another odd occurrence that seems to happen mostly on the Xbox 360 version of the game, is that sometimes horses will become invisible. This most notably happens when they are hit by the Ice Spike spell, either from the player or from enemies.
This could have been a great prank on some NPCs if they had the ability to comprehend what they were seeing. At least it gives the player a nice view of their pants as they seemingly float through the air.
3 They Can Teleport Short Vertical Distances
Horses teleport while fast traveling but they can also do so from sudden, yet short, increases in verticality. Steps and low railings can cause them to leap up suddenly when touching the highest points, almost like what one would see in Minecraft. A potentially deadly example of this is what happens when the player tries to ride up the walkway leading from the town of Winterhold to the College. The short walls flanking the path are low enough that the horse can skip right over them and into the icy abyss beyond.
2 They Help The Player Scout Unconventionally
Normally when one gets on their mount, they sit in the saddle. Sometimes this doesn't happen, and the result is the player standing on their horse's back, though still able to control their steed. This can result in funny visuals which can make traveling the lands of the north more pleasant, despite sometimes being cold and harsh.
1 They Can Ride Dragons
At Skyborn Altar, there is a dragon resting atop a Word Wall. And above this is a cliff, which the mounted player can climb with their steed. For some reason, if the player and horse land on the draconic beast's back just right, they can stay attached as the dragon flies off. The two mammals can stay upon their new winged transportation with varying degrees of time. Many have experimented with this phenomenon and have found that the dragon's sharp turns usually result in being more quickly thrown from the aerial saddle. But given the right circumstances, the Dragonborn can stay airborne for a trip across all of Skyrim.