How to catch and tame horses in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Mere moments after first stepping foot in Hyrule, you’ll learn it’s a pretty big place. So big, in fact, that traveling it on foot is a fool’s task. You could book it around The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom‘s map on your own two legs, or you could catch yourself a horse and speed things up.

Catching a horse in TOTK is identical to the mechanic in Breath of the Wild. Players new to the Zelda franchise may find the process a bit confusing, though, since the game doesn’t exactly explain how you can easily befriend a horse.

Here’s how you catch and tame horses in TotK.

Where to find horses in TotK

Before you can catch a horse, you’ll need to find one first. If you registered your horses in BotW and have your save file on the same Switch as TotK, you can find all of your old horses by speaking to the attendant at any stable. If you’re looking to catch a new horse, however, you’ll need to head to the open fields.

Horses roam the wild in TotK and can be found pretty much everywhere. Your best bet is venturing into an open field, whipping out your Purah Pad by pressing the right analog button, and looking around. Horses travel in herds, and you’ll often find groups of three or four of them at a time. They come in various colors, with some being easier to catch than others.

If it’s your first time catching a horse, we recommend going for the paints or the appaloosas, the multicolored horses. These horses typically don’t spook as easily as the solid-color ones, nor do they put up as much of a fight when you jump on their backs. But the appaloosas and paints typically don’t have as much stamina or speed as the others. If you’re simply looking to traverse Hyrule quicker than walking, though, these horses will get the job done.

How to catch a horse in TotK

When you’ve picked out the horse you want to catch, you’ll need to sneak up behind it by pressing the left analog stick button to enter a crouch and slowly pushing the stick forward. After you’ve gotten close enough, you’ll be prompted to mount the horse by pressing “A.” If you’re jumping on the back of a hard-to-catch horse, it will attempt to buck you off. You’ll need to rapidly press “L” to stay on, which will deplete some of your stamina.

Eventually, it should calm down, as shown in our video below, and you can then ride it to a nearby stable to register it.

Another quick way of catching horses is to throw an item at it that causes it to freeze, like an Ice Fruit or White Chuchu Jelly. This will cause the horse to be frozen in place for several seconds, allowing you to run up to it and prepare to jump on its back. Once the ice breaks, you’ll need to quickly hit the “A” button to jump on its back and tame it.

If you’re not looking to go through all that trouble to tame your own steed, you can also steal a domesticated one from bokoblins. Occasionally, players will come across bokoblins riding horses. If the bokoblin sees you, they’ll charge toward you. You can knock them off their horse by shooting them with an arrow, throwing things at the horse, or smacking it with a melee weapon. Once the rider has been thrown from the animal, you can run up to it and jump on its back.

Where to register your horse in TotK

So you’ve caught your noble steed. Now what?

You’ll want to register the animal with a stable for a variety of benefits. Registering it prevents it from returning back to the wild. You’ll also be able to put a saddle on it and call it with a whistle by pressing down on the D-pad. To register your horse, head on over to the nearest stable. These buildings are hard to miss thanks to their giant horse head décor.

Ride your horse up to the window and target the stable master with “ZL.” Speaking to him then opens a dialogue menu, where you can choose to register the horse. You’ll need to pick a name, preferably one that’s fitting for the animal, since you won’t be able to change it later. We named ours Ziggy.

How to bond with your horse in TotK

Now that you’ve saddled up, you’ll likely want to befriend your horse. When you registered your steed with the stable, you probably noticed the stats that popped up. These stats indicate how fast your horse can go, how quickly it can tow a carriage or cart, and how much endurance it has. But there’s also a stat for how bonded your horse is to you.

To bond with your horse, you’ll need to pet it while riding it or by feeding it apples. A newly caught horse is prone to acting up; if you go left, it might just go right instead. Sooth it in this instance by pressing the left bumper. This will spawn hearts around the horse’s head, and it will then do what you ask. If you’d prefer to feed your horse apples, take an apple out of your bag by highlighting it and selecting the “Hold” option, as shown in the video below, and carry it over to your horse. It will graciously eat the fruit from your hands.

Feed it enough apples or soothe it multiple times to max out your bond score. A horse that likes you will always obey your commands.