In this list, we’re going to show you some of the best mods to install for Skyrim SSE on PC that make changes to Horses! These mods might either add new breeds of Horses, adjust the appearance of existing ones, or add new mechanics. The Mods are not ordered in any way; they work individually but are compatible with each other.
10
Convenient Horses
This overhaul enhances the Horses in Skyrim, allowing them to have more unique personalities, and they can be trained to improve their strength, endurance, and speed, as opposed to all vanilla horses being completely identical in these aspects. The Horses can also have equipment, as this mod adds almost 40 new items that horses can use, such as Saddles or Caparisons. Players can now harvest and do other actions whilst riding a horse, including mounted harvesting of ingredients, mounted interaction with people and corpses, mounted combat horse charge, horse stabling, naming, and quick swapping, horse encumbrance system and mobile storage, horse dialogue interaction and fast dismount, horse follow and combat behavior customization, horse whistle and calling, horse attribute training, horse equipment crafting and discovery, and followers’ horses with mounted combat.
The mod includes a questline tutorial that starts only once the player owns their own horse, and playing Skyrim as usual (completing Quests) can also reward additional Horse supplies. The Special Edition version has been completely rebuilt from the ground up to radically change how you interact with and use horses, with a heavy focus on immersion and freedom from script extender dependencies. Quick Dismount can be activated by double-tapping E, and the mod features no more bound keys – instead, you learn new controls by following the introductory quest and configure everything via horse dialogue rather than menus.
Download Link for Convenient Horses
9
Horse Armors SSE
This mod adds new armors to horses found in cities, giving them armor from their hometown to protect themselves from the dangers of Tamriel. For example, Whiterun’s horses have Nordic Steel Horse Armor, while other cities like Riften get Leather Horse Armor, and Solitude receives Imperial-style armor. Each major stable master sells horses with unique armor sets that match their local aesthetic and cultural identity, creating a more immersive and lore-friendly experience throughout Skyrim.
The mod also adds armor to NPCs and named Horses, making for a great immersion feature in Skyrim. After all, everything and everyone else is armored, so why not horses? Special horses like Frost receive custom armor designs, while Shadowmere gets a distinctive Daedric-style armor set befitting his dark origins. The armor is purely cosmetic but significantly enhances the visual appeal and believability of horse ownership in a world filled with dangerous creatures and bandits.
Download Link for Horse Armors SSE
8
First Person Horse Riding
This mod allows for full zoom-in, enabling you to ride horses in first-person, making you genuinely feel like the rider in Skyrim and adding significant immersion. Not sure why this isn’t in the base game without a mod for it, as it addresses one of the most jarring aspects of vanilla Skyrim – being forced into third-person view when mounting a horse. The feature is activated by default when pressing the F key; however, it can be customized through the MCM menu if you have SkyUI installed.
The mod is designed to be as lightweight, efficient, and easy to use as possible with no performance impact, requiring SKSE for full functionality. It features smooth transitions between camera modes and locks the camera appropriately to prevent zooming out while in first-person mode. Combat is disabled when using first-person mode for balance reasons, but you can quickly switch to third-person for combat situations, and the mod is fully compatible with other horse overhauls like Convenient Horses and Immersive Horses.
Download Link for First Person Horse Riding
7
Horses for followers
This tweaked SSE port makes new horses available to buy at city stables specifically for your followers and hirelings, eliminating the frustration of watching companions struggle to keep up on foot while you ride ahead. All vanilla stables have a second horse for sale that you can purchase when you have a follower. When you mount up, your follower will automatically do the same, with their horse intelligently following yours. The mod is intended for players who do not use any of the major follower or horse overhauls, such as Nether’s Follower Framework or Convenient Horses. Stables usually hold more than 2 Horses now to accommodate this mod.
You can tell your follower to “ride ahead” to any of the hold capitals, creating an interesting role-reversal where your companion leads the way to destinations. The SSE version includes several improvements over the original, including voiced dialogue for all interactions, bug fixes that prevent followers from being left behind, and better handling of fast travel and city transitions. Followers can now ride ahead to Winterhold, and the system intelligently manages horse placement when traveling to walled cities or using fast travel.
Download Link for Horses for Followers
6
Witcher Horses Expansion
This complete horse overhaul introduces the horses from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt into the world of Skyrim, featuring a vast new variety of horse coat colors converted from The Witcher 3, Fera’s Roach and Horse Overhaul, and Fera’s Tribute Horses. The mod includes 20 unique horses with special effects and optional ENB light that can be found throughout Skyrim and Solstheim, discovered in unique locations after finding and activating their summoning catalyst. Additionally, there are 21 ESO-inspired horses with unique names scattered throughout Skyrim, along with 56 unique horse coats distributed among existing horses, making nearly all horses visually distinct.
The mod transforms horses that previously weren’t unique in appearance, such as Cicero’s horse, giving them distinct and memorable coats. There’s even a special Zorse that accompanies M’aiq the Liar on his travels and appears alongside him during roadside encounters. The spell tomes to summon the unique horses have been distributed in merchant-level lists with varying degrees of rarity and can be purchased from the Riverwood Trader or Phinis at the College of Winterhold.
Download Link for Witcher Horse Expansion
5
Horses Cannot Die
This essential mod makes all player-owned horses immortal, preventing them from being killed by enemies, fall damage, or other hazards that commonly destroy horses in vanilla Skyrim. The mod affects all horse types, including purchased horses from stables, unique mounts like Shadowmere and Frost, and any other horses you acquire during your adventures. This eliminates one of the most frustrating aspects of horse ownership – constantly having to buy replacement mounts after they are killed by random wolves, bandits, dragons, or accidentally fall off cliffs.
The mod is straightforward but highly effective, requiring no configuration or special setup – install it and all your horses become essential. Unlike some alternatives, this mod specifically targets player-owned horses while leaving wild or stolen horses unaffected, maintaining some degree of realism. It’s perfect for players who want to enjoy mounted travel without the constant anxiety of losing their investment, and it’s particularly valuable for expensive or unique horses that cannot be easily replaced through normal gameplay.
Download Link for Horses cannot die.
4
Simple Horse SE
This lightweight mod enhances horse functionality with essential features while maintaining simplicity, stability, and maximum compatibility with other mods. Simple Horse SE focuses on solving the most common horse-related frustrations without overwhelming complexity or heavy scripts that can impact performance. The mod adds the ability to call your last ridden horse with a whistle using the “Call Horse” power (default hotkey “H”), ensures horses won’t engage in combat unless you specifically enable fighting in the MCM, and provides faster dismounting animations that make mounting and dismounting feel more responsive and less tedious during gameplay.
The mod includes follower mount functionality, where nearby followers automatically receive temporary horses when you mount yours, supporting up to five followers simultaneously. Installation and setup couldn’t be easier – install the mod, and it works immediately with sensible defaults. However, you can customize settings through the included MCM menu if desired. Simple Horse SE is designed as a “set it and forget it” solution that requires no complex configuration, questlines, or tutorials, making it perfect for players who want improved horse mechanics without the learning curve of more comprehensive overhauls.
Download link for Simple Horses SE
3
Horses Gone Wild
This mod expands the wild horse population throughout Skyrim’s wilderness, adding dynamic encounters with untamed horses that can be found roaming freely across the various holds. Rather than limiting players to purchasing horses only from stables, this mod introduces a more organic and adventurous approach to horse acquisition by populating the landscape with wild herds that can be encountered during exploration. These wild horses feature varied appearances, stats, and temperaments, making each discovery unique and rewarding for players who prefer to find their mounts through adventure rather than commerce.
The taming system allows players to approach and calm wild horses through careful gameplay, with successful taming adding the horse to their collection as a loyal mount. Different regions of Skyrim feature different types of wild horses, from hardy mountain breeds in the Reach to swift plains horses in Whiterun Hold, each adapted to its environment. The mod includes random encounter systems that make wilderness travel more interesting and unpredictable, as you never know when you might stumble upon a magnificent wild stallion or a small herd grazing in a hidden valley.
Download link for Horses Gone Wild SE
2
Convenient Horse Herding
This mod allows for the ability to herd multiple horses at once, making taming numerous horses at once possible, which helps avoid having to make return trips to tame various horses scattered across Skyrim’s wilderness. The herding system streamlines the process of managing wild horse encounters by allowing you to control and direct groups of horses simultaneously, transforming what would usually be a time-consuming series of individual taming sessions into an efficient group operation. This is particularly useful for players who want to build up a substantial collection of horses without spending hours traveling back and forth between different locations.
You can also herd horses while mounted on another horse, adding a unique mounted herding experience that feels both practical and immersive. This functionality enables you to guide wild or tamed horses while remaining mobile yourself, making it easier to direct herds over long distances or navigate them around obstacles and hazardous areas. The ability to manage multiple horses from horseback creates engaging gameplay scenarios where you can act as a true horse wrangler, moving herds between safe grazing areas or leading newly tamed horses back to your preferred stabling locations without dismounting from your primary mount.
Download Link for Convenient Horse Herding
1
HD Reworked Horses
This comprehensive texture overhaul mod enhances all horses in Skyrim with high-quality 4K and 2K textures while maintaining complete compatibility with the vanilla game experience. The mod reworks every horse model in the game, including regular purchasable horses, unique mounts like Shadowmere and Frost, and all variations found throughout Skyrim, giving them dramatically improved visual fidelity without changing their fundamental appearance or characteristics. All saddles and horse-related equipment also receive the same high-quality treatment, ensuring a consistent and polished look across all horse-related assets.
What makes this mod particularly appealing is its 100% vanilla-friendly approach – it preserves the original horse colors, patterns, and designs that players know and love while simply making them look more detailed and modern. The textures are performance-optimized to deliver stunning visual improvements without compromising game performance, making them an ideal choice for players who want to enhance their visual experience without sacrificing stability. The mod is perfect for those who appreciate Skyrim’s original artistic direction but want their horses to meet modern graphical standards, providing a seamless upgrade that feels natural and lore-appropriate. The designs, but want them to look more detailed and contemporary. It preserves the original color schemes and patterns while dramatically improving texture quality and detail resolution.
Download Link for HD Reworked Horses
Installation Notes:
- Most of these mods are compatible with each other
- Load order may matter for some combinations
- Always check individual mod pages for specific compatibility requirements
- Some mods require SKSE64 and SkyUI for full functionality
- Make clean saves when uninstalling script-heavy mods like Convenient Horses
This mod list originated from pwrdown.com and has been brought to this page. Updated for 2025, and now applies to PC.
