How to get a mount in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

The map in Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is quite extensive, and you won’t want to be walking or running your way through all of it. Luckily, the game presents you with several different options when it comes to obtaining a mount. Link, of course, has access to his trusty steed, Epona, but there are some other forms of a mount that you can also acquire in Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Here’s all the different mounts I’ve come across and how to ride them.

Getting a mount in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Obviously, the mount that most players will use a majority of their time while on the ground is Epona. Players can acquire Epona upon visiting their first stable, which is found in the town of New Serenne (located northwest of Lookout Landing). At the stable, simply talk to the NPC owner, who will say that Link is a good customer and he can borrow a horse. From here on out, you will now have access to Epona in the mount selection screen.

Be warned, there is a major caveat to this.

In order to acquire Epona from the stable, you need to have a Breath of the Wild save file installed on your Nintendo Switch. I had a save file on my console and was able to fully accept Epona from the stable’s NPC. However, other writers who did not have a BotW save file did not have this option.

Luckily, there are also several other kinds of mounts in Tears of the Kingdom that players will want to know about. You can see all of your options below.

Wild Horses and Enemy Horses

Throughout your time in Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, you will discover all kinds of horses in random locations on the map. You will also see a number of enemies riding a horse that you might want to steal from them. In any case, you can stealthily approach a wild horse that’s grazing in a field and then try to mount it by pressing “A” near it. However, you will immediately need to then repeatedly press “L” to get the horse to not buck you off its back.

As for enemy horses, all you need to do is eliminate the enemy riding the horse. Then, after the horse has galloped for a spell and you’ve caught up to it, you can repeat the process you did for a wild horse.

The Spotting Spot quest

After you have registered a horse in a stable, which will likely be Epona, you will then be able to take on a side quest called Spotting Spot. This quest is given to you by an old man and requires you to repair a stable in Lookout Landing. After repairing the stable using the Ultrahand, the old man will tell you his horse, Spot, has run away. You can track down Spot nearby to the south of Lookout Landing. Once you have done so, the old man will offer to give you Spot as a reward.

There are some other mounts in Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but those are the primary ways to acquire one, especially in the early game.