How to buy a horse

While this is fresh in my mind...

First you will need to have the Riding Trait.  You can't get this until level 35.  But once you are 35, you can get the trait even if you don't yet have the money for a horse.

Right now, horses cost 4 gold, 220 silver.  The preliminary riding quests will net you about 40s in themselves, so if you go with just enough to purchase, you won't come out completely broke!

So first, you go to the Hengstacer Farm in the Horsefields north of Bree.  This is around where you did the quest for Oddvar's pack.   Talk to the horsemaster there to get the quests, which are simple enough but I do have a few hints.

First, you'll have to deliver 3 different horses to different places.  Take note of the COLOR of the horses, because this is really the only time you will see definitely which is which.  The stablemaster names the color in his dialogue and you will also briefly see the floaty name before you mount.  As you know, dwarves and hobbits ride ponies, be sure to purchase the right one for your race!

Note that several things can knock you off your mount (make it vanish.)  If you ride through water deep enough to swim in, if you get too much aggro, and if you initiate combat.

First, you'll have to deliver a horse to the stablemaster in Bree.  Easy. 

Then you deliver a horse to Michel Delving.  This is a bit harder.  I've taken short cuts and arrived well in time, but you can probably just follow the road too.

Finally, you must deliver a horse to Othrikar.  This take longer.  I take a short cut from Trestlebridge to the northeast, just north of the orc camps where you found the crates and hammer and such.  You can ford the river at a shallows, but careful not to get in too deep.  I've never tried this by the road, but it's probably do-able that way.

After you deliver the three horses, your last riding quest will involve a timed sprint on the track around the Hengstacer farm.  This is the most challenging (and fun!).  I'd recommend you walk it first, following the dirt track and locating each bannered gate.  They don't "blink" during the quest, and some can be hard to see, particularly at night.  Investigate any short cut you can find, because this is a very closely-timed race.  Remember you can jump anything while mounted that you can jump while dismounted, but you can't swim.

Once you win (of course you'll win) you will now have the Riding Trait and can buy your horse.  Careful of your color selection.  And most important, as soon as possible, go to a vendor and LOCK the horse icon in your pack.   I've heard way too many horror stories of people accidentally selling their mount and not realizing it until too late.