Tears of the Kingdom – How to Complete The Horse Guard’s Request

The side quests in The Legend of Zelda: Tear of the Kingdom will have you working through several unique tasks for the citizens of Hyrule. One of the more interesting ones is in The Horse Guard’s Request, who wants to find one of the rarer animals that you can find in this game.

The goal of The Horse Guard’s Request is to track down a Stalhorse, a skeleton horse. These types of horses don’t appear in every location, and tracking one down can take a bit of time while you’re playing. Here’s what you need to know about how to complete The Horse Guard’s Request in Tears of the Kingdom, and where you can find a Stalhorse.

All The Horse Guard’s Request in TotK

The start of The Horse Guard’s Request quest will be at the Outskirt Stable. You can find this location to the south of Manhala Bridge, to the southwest of Mount Daphnes in Tears of the Kingdom. Head over to the stable, and an old man should be outside the building tending to the horses. His name is Toffa, and he gave us the quest.

Toffa is an older gentleman who told us legends about a skeleton horse. He wants to see one for himself, and there is a type of horse that fits that description in Tears of the Kingdom. Tracking it down usually is not easy, but he does share where we can find one: Sanidin Park Ruins.

How to Find a Stalhorse in TotK

My next step for this quest is to go to the northwest, to Sanidin Park Ruins. It’s not too far away from Outskirt Stable. Because the goal is to take a Stalhorse back with me, I made sure to go there on foot. However, it’s also important to note that Toffa shared with us that these horses only show up at night, so I grabbed a bed at the Outskirt Stable in Tears of the Kingdom, rested until night, and then made my way to the ruins.

When I arrived, the ruins were deserted, and there wasn’t much there defending it, let alone a Stalhorse. After a bit of searching, though, I found it wandering around on the west side of the ruins. Unlike the previous horses in Tears of the Kingdom, the Stalhorse didn’t need to be tamed. I jumped into the air, glided onto its back, and rode it back to Outskirt Stable. I didn’t have to do a stamina challenge to tame it, which was a nice change.

When I arrived, Toffa was blown away by the sight of the horse. He said it was a sight to behold, but now he wanted to see something even more amazing: to ride something that wasn’t a horse. There are not too many animals that can be mounted and ridden that isn’t a horse, so this proves to be an even more difficult challenge.

How to Mount An Animal That Isn’t a Horse in TotK

The next thing Toffa wants to see for the second part of The Horse Guard’s Request is to ride a creature that is not a horse. One of the easiest animals we can do this for is a deer, and they are relatively common in Tears of the Kingdom. Unfortunately, tracking them down can be a bit of a challenge, but I might be able to help narrow down their exact location in Hyrule, close to Toffa and the Outskirt Stable.

I found it best to check out the small forest north of Outskirt Stable in Tears of the Kingdom. There’s a small patch of land with several trees on top of the hill, and there were a handful of mountain deer enjoying this location.

Unlike the horses of Tears of the Kingdom, mountain deer are much more difficult to mount. I had to sneak up on them, similar to a horse, but they typically found out I was there within seconds of getting close. When they did, they would turn toward me and charge forward. It was when they charged forward did I have the precious few seconds to mount them.

After mounting a deer in TotK, soothing them is similar to attempting to tame a horse. Now, with them under your control, you can bring them back to Toffa and show off how you caught them. If you’re coming from a lost distance with the deer, prepare to have to soothe it multiple times. It might be harder to catch the creature if you lose it.

When I showed the deer to Toffa, he was blown away by the feat, never having seen it before. After I showed the Stalhorse and the deer to Toffa, he awarded me a pony point, which gave me two by the end of this quest. For anyone who needs to earn more Pony Points to spend at the stable, this is a good quest to bank two of them and use them in future rewards in Tears of the Kingdom.