Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.
- "Toffa at the Outskirt Stable asked you to find the royal family's white horse. Someone else noticed a white horse on Safula Hill that had a beautiful, spotless white coat and stood apart from the rest of the herd."
- — Adventure Log description
The Royal White Stallion is a side quest from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It is given to Link by Toffa at Outskirt Stable; he is asked to find a pure white horse near Safula Hill in order to tame and register it.
Overview[]
- "The white horse on Safula Hill supposedly has a beautiful pure-white coat without any mottling... They say it roams by itself, apart from other groups of horses. If you end up finding it and registering it at a stable, I'd really love to see it. Thanks."
- — Toffa
Toffa tells Link his grandfather's story about a pure white horse. It may be a descendant of the Royal Family's White Horse originally owned by Princess Zelda. It was said to have escaped to Safula Hill after the fall of Hyrule Castle to Calamity Ganon one hundred years ago according to local legend.
The white horse can be found at Safula Hill along the path that leads to the Sanidin Park Ruins. The horse is warier, requiring Link to crouch walk as slowly as possible while approaching it from behind. Link can wear clothing and use items that increase his stealth to make approaching it more easier. Three additional segments to the Stamina Wheel are needed in order to be able to tame this horse, otherwise Link will get throw off while attempting to ride it. Energizing Elixirs and Enduring Elixirs can be used if Link does not have the necessary stamina for it. Shock Arrows and Ice Arrows can stun or freeze it to make mounting it easier, though he should use a weaker strength bow such as a Boko or Wooden Bow to avoid causing too much damage to prevent him from accidentally killing it. Shock Arrows are preferred unless it is raining as Link will have to wait for the horse to thaw before mounting while Shock Arrows wear off much more quickly though rain boosts their damage and effect. Link should avoid mounting it during thunderstorms while wearing metallic equipment that attracts lightning though removing said equipment will allow Link to mount it without worrying about attracting lightning though it still could be kill by a stray lightning bolt or the lightning strikes could spook the horse while trying to sneak up on it. Link can also climb the nearby tree and use the Paraglider to land on its back though if his timing is off the startled horse will rear up knocking Link down with its hooves.
After taming it, Link can ride and bring it back to Toffa at the stable. Toffa will request to register it first before speaking to him, though Link can skip this part by registering it as soon as he returns though Link can register it at any Stable he chooses to though the Outskirt Stable is the closest and easiest to reach as the Tabantha Bridge Stable, Serenne Stable, and Riverside Stable are all pretty far and Link would have to return anyways to speak to Toffa to complete the side quest. After it is registered, Toffa is surprised that his grandfather was not lying and gives Link the Royal Bridle and Saddle. This equipment was inherited by Toffa from his own grandfather, custom fitted for the royal family's white horse, which he will automatically equip to the horse replacing the Stable Bridle and Stable Saddle acquired upon registration. Link however can have Canni or female stable hands at a couple of other stables to change its bridle and saddle after he becomes fully bonding with the White Horse as it allows its mane and equipment be changed unlike Epona and the Giant Horse. The easiest way to achieve max bond with it is to feed it horse food (Apples, Swift Carrots, or Endura Carrots) until it stops eating. The White Horse is the only special horse that is required to be registered as registering the Giant Horse is optional as "Hunt for the Giant Horse" only requires Link to tame it and show it to Straia. The White Horse is the only special horse that can be equipped with the Ancient Bridle and Ancient Saddle with it even being shown in promotional art wearing the Ancient Horse Gear.
Toffa is in awe of the horse and tells Link that the sight of the Princess riding atop her white horse was supposed to be a beauty beyond words. It is implied his grandfather may have acquired the equipment off of Zelda's original horse when it began living on Safula Hill but was apparently unable to tame the Royal White Horse which presumably refused to be tamed by anyone as it was Zelda's personal horse. He states that he has no doubts that it is the grandchild of Zelda's white horse though it is unclear if this is true or if the Zelda's original Horse survived for a century possibly with its life prolonged due to its bond and/or association with Zelda or through intervention of divine entities such as Hylia or Malanya. Alternatively White Horses could be extremely long lived something which Toffa and his grandfather may have been unaware of.
After the quest is completed, Toffa says if he was a little younger, he would ride that White Horse with a gal just like the princess. Ironically, Toffa is unaware Link is Zelda's personal Royal Knight and that Zelda is still alive containing Calamity Ganon in Hyrule Castle though presumably he became aware of this fact after Dark Beast Ganon's defeat as Zelda returned to rebuild her kingdom after a century of keeping Ganon sealed.
The White Horse[]
| Strength | ★★★★ |
|---|---|
| Speed | ★★★ |
| Stamina | ★★★★★ |
- "The Hyrulean royal family that perished 100 years ago would sometimes ride atop white horses as a display of their divine right. This white horse may be a descendant of one once ridden by royalty."
- — Hyrule Compendium
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Princess Zelda riding her Royal White Stallion in Link's 14th recovered memory
The White Stallion has four strength stars, three speed stars, five stamina stars, and a wild temperament. Thanks to its five stamina stars, it has five spurs. This horse is likely a reference to the unnamed White Horse used by Impa and Princess Zelda to escape Ganondorf in Ocarina of Time. Toffa's story about Princess Zelda riding a White Horse is proven true in at least three of Link's recovered memories and Zelda is seen riding a White Horse at the end of the game. Like the Giant Horse and Stalhorse, the White Horse has its own Hyrule Compendium entry which reveals that members of the Royal Family of Hyrule rode white horses as a symbol of their divine right.
- ""Be sure to take your time to soothe your mount... That's the only way they'll know how you truly feel." Your advice was quite helpful-thank you. This little one and I are getting along quite well now. At first, I wasn't sure if I should outfit him with all of the royal gear. I thought maybe he should have to earn it first. But it works! He wears it like a true natural. I'm trying to be a bit more empathetic. Benefit of doubt, you know?"
- — Princess Zelda during "To Mount Lanayru"
During Recovered Memory #14: "To Mount Lanayru", Link and Zelda ride their horses along the path of Safula Hill to Sanidin Park after Zelda had completed a survey of the Shrines. During the trip, Zelda thanks Link for his advice regarding horses and reveals she originally thought against outfiting him with all the Royal Gear believing he should earn it but in an attempt to be a bit more empathic she decided to equip it to him. She notes he wears it well and that they have been getting along better thanks to Link's advice. Eventually they reach Sanidin Park where they tie their horses as Zelda shows Link Mount Lanayru the location of the Spring of Wisdom which she has been unable to train at until her seventeenth birthday which is the next day which unbeknownst to Zelda is also the day Calamity Ganon will return. This memory implies Zelda's horse fled to Safula Hill because it was the location of the last happy ride the horse spent with its mistress before the Great Calamity thus the Hill and nearby Sanidin Park Ruins meant something to Zelda's horse and Link as the park ruins is where he recalls it.
Theory[]
Theory warning: This section contains theoretical information based on the research of one or several other users. It has not been officially verified by Nintendo and its factual accuracy is disputed.
Royal White Stallions[]
It is suggested by Toffa and the Hyrule Compendium that the White horse is descendant of the Royal White Stallion owned by Princess Zelda of Breath of the Wild before she sealed Calamity Ganon in Hyrule Castle. Zelda's unnamed Horse managed to escape the fall of Hyrule Castle and began living among the wild horses of Safula Hill, where its descendant is supposedly found. It is possible that both Zelda's Horse and its descendants where protected by Zelda's power, and possibly Hylia whom Zelda is descended from according to legend as she is referred to as the goddess blood Princess by Kass and are directly stated to possess the blood of the Goddess by Impa, explaining the presence of its present day descendant.
This indicates the possibility that Princess Zelda's Horse was descended or a reincarnation of the White Horse used by Impa and Zelda in Ocarina of Time. This would make sense as the legendary horse Epona is also known to have several incarnations. The White Horse is shown to have great stamina allowing it to gallop even more than Epona. This resembles the White Horse from Ocarina of Time which was able to out gallop Ganondorf's Steed.
It should be noted that the White Horse's Compendium entry reveals that the Royal Family of Hyrule traditionally rides White Horses as a display of their divine right. Presumably the White Horse ridden by Impa and Princess Zelda in Ocarina of Time was one of these royal white horses which Impa and Zelda used to flee from the Gerudo King of Thieves.
Survival of Zelda's White Horse[]
Another possibility is the Royal White Horses possesses a naturally long lifespan allowing Zelda's original horse to out live Link's original unnamed horse and survive to the present day.
Alternatively the Horse God Malanya and/or Goddess Hylia may have taken pity on the horse as he waited faithfully at Safula Hill for his mistress to return and bestowed upon it extended life, stopped its aging, or revived/reincarnated it upon its natural death which would presumably been Malanya's work (though Malanya might have done so at Hylia or Zelda's request) as Malanya is the patron deity of Horses. Link may have been even guided by fate through Toffa to tame and register it so it could aid Link during his quest to free Zelda and defeat Ganon. If it was Zelda's horse then he may have only allowed Link to tame it because the horse knew he was Zelda's appointed knight and was a trusted friend whom helped Zelda bond with him improving his relationship with his mistress.
Presumably Toffa simply assumes the White Horse is a descendant of Zelda's as it makes the most logical sense. However it could be partially true if it was Zelda's horse was reincarnated into its own grandchild.
Theory warning: Theories end here.
Spoiler warning: Spoilers end here.