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Horses (Equus ferus caballus) are a domesticated quadrupedal mammal mentioned throughout the Fallout series, both before and after the Great War.

Biology[]

Horses are able to sleep both standing up and lying down, with younger horses tending to sleep more than adults. Female horses, called mares, carry their young for approximately 11 months. A young horse, called a foal, can stand and run shortly following birth. Most domesticated horses begin training under a saddle or in a harness between the ages of two and four. They reach full adult development by age five, and have an average lifespan of between 25 and 30 years. Horses are herbivores with a digestive system adapted to a forage diet of grasses and other plant material, consumed steadily throughout the day.[Non-game 1]

Mentions[]

Fallout[]

Fallout 2[]

  • When talking to Ethyl Wright, the Chosen One may mention enjoying fermented milk from a mare, or female horse.[2]

Fallout 3[]

  • A horse toy called the Giddyup Buttercup was popular before the war. Advertisements describe the toy as being, "programmed to perfectly emulate the behavior of an actual horse."[3]
  • A story titled the Guardians of Gillyfrond mentions a toy variant of the creature, stating "there then rose a rustle and rumble from all corners of the room, as rocking horse and railway car, bookend and baby doll, toy and game alike all blossomed into impossible life."[4]

Fallout: New Vegas[]

Fallout 4[]

Fallout 76[]

Other[]

Vernacular usage[]

Behind the scenes[]

  • Joshua Sawyer stated during an October 2020 livestream that horses were never considered for implementation in Fallout: New Vegas, as they did not seem appropriate.[Non-game 2]
  • On January 24, 2013, Fandom user "StylesV13" added a quote from a personal email claiming to be from a correspondence with developer Chris Avellone.[Non-game 3][Non-game 4] In the correspondence, Avellone claims that the appearance of horses in All Roads was "an error (no one noticed it until too late)." He also says that Raul Tejada originally mentioned horses in one of his stories, but this was cut "because we didn't want to imply horses still existed."[Non-game 5] The contents of the email have never been independently verified. While a quoted portion of the correspondence has existed in this article since 2013, a screenshot of the email did not surface until 2014, when it was uploaded by a different, unrelated user onto Gamepedia.[Non-game 6] Comments on the file suggest it was taken from the now-defunct Bethesda forums, but a link to the original post or thread has not survived.
    • When asked about the StylesV13 email regarding horses in September 2020, developer Joshua Sawyer commented that he was not immediately familiar with the horses appearing as an error in All Roads, the concept of horses being completely extinct in Fallout, or Chris Avellone expressing it. He had "no idea" about this information, and that if he ever knew, it was "lost like dust in the wind."[Non-game 7]
  • Chris Avellone spoke more about the lack of horses in Fallout Apocrypha in 2022. Although he did not explicitly verify the StylesV13 email, Avellone expanded upon why horses do not appear for other reasons: horses would be difficult to implement in terms of game mechanics and would likely introduce countless technical issues that would need to be resolved during development. In-universe, the presence of horses would have wide-reaching implications for the technology of the wasteland that are not accounted for elsewhere. Additionally, the alternative route of not implementing horses but implying that they exist would disappoint players and serve little purpose other than what-ifs. Avellone concluded by saying that horses may exist somewhere in the Fallout world, frozen or perhaps in a vault, but appearing in-game as functional mounts would have impacts that could not be budgeted or accounted for.[Non-game 8]

See also[]

  • Donkey, a related species
  • Mule, a sterile hybrid between a male donkey and female horse.

Gallery[]

Fallout 3 and Fallout Tactics
Fallout: New Vegas and All Roads
Fallout 4
Fallout 76

References[]

  1. Dane: "I want a horse! I need a horse! Bring me a horse, dammit! A horse!"
    (Dane's dialogue)
  2. The Chosen One: "But people LIKE gambling, drinking and whoring. I know I do."
    Ethyl Wright: "(Looks shocked.) Surely you are mistaken. Even a primitive tribal such as yourself can't seriously mean th--"
    The Chosen One: "Nothing like a little communal love, some gambling, and rounding off the day with a few jugs of fermented mare's milk. That's what makes being a TRIBESMAN/TRIBESWOMAN so great!"
    (Ethyl Wright's dialogue)
  3. Giddyup Buttercup advertisement poster
  4. The Guardians of Gillyfrond
  5. PictureFrameSquarePhoto04.nif
  6. Easy City Downs render
  7. Deacon: "Put your money on Black Velvet. That pony's gonna win for sure."
    (Deacon's dialogue)
  8. Curie: "Is this... horse racing?"
    (Curie's dialogue)
  9. Codsworth: "I say! General Atomics' finest, reprogrammed as simple... race horses for bloody Raiders? Appalling!"
    (Codsworth's dialogue)
  10. Wilson Atomatoys corporate HQ terminal entries; Development Log, 10/17
  11. Wilson Atomatoys corporate HQ terminal entries; Product Brainstorming
  12. Pack member: "So what was a horse, anyway? Some kind of big dog you could ride on?"
    (DLC04DialogueRaiderFactionPack)
  13. Fallout 4 message box transcriptions; Wixon's Shovel Museum
  14. The Sole Survivor: "Horses gone missing? The Silver Shroud shall ensure this is not part of some more diabolical plot."
    The Giddyup Kid: "Thank you, Shroud. Remember to check out the Nuka-Cola refreshment stands. Even heroes like yourself get thirsty."
    (Giddyup Kid's dialogue)
  15. Sheriff Hawk or Eagle: "Thanks again for corralling that horse, deputy!"
    (Sheriff's dialogue)
  16. Story Time Miss Nanny: "She waved her wand at a pumpkin which turned into a silver carriage, and a family of mice, which turned into a team of horses to pull the carriage."
    (Miss Nanny's dialogue)
  17. Bolton Greens terminal entries; facility director's terminal, Outgoing Parental Mail 9JJA890
  18. Appalachia audio tour station 7: "The next stop in our tour is the impressive Poseidon's Passage - so-named after the ancient Greek god of the sea, earthquakes, storms, and horses."
  19. 0051B5AB edid <BldWallsCwBoy>
  20. PIONEERBOOK: Foreward: "Together they created a plan and a team to explore a vast, unknown continent where the fastest thing in the world was a horse."
  21. Jaggy: "I do miss seeing horses. Such noble creatures."
    (Jaggy's dialogue)
  22. Vault 51 terminal entries; Vault 51 Personnel List: T-W
  23. Vault Dweller: "That's some tough talk little girl."
    Maggie Stern: "And I can back it up you waste of space. My mom taught me to shoot when I was four years old. I once punched Slick in the nuts just for laughing at me. I could handle you with one hand while I brush my toy pony with the other."
    (Maggie Stern's dialogue)
  24. Lenny: "Uh, I've got to talk to a man about a horse."
    (Lenny's combat dialogue)
  25. Arcade Gannon: "I'll leave the fighting to the old warhorses. It's what they were made for."
    (Arcade Gannon's dialogue)
  26. The Courier: "What do you know about Mr. House?"
    Swank: "House is an all-right kind of guy. Sure, he keeps a pretty tight grip on the reins, but Vegas is a wild horse, and you can't just give her her head. Without Mr. House, we'd still be wearing gecko skins, poking around the ruins with pointy sticks and scalping people for giggles."
    (Swank's dialogue)
  27. Vault 19 terminal entries; Blue sector, Log 483
  28. Nick Valentine: "Hey. Hold your horses for a second. I owe you an apology."
    (Nick Valentine companion dialogue)
  29. Nick Valentine: "Hold your horses..."
    (Nick Valentine companion dialogue)
  30. Cait: "Well, who the hell am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?"
    (Cait companion dialogue)
  31. Supervisor Greene: "Whoa, there! Just hold your horses, little lady."
    (Supervisor Greene's dialogue)
  32. Robert MacCready: "We're taking a lot of risk using the Trojan Horse method. Let's hope the Brotherhood's rusty on their Ancient Greek History."
    (Robert MacCready's dialogue)
  33. Codsworth: "All the king's horses and all the king's men..."
    (Codsworth's dialogue)
  34. Codsworth: "Horsefeathers. Take it from someone who can recall 200 years ago as if it were yesterday."
    (Codsworth's dialogue)
  35. Cassie Dalton: "Now every good story's got to have a happy ending, right? The hero finds the treasure, saves the sweetheart an' rides off into the sunset. Well, I'm a little old to leap up on a horse, but I have got something close to a treasure."
    (Cassie Dalton's dialogue)
  36. Porter Gage: "Okay. You have fun getting shot from off the top of your high horse there, 'boss.'"
    (Porter Gage's dialogue)
  37. Porter Gage: "If nothin' else, I know I'm definitely backing the right horse.'"
    (Porter Gage's dialogue)
  38. General Braxton's visit
  39. Natural Resistance perk card
  40. Harpers Ferry terminal entries; Miranda's terminal, The Free States
  41. Pioneer Scout camp terminal entries; Codebreaker exam
  42. Pioneer Scout camp terminal entries; Chemist exam
  43. Pioneer Scout camp terminal entries; Rail enthusiast exam
  44. Johnny Weston: "You just keep beating that dead horse, don't you? I already said I was sorry and gave you a significant peace offering, so let's bury it out back and get on with our lives, alright?"
    (Johnny Weston's dialogue)
  45. Molly: "Cool your horses, my info's good. You'll see, then you'll be back to thank me."
    (Molly's dialogue)
  46. Settler wanderer: "Ready to get on a white horse and leap to the rescue? If so, I know someone that needs it. Like... soon."
    (Settler wanderer's dialogue)
  47. Rose: "Bet she's loving the fact that they bailed at the perfect time, so she's bound to be way up on her high horse right about now."
    (Rose's dialogue)
  48. Vinny Costa: "Slow your horses there, bub. We're still getting things ready over here. Stop by a little later."
    (Vinny Costa's dialogue)

Non-game

  1. Horse on Wikipedia
  2. Fallout: New Vegas 10th Anniversary Charity Stream (reference starts at 6:26:28)
    Joshua Sawyer: "There was never any thought about implementing horses. Didn't really seem super appropriate, really."
  3. I emailed Chris Avellone and that is what he had to say about Horses and All Roads. StylesV13 edit on January 24, 2013
  4. Sorry it was me StylesV13 how made this edit about Chris Avellone. I thought I was logged in. StylesV13 edit on January 24, 2013
  5. StylesV13:"Hello again,
    There is debate in the Fallout Universe regarding horses and whether or not they are extinct. Most people see them as extinct given that we haven't seen them or heard any mention of them in any Fallout game. But in All Roads we see NCR soldiers on horses.
    So the question is, was that part of Chase's drug induced hallucination, a dream, or was it to show us that horse are in the NCR?
    In the end, it's up the Bethesda, but we would like your view on this matter. Still Bethesda would have been part of the approval of All Roads right?"

    Chris Avellone: "To me, that picture in the comic was an error (no one noticed it until too late).
    While the end decision is up to Bethesda as to whether horses exist in the NCR, it was never my intention that there were any horses, and furthermore, there were still parts of the New Vegas design where we specifically removed the mention of horses from certain narrative points (one of Raul's stories originally referenced horses, for example, and we cut them because we didn't want to imply horses still existed)."

    (StylesAllRoadsE-mailFile:StylesAllRoadsE-mail.png)
  6. Image file page on gamepedia showing an upload date of July 2014., 19 months after the original email.
  7. yellowflickerbear: "Way back in 2013, Chris Avellone said in an email that it was never his intention to have horses in the comic All Road. Today, some people are doubting the legitimacy of that email. Can you re-confirm that what Avellone said back then was true?"
    Joshua Sawyer: "I have no idea, honestly. If I ever knew, that info is now lost like dust in the wind. Sorry."
    (Joshua Sawyer on Tumblr (archived))
  8. Fallout Apocrypha

Non-canon

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