PSA: Your horses from Breath of the Wild are in Tears of the Kingdom

At the onset of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Link is yet again starting from the bottom. Three hearts. Barely enough stamina to climb a wall. A busted Master Sword covered in sludge. After his rise from circumstances in Breath of the Wild, it’s a real backslide. (But such are video game stories, right?)

However, you’re not without any comfort in once-again-chaotic Hyrule. Players with Breath of the Wild save data on their Nintendo Switch will be able to access all of their horses from that save file in Tears of the Kingdom.

How to access your Breath of the Wild save data

To find and reunite with all your horsey friends, you’ll first need to visit any of the stables in Tears of the Kingdom. After Link plunges to Hyrule from the Sky Islands, he’ll have to hoof it to get to any stables. The closest stable to the game’s starting area of Lookout Landing is New Serenne Stable, which is to the northwest of Hyrule Castle.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo EDP/Nintendo via Polygon

You’ll want to capture a wild horse on your way there, as you will need to register a new horse to access the old data. But also because a Hinox is sleeping on the main bridge leading to New Serenne, and ol’ four-heart Link with a wooden sword just can’t hack that yet.

Many of the wild horses in the starting area won’t require extra stamina to catch, but you might want to use an elixir made of sunset fireflies to raise your sneak skill, as they do startle easily.

Upon arriving the stable, you’ll need to select the dialog prompt to register horse for the new wild horse you just caught. Once you do, the stable clerk will say “Huh? It looks like you’ve entrusted a horse to us once before,” then saying he’ll go ahead and register any old horse with your name on it. When you open your horse menu, your newly registered horse will be there, along with every horse from your Breath of the Wild save.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

These horses retain all the stats they previously had, along with a new stat: pull. They also retain their bond with Link. (My giant horse who hates Link? Still here. Still hates Link.) This time capsule also allows you to marvel at all the horse names you made six years ago, and maybe regret those choices.

There isn’t anything else we’ve found that transfers from the Breath of the Wild save data, so Link’s on his own for everything else in Hyrule.