Horsemen Horsemen , Horse - Folk or simply Horse Nomads are a primitive , tribal society inhibiting the caves of the Silverhoof Vale in the region of Rivenspire in High Rock . They survive mainly by breeding and trading horses in nearby Breton settlements . The tribe is lead by an elder . History . First Era . Horsemen lack written historical records of their own and are not documented or examined by modern Tamrielic scholars . Some records might have existed in their ancestral homeland on Yokuda , but have undoubtedly been destroyed during the great Yokudan cataclysm . However , the Horsemen poses a very strong oral tradition , tales of their elders make the task of piecing together their history difficult , but possible . It is not entirely wrong to consider the Horsemen a lost Yokudan colony . It is believed that they might have descended from the northern herding clans of the Akos Kasaz steppes on the lost continent of Yokuda . Some nuances in their language are surprisingly similar to the Old Yokudan spoken by the clans . The tales of Horsemen tell a story of great journey over " seventeen seas " on their " swimming horse - ships . " While their tales could be open for interpretation , it is entirely possible that the clans took their horses with them . This is supported by the fact that the horses bred by the Horsemen are remarkably close to the Yokudan Chargers found in Hammerfell . The clans are said to have begun their migration to Tamriel in order to preserve their worship of the Herd Mother . Who endangered this unique belief remains unknown . But Horsemen came ashore sometime in early sixth century of the First Era , nearly two hundred years before the Ra Gada came to Hammerfell . The timing of their arrival was very fortunate - Direnni Hegemony was already dying and the Breton kingdoms were still to young to drive the colonists out . This allowed the Horsemen to find their niche in the Silverhoof Vale and safeguard their ways for at least the next three thousand years . Second Era . Life among Nedic cultures had left its influence on the tribe and it had become " Bretonized . " While the majority of the Horsemen still remained similar to the Redguards , many different races could be found among their kind - Breton , Orsimer and even Khajiit . The region of Rivenspire had been left unstable after the fall the Breton King Ranser . This escalated into a great power struggle between the local noble houses during the Three Banners War . Trade became difficult and so the way of life Horsemen were used to became endangered . Harpies infesting the cliffs above the Silverhoof Vale had begun to raid the herds . This was seen as a very bad omen among the tribe and caused much unrest . Makar the Elder seeking to prevent further chaos and preserve the tribe hired a group of mercenaries known to be experts on harpies - The Daggers , who with the help of the Vestige dealt with the situation . Religion . Horsemen seem to follow a unique religion to all of Tamriel . They worship an animistic spirit known as the Herd Mother . She serves as both their guiding and protective deity and woven throughout their traditions and history . Similar to the Redguard tradition of Walkabout , young members or the tribe must go though a vision journey as an rite of passage to adulthood . To some outsiders this belief seems odd and is dismissed upon hearing of " talking horses . " Quests . Rusty Daggers . A crew I once helped in Glenumbra was hired to hunt harpies in Silverhoof Vale . They may need my help to complete the job .