A new surprise was discovered in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt regarding horses and their newly-found savage maneuver. The mounts can be seen tossing their riders (instead of coins) to their death in a glorious display of betrayal.
In a post by MayDay521 on Reddit, the user showcased a clip pitting Geralt against two enemies on horseback. Using the sign skill Axii Puppet, Geralt gains momentary control over one rider and brings him and his steed to a halt. Subsequently, the horse suddenly rears up and propels the rider backward from the saddle. In doing so, the horse actually (somehow) kills the rider, made clear by a spurt of blood that can be seen from the enemy. Geralt then proceeds to cast the same fate upon the second enemy, so we can see the outlandish fatality again.
Puppet is a sign skill that requires 6 points to unlock in the Axii Skill Line. Axii is advantageous in combat as it is used by Witchers to gain mental control over enemies. It is particularly effective with crowd control, where the sign can force enemies to begin killing each other while you recuperate. The Axii Skill Line includes Delusion - stopping an enemy from moving forward - Axii Intensity, and Domination. Puppet targets enemies and turns them into an ally for a brief period of time, which is useful when outnumbered. In the aforementioned case, the horse because the ally.
The redditor's post came as a pleasant surprise to The Witcher fandom, with most admitting that they had never heard of this happening before. One user recalled the death-by-horse function being a noteworthy staple in the game at launch, but they assumed it got patched a while ago. The mechanics are rather strange and a bit comical, as the horse seems to project the rider off its back as if it has its own eject button. Additionally, the fact that the rider seems to get impaled, or explode from the inside, is also puzzling.
Recently, another redditor reported a glitch in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim after a horse was seen falling from the sky in-game. This instance is a bit more similar to The Witcher’s Roach bug, where Geralt’s loyal mare would appear on rooftops and other random places upon being summoned.