Riding

	Riding (Profession)
	Trainers • Mounts

Riding is a secondary skill (but functions like a profession) in which characters may learn to ride mounts, which provide movement speed bonuses and, when applicable, the ability to fly or swim underwater. Every mount has a minimum skill level required for riding (With a few exceptions). As of Patch 4.0.1, increasing riding skill grants further increases to movement speed. All ground mounts increase movement speed by 60/100% (Apprentice/Journeyman) and all flying mounts increase ground movement speed by 100% and flying movement speed by 150/280/310% (Expert/Artisan/Master).

More detail on the requirements for each mount can be found on the mounts page.

Skill levels

The following table lists the skill levels available and the cost to train each skill. Due to the high cost of training, the price with discount is also listed in the table. The only discounts available are faction discounts, which vary depending on where you train in the riding skill:

[Apprentice] and [Journeyman riding] are discounted based on your standing with whatever race you buy them from. All playable races have trainers.
[Expert riding] can be discounted by buying it in Honor Hold or Thrallmar, which will apply a Stormwind or Orgrimmar discount, respectively.
[Artisan riding] can be discounted in Honor Hold or Thrallmar in the same fashion as Expert, or it can be discounted with Valiance Expedition and Warsong Offensive rep by going to Valiance Keep and Warsong Hold, respectively.
[Master riding] can be discounted with racial faction reputation.
[Wisdom of the Four Winds] can be discounted with Golden Lotus rep.
Be aware that there are some trainers who give no discounts at all.

Note that only the trainer of your race will teach you riding skill until you become exalted with another race/faction.

Also, note that the prices listed for the mount itself refer to the basic mounts available to each race, usually purchasable from a vendor near the riding trainer. Special, reputation reward, or vanity mounts may cost more or require special currency to purchase. To save space, faction discounts on the mounts themselves are not included in the table.

Skill granted	Proficiency	Riding	Friendly	Honored	Revered	Exalted	Required for	Necessary level
75	[Apprentice]	4	3 80	3 60	3 40	3 20	Mounted riding (+60% movement speed)	20
150	[Journeyman]	50	47 50	45	42 50	40	Faster mounted riding (+100%)	40 with Apprentice
225	[Expert]	250	237 50	225	212 50	200	Mounted flying (+150% in the air)	60 with Journeyman
300	[Artisan]	5000	4750	4500	4250	4000	Faster mounted flying (+280%)	70
375	[Master]	5000	4750	4500	4250	4000	Fastest mounted flying (+310%)	80^[1]
n/a	[Flight Master's License]	250	237 50	225	212 50	200	Allows flying in Kalimdor, the Eastern Kingdoms and Deepholm	60 with Expert or higher
n/a	[Cold Weather Flying]	500	475	450	425	400	Allows flying in Northrend	68 with Expert or higher
n/a	[Wisdom of the Four Winds]	2500	2375	2250	2125	2000	Allows flying in Pandaria	90 with Expert or higher
n/a	[Cloud Serpent Riding]	—	—	2250	—	—	Allows riding Cloud Serpents	90 with Expert or higher
Total Price		13554	12876 30	12198 6	11530 90	10843 20

Free riding skills

Worgen (playable) receive the 75 skill when they reach level 20 via the racial skill Running Wild. A visit to a trainer is not needed.

Death Knights receive the 150 skill at character creation (level 55); they learn to summon an Acherus Deathcharger, a swift land mount, as a quest in the Acherus starting zone.

Druids receive the 225 skill (if they already have 150) with [Flight Form] at level 60.

Paladins receive the 75 skill upon reaching level 20 along with the [Warhorse] ability. At level 60 they can complete the Charger quest chain which rewards the Journeyman riding skill (and a Feat of Strength). Note: Training the Charger at level 40 does not provide Journeyman riding skill.

Warlocks also receive the 75 skill as part of buying their level 20 mount spell from their trainer. At level 60 they can complete a quest to learn their Dreadsteed summon and get Journeyman riding skill (and a Feat of Strength). (Like paladins, training to summon the fast mount at level 40 does not reward the riding skill.)

[Reins of the Violet Proto-Drake] rewards Master flying, but requires Artisan flying to use. It is a reward from What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been.
- Before Patch 4.0.1, several other mounts existed that could fly at 310% speed with Artisan flying. Any character that owned one of these before Patch 4.0.1 automatically learned Master Riding Skill at no cost, making all other flying mounts 310% speed.

Note that like all professions (although Riding is not technically a profession), all lower ranked skill levels must be learned before training further (e.g. Expert skill is required to train Artisan skill).

Class mounts

This is a summary of the class mounts. Associated quests for the paladin and warlock mounts, while obsolete in the sense that they are no longer required, have not been removed from the game.

Class	Ability	Level
Death Knight	[Acherus Deathcharger]	55
Paladin	[Warhorse]	20
Paladin	[Charger]	40
Warlock	[Felsteed]	20
Warlock	[Dreadsteed]	40

Riding trainers

Alliance Mount Trainers and Vendors
Type	Location	Faction	Trainer
Horse	Eastvale Logging Camp Menethil Harbor Southshore Theramore Isle	Stormwind	Randal Hunter
Saber	Cenarion Enclave	Darnassus	Jartsam
Ram	Amberstill Ranch	Ironforge	Ultham Ironhorn
Mechanostrider	Steelgrill's Depot	Gnomeregan Exiles	Binjy Featherwhistle
Elekk	The Exodar (front entrance)	Exodar	Aalun
Gryphon	Honor Hold Wildhammer Stronghold Valiance Keep	Stormwind Honor Hold Valiance Expedition	Hargen Bronzewing Ilsa Blusterbrew Maigra Keenfeather

Horde Mount Trainers and Vendors
Type	Location	Faction	Trainer
Wolf	Valley of Honor	Orgrimmar	Kildar
Raptor	Sen'jin Village	Darkspear Trolls	Xar'Ti
Kodo	Bloodhoof Village	Thunder Bluff	Kar Stormsinger
Skeletal Horse	Brill	Undercity	Velma Warnam
Hawkstrider	Thuron's Livery	Silvermoon City	Perascamin
Wyvern	Thrallmar Shadowmoon Village Warsong Hold	Orgrimmar Thrallmar Warsong Offensive	Wind Rider Jahubo Olrokk Wind Rider Sabamba

Neutral Mount/Cold Weather Flying Trainers
Location	Faction	Trainer
Krasus' Landing River's Heart K3	Neutral Neutral Neutral	Hira Snowdawn Pilot Vic Roxi Ramrocket

Wisdom of the Four Winds Flying Trainers
Location	Faction	Trainer
Shrine of Seven Stars Shrine of Two Moons	Alliance Horde	Cloudrunner Leng Skydancer Shun

Flying

This section concerns content that is out-of-date. Reason: Needs info about unlock abilities/achievements for

Draenor and

Broken Isles.

Flying is the next level of riding skill after the initial ground mount riding skill proficiencies. The movement method is similar to swimming.

As of Mists of Pandaria it encompasses the following skill proficiencies:

Proficiency	Skill level	Level available
[Expert Riding]	225 skill	60
~~[Flight Master's License]~~ (no longer needed as of Patch 7.3.5)^[2] ^*	225 skill	60
~~[Cold Weather Flying]~~ (no longer needed as of Patch 7.3.5)^[2] ^*	225 skill	68
~~[Wisdom of the Four Winds]~~ (no longer needed as of Patch 7.3.5)^[2] ^*	225 skill	90
[Artisan Riding]	300	70
[Master Riding]	375	80
^* Requires Expert Riding or higher.

Notes

Various levels (apprentice, expert, etc.) of riding skill may not appear in the list of trainable skills in the trainer's window unless Available is checked in the Filter list.
As of release, you cannot fly in starting zones for Blood elf and Draenei. This is apparently intended.^[3]

Patch changes

Patch 7.3.5 (16-Jan-2018):

Unlocking abilities no longer needed for pre- Draenor zones: ~~[Flight Master's License]~~, ~~[Cold Weather Flying]~~, ~~[Wisdom of the Four Winds]~~

Patch 6.2.2 (1-Sep-2015):

Flying has been enabled on Draenor for characters that have attained the account-wide achievement, Draenor Pathfinder

Patch 5.2.0 (5-Mar-2013):

Upon reaching level 20 and level 60, characters will automatically receive a new quest directing them to visit the racial riding trainer and mount vendors.

Patch 5.0.4 (28-August-2012):

Mount changes.
Level 90 and [Wisdom of the Four Winds] required to fly in Pandaria at a cost of 2,500.

/ Patch 4.0.1 (12-Oct-2010):

Mount changes.
Master Flying Skill (310% flight speed) is now available from riding trainers in Dalaran, Valiance Expedition, Warsong Offensive at a cost of 5000.
Characters that already had a 310% mount pre-4.0.1 are given this skill free of charge. All other characters must purchase Master Flying to receive 310% flight speed.
- The [Reins of the Violet Proto-Drake] no longer trains you 310% speed.
[Cold Weather Flying] reduced to 500.
Cold Weather Flying can now be purchased at level 68.
The heirloom [Tome of Cold Weather Flight] removed.
The X-53 Touring Rocket can now also be used as a ground mount.

Patch 3.2.2 (2009-09-22):

Mount changes.
Reduced the expert riding skill price to 250.
Changed the faction discounts for the riding skill vendors in Honor Hold and Thrallmar to use Stormwind and Orgrimmar faction, respectively. This is because newly-arrived 60s in Outland are unlikely to have any Honor Hold or Thrallmar rep.[1]

Patch 3.2.0 (04-Aug-2009):

Mount changes.
The cast time for summoning any ground mount is now 1.5 seconds, down from 3 seconds.
Apprentice Riding (Skill 75): Can now be learned at level 20 for 4. Mail will be sent to players who reach level 20 directing them to the riding trainer.
Journeyman Riding (Skill 150): Can now be learned at level 40 for 50. Mail will be sent to players who reach level 40 directing them back to the riding trainer.
Expert Riding (Skill 225): Can now be learned at level 60 for 600 from trainers in Honor Hold or Thrallmar. Faction discounts now apply (Honor Hold for Alliance; Thrallmar for Horde). Flight speed at this skill level has been increased to +150% of run speed, up from +60%.
Artisan Riding (Skill 300): Faction discounts now apply (Honor Hold or Valiance Expedition for Alliance; Thrallmar or Warsong Offensive for Horde).
In order to further equalize the number of purchasable mounts available to each race, a new 60% speed ground mount has been added for night elves, and a new 100% speed ground mount has been added for the undead.
Flying over Dalaran and Wintergrasp is now possible so long as players keep a healthy distance above the ground.
For 1,000 level 80 Main characters can purchase the Heirloom [Tome of Cold Weather Flight] and give it to their alts level 68+ that have a flying skill of 225+ (not 150 as previously stated) to learn Cold Weather Flying.

/ Patch 3.0.2 (14-Oct-2008): [Cold Weather Flying] added at level 77 at a cost of 1,000.
Patch 2.4.3 (2008-07-15): The level requirement for Apprentice Riding was lowered from 40 to 30. It also reduces the cost from 90 to 35, and its respective reputation discounts.
/ Patch 2.0.1 (05-Dec-2006): PvP rankings also no longer grant the player an additional 10% discount
Before TBC, the cost of Journeyman riding was 900, so the total cost of getting an epic mount was the same as before. It has since been reduced to 600 to make it easier to buy Expert riding skill.
Patch 1.12.1 (26-Sep-2006): The cost structure and functionality of Riding and Mounts was changed.
Prior to that patch, Riding was an ability rather than a secondary Profession, and had only one rank. Each faction had its own riding skill (tiger riding, horse riding, mechanostrider piloting, ram riding) and the cost was 20, available at level 40. Exalted reputation was required to learn cross-faction riding skill, but mounts were Bind on Use and purchasable by anyone for 80. This meant that characters who were PvP rank 3 or higher could pass on the 10% discount directly to other characters by buying the mount for them. This is no longer possible because all mounts are now Bind on Pickup, and the majority of the cost is built into the riding skill training (which is no longer faction-specific) rather than the cost of the mount.