Here’s How to Get Epona in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Regardless of if you’re someone who’s jumping into The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the twentieth time or the first time, you’re going to have questions. Here’s how to get Epona in LoZ Ocarina of Time.
Before you can get Epona, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. First, you’ll need to learn Epona’s Song as Young Link. We’ll get to how you can do that in just a second. You’ll also need to be adult Link in order to actually get Epona in Ocarina of Time. You can meet the legendary horse as Young Link, but won’t be able to actually ride it until later in the game.
We’ve broken down the basic steps in bullet point form below. However, if you want additional details, be sure to read on down this page.
How to Get Epona in Ocarina of Time
- Learn Epona’s song as Young Link by showing Malon your ocarina at Lon Lon Ranch.
- As an adult, go to the ranch with at least 70 rupees
- Pay 10 rupees to test a horse out
- Before testing a horse out, play Epona’s song to make Epona appear
- Test her out again but this time, talk to Ingo
- Challenge him to a race for 50 rupees and win
- Challenge him again with Epona on the line (don’t use the last carrot)
- Beat Ingo and escape the locked gate by jumping over it (with enough speed)
How to Learn Epona’s Song in Ocarina of Time
You can’t just go over at any point to get Epona in Ocarina of Time, hop on her back and ride off into the sunset. You’ll need to first learn Epona’s song. To do this, you meet Malon at Lon Lon Ranch and pull out your Ocarina while near her. Play the tune that comes up on-screen, and you’ll learn the song.
The ranch can be found in the central area of Hyrule field. We’ve included a map of Ocarina of Time’s overworld below to help you identify where you need to go.
Don’t worry if you’ve already progressed to being Adult Link in Ocarina of Time. It’s possible to return to being Young Link by simply returning to the Temple of Time and placing the Master Sword back in the stone platform.
Returning to Lon Lon Ranch as Adult Link
With that done, progress forward into the game to the point where you are adult Link. Your next step is to make your way to the ranch, but don’t go there unless you have at least 70 rupees.
You can quickly farm rupees by heading to Castle Town and taking the first door on Link’s right as he enters through the main gates. You’ll find a room here filled with jars. Smash them all, grab the rupees, go out and back in again for easy farming.
Once you’ve obtained 70 rupees in Ocarina of Time, head to Lon Lon Ranch and pay 10 rupees to test out a horse. When the one-minute timer starts, pull out your ocarina and play Epona’s song. This should cause Epona to appear.
It’s worth saving your game before you head to the ranch, so if things don’t go your way, you don’t need to find a bunch of rupees all over again to get Epona.
Next, walk over to her and interact with her. You should be given the “test her out” option. Press A and you’ll be one step closer to getting this legendary horse.
After that, pay another 10 rupees to test out Epona. From here, head over to Ingo and press A to talk to him. Agree to challenge him to a race for 50 rupees.
Now, all you need to do is win the race. After winning the race, challenge him again. This time, he’ll wager Epona. Agree to this wager and again, win the race.
It will be harder this time, but nothing absurd. Simply stay ahead and the horse will be yours soon enough. Don’t be tempted to ever use the last carrot of stamina, though. If you do, Epona will slow down and you’ll lose the race.
Unfortunately, Ingo doesn’t take the loss too well and will try to lock you into the ranch by locking the gate that you need to leave through. No worries, though. Gather some speed and run at the gate. If you are going fast enough, Epona will jump over the fence.
If you make it out of the ranch safely, the legendary horse is yours to keep. You can check out this YouTube video, should you want a visual guide to help you with the races against Ingo.
That’s all you need to know to get Epona in Ocarina of Time. For more Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, check out this story about a man who uses the Ocarina of Time to control his home appliances.
