I like all the mentioned improvement. Besides, I think horses should be 2 person mounts, like in real life, because it would help greatly the escort quests. Instead of watching your companion's axx all the time, why not giving him/her a ride straight to the destination. And provided the mounted combat is implemented, the companion may make itself useful by shooting arrows to the pursuing enemies too :goodjob:
I suggested something like that earlier: "You" consists of yourself and two additional slots. How you fill those slots are entirely up to you, but everything is a tradeoff.
1) Only you and nothing else. Might be the way to move for some. Full jog and access to sprint as usual.
2) Only you and a hand cart. Lot as big or fast as a horse cart, but you get no stamina penalty for all that loot. No sprint, and jog according to slope.
3) You and two followers, for that extra punch, but you loose speed (compared to a horse).
4) One follower and one horse, where saddlebags are replaced with extra mount for your follower.
5) Only you and your horse, but can have extra saddlebags. This will be the fastest way to move around.
6) You, your horse, and a cart, for a lot more storage space at the expense of speed.
7) You, yourself, and a wagon, for escort services and bonus to camping (if survival is even part of the game).
If #7 is not possible, could at least be a good Strider replacement for those not fancying fast travel.
"Horses are useless" I see here. I find the black one very capable of getting me out of trouble when difficulty is high and I know I don't stand a chance. What really svcks is that once you've cleared a route/road, bandits and social creatures (goblins, I *hate* them at high difficulty, lol) respawn after only a couple of days. I hope in Skyrim that every time you've cleared a respawn point along a road, the respawn time doubles, making roads feel more and more secure over time. And that each respawn point also have additional random time to prevent the endless "battle every 100 meter" scenario. Not everyone uses fast travel. And if I do in Skyrim, I want it to be a bit more refined than a teleport. "If you don't like it, don't use it" they always say. And later the alternatives can also be removed since we have fast travel. Just great