Thevina, I just searched my etext of _The Hobbit_, and there's no mention of the Mirkwood elves reminding them. On the other hand the men of Laketown do have horses (Thorin&Co. are met by baggage horses and a pony for Bilbo, gratis the Mayor.) So the Elves would certainly have the opportunity to acquire them in trade even if they weren't native. Out of fairness I should say that Beorn forbids the dwarves to take his horses into Mirkwood, but I think that's more out of not wanting animals that are essentially pets to be in a land he rightly considers dangerous for those who don't know it.
That said... I would think that a horse wouldn't be much use in a forest as wild as Mirkwood, and if there are baddies wandering around you might not want something that could be spooked. Especially given that Nazgul are in southern Mirkwood and Frodo tells Gandalf that "all other animals [besides their mounts] are terrified when they draw near".
So there are mixed signals and I think you could go either way. My own opinion is that the elves had horses for when their travels took them beyond Mirkwood. If you need to go to the Iron Hills or Gondor or Lothlorien or wherever, it just doesn't make sense to go on foot. Also the fact that Legolas is described as a messenger when he arrives in Rivendell makes me think there's a whole group of people who are used to travelling outside of Mirkwood, even if just to Laketown. It doesn't make sense for those people to not to ride, since horses are available.
You want my opinion? At least some elves would probably know how to ride, but it wouldn't be the common mode of transportation inside Mirkwood itself.
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That said... I would think that a horse wouldn't be much use in a forest as wild as Mirkwood, and if there are baddies wandering around you might not want something that could be spooked. Especially given that Nazgul are in southern Mirkwood and Frodo tells Gandalf that "all other animals [besides their mounts] are terrified when they draw near".
So there are mixed signals and I think you could go either way. My own opinion is that the elves had horses for when their travels took them beyond Mirkwood. If you need to go to the Iron Hills or Gondor or Lothlorien or wherever, it just doesn't make sense to go on foot. Also the fact that Legolas is described as a messenger when he arrives in Rivendell makes me think there's a whole group of people who are used to travelling outside of Mirkwood, even if just to Laketown. It doesn't make sense for those people to not to ride, since horses are available.
You want my opinion? At least some elves would probably know how to ride, but it wouldn't be the common mode of transportation inside Mirkwood itself.