I'm genuinely surprised anyone denied this was a problem. It is actually shocking. This has been the case since launch, horses were absurdly quiet even before the sound occlusion debacles.
The Calradian horse is a stealthy ambush predator, known to leap upon its prey at a full 50 mph sprint for 300 yards catching it totally unawares. The current horse is quieter than my dog at a full gallop wearing full barding with a scale armored rider.
I'm not sure if you guys have seen a real horse before, but they're really loud animals. Like, louder than cars. Imagine each hoofbeat is like a grown ass man striking the ground with a sledgehammer full force and you're getting close. If you're within a quarter mile of an iron-shod horse galloping on stone you can hear it, and if you're within 25 ft you can ****ing FEEL the vibration of the sound waves it makes.
Seriously, not trying to be an *******, TW should take a company-sponsored trip to a rodeo or something. Horses are extremely loud creatures. They snort, whinny, even their ****ing breathing is audible from a distance if they are exerting themselves. The Call Of Duty-style ninja backstab horse is one of the worst aspects of this game and entirely the reason I abandoned Skirmish in favor of Captain.