I cannot get past the prologue because no matter what I do, the horses never follow the road (using the L shift key), and trying to operate the wasd and L shift for speed is just impossibly awkward. I'm at the stage of frustration where I'm going to ask for a refund so any help here would be welcome .

Don't use the autopath feature for this quest.
There are some ways how to make the controls work better for you:
A) if you have a mouse with extra buttons on the side, remap one of the extra buttons to L shift.
or B) once you get on the horse, you actually don't need to use your mouse at all to ride the horse. So take your hand off the mouse and use it to press and hold L shift, while using your other hand only to hold W and to press A or D as you need. It's not optimal, but easier. Also keep in mind you need to push L shift twice and hold it (and also hold W) to ride at the highest speed.
Also, you can take your time to practice a bit before the first cutscene (in which you will get shot in your leg), you can ride around and get used to the controls and then reload or continue forward to the cutscene.
Don't get frustrated because you died multiple times. I died too, until I found out how to ride properly, also most of the streamers I've been watching needed multiple attempts to succeed.

Thank you for the encouragement I appreciate you taking the time. I had figured out what I had to do with the controls, it's just that I'm having so much trouble doing it! If I were left handed it would be easier in some ways.

No problem, I'm glad you had figured it out.

Same problem here! I've tried to escape approx. 50 times in 3 days now and always I'm stuck in a river or a side hill and get killed. I'm very very angry now! Perhaps a third hand might help.

Why didn't they just do it like Witcher 3, where the horse follows the mouse movement / view direction???????
Is there a setting to get that behaviour?

But... Left Shift is where most games map the run key. It's totally normal.

Also they kept the mouse for camera movement only so you can see around you while riding, which is something I greatly appreciate.

L Shift + WASD is the quintessential running control scheme. Even when turning is implemented by mouse, all four WASD keys are usually used.

Keeping the mouse free for looking around while riding a horse is absolutely essential for the full enjoyment of this game. How better to enjoy the stunning scenery? Not to mention more mundane tasks like mounted combat or hunting.

I wondered this as well until I started to try using a bow from horseback, then it became very clear to me why the movement of the horse and the momvemnt of the mouse view weren't linked.

I died quite a few times getting out of that chase at the start, until I kept my mouse view centered between the ears of my horse and used only my left hand to control what was happening. That combined with being willing to shift between the three speeds as my path demanded was what did the trick for me. I hope that helps some of the readers of this thread :)

Thank you for your answer. Finally I found out what you said and got away. But I will never be able to to do it with one Hand and fight on a horse, because I absolutely need both hands for WASD and Shift.

I'm glad it proved useful, and best of luck with your encounters on horseback (though so far in my game play there haven't been any instances where I was required to fight mounted, just some where it was useful, so even if it doesn't work I think you'll still have options).

Cheers

I am going along fine until I need to turn left....How do you do this

it might be tricky at first, but it's totally possible to control the horse with the WASD + L shift keys one handed. index finger on d, middle on the w, ring finger on the shift and use your thumb to control the a (or swap thumb and ring finger if it's more comfortable). i think everyone has trouble at first, but when you find a pattern that works for you it's so much better. i don't even use the auto path feature.

if you look in the codex it explains this in more detail

Using the keyboard to control the horse is nearly impossible for me. I've been touch typing since I was 12. I learned on a manual typewriter in school so it's been a few years. I've been playing the guitar for almost as long. I have no trouble holding down the shift key with my pinky while operating the wasd keys with the remaining fingers. The problem is turning. The a and d keys don't provide the precision necessary to make a 90 degree turn or even a 15 degreee. I spent 3 hours on the Ride! quest. In desperation I switched to a controller. It only took 3 deaths too complete. I can't believe that the difference in the controls is entirely due to the user.