Horse

Horses are the primary and most common mode of transportation in the American west at the time of Red Dead Revolver as well as Red Dead Redemption.

Horses are fast, adaptable, carry equipment and allow the rider to utilize weapons while riding. In-game horses come in a vast variety of breeds, appearances and colors; several of which have different pattern variations.

Description
Horses can be purchased from ranchers/stores, or stolen by force or guile. Additionally, the player can locate wild herds and attempt to tame a captured horse. When you tame a new breed of horse, it will be available in the General Store for purchase. The player can lasso enemies from horseback and either hogtie or drag them (which eventually results in death), gun down foes from horseback or even trample them with the mount. Horses, just like the characters, will each have unique personalities, temperaments and performance characteristics. Horses can be killed in combat or by wild animals. If the player is stranded in the wilderness without a horse, they are presented with a situation to attain one.

All horses in the game have a certain level of stamina that players must keep an eye on. If you constantly tap the X button(PS3) or the A button(Xbox 360), the horse will become exhausted and buck the player off onto the ground.

Horses can jump over obstacles such as fences. It has been said that the player may also purchase new horses with a "fast horse" costing $1,500 to obtain. However, with high enough honor these horses will cost $750. Buying a fast horse is advisable as you can re-spawn it using the deed in your satchel and whistling for it if it dies, hence there is no need to go looking for another one unless the player wants a different breed. Using the horse deed can act as a quicksave as well, even if the horse is still alive. This is an easy way to save without having to search for a place to camp.

Overview
The horses in Red Dead Redemption utilize the Euphoria engine to create realistic procedural animation, an engine also utilized by GTA IV and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Depending on where the player acquires a horse, there are varying levels of loyalty between them. Essentially, choosing to lasso a wild horse and break it in for riding, this horse may not be too keen on the idea and may buck the player off. However, after some time passes between the horse and Marston, the horse will learn to trust its rider, Apples are a good way to build trust. A loyal horse is much less likely to buck or rear. Of course, the way players treat the horse will also play a role in their loyalty. Spurring a horse nearly to death, the horse may opt to buck off. The same goes for a horse that is forced to run for very long periods of time without any rest. Basically, don't allow horses to become jaded and they will have much more positive feelings towards you. The origins of horses also plays a part in how much health the horse starts off with, i.e. a horse that was taken from a farm will have more health than a horse taken from a roaming gang.

Horses are very realistic in their movement and behavior. Unlike cars in Grand Theft Auto games, horses are living, thinking animals which have some degree of self-preservation. For example, a horse will generally refuse to jump off a cliff despite attempts by the player to guide it over like: "Simultaneously spurring the animal and instructing it to jump (i.e., pressing the A + X button on the Xbox 360) will usually do the trick."

Horses may wander if they have not been tied and shy away from gunfire and animals, especially snakes. However, it is possible to recall horses that have wandered away using the game's whistle function, which will prompt the horse to come to the player. If the horse does not trot to side, then it is likely that the horse has been killed or died in some way or another. If the horse has died, continue on foot until finding another horse.

Alternatively, if you own a deed for the (now dead) horse, you can summon another mount of the same type by simply bringing up the Satchel inventory screen (the "back" button for Xbox 360 users) and selecting the deed again. If the horse does not immediately appear, wait a minute or two and then whistle; your loyal mount shall be once again your side, just like new.

Sometimes, when you whisle, if the horse is far from you, it will run towards you and when it reaches you, it will runaway from you. This can be annoying in some situations. The only way to stop it from running, is to whisle again.

Breeds
Please visit the Horse Breeds article for more detailed information on Horse Breeds, behaviours, abilities and locations.
 * Kentucky Saddler
 * American Standardbred
 * Hungarian Half-Bred
 * War Horse
 * Dark Horse
 * Lusitano
 * Turkmen
 * Infested Ardennais
 * Jaded Tersk
 * Lusitano Nag
 * Ardennais
 * Cleveland Bay
 * Dutch Warmblood
 * Highland Chestnut
 * Painted Quarter Horse
 * Painted Standardbred
 * Quarter Horse
 * Standardbred Pinto
 * Tersk
 * Tobiano Pinto
 * Welsh Mountain
 * Zombie Horse

Mules
There are three different breeds of mule in Red Dead Redemption. You can buy their deeds from Mexican General Stores in the same way as you can with horses. They are considered equal in ranking to one star horses. They are all available in single-player, but El Senor is also available in multiplayer. There is also a fourth "mule," the Donkey Woman, which is actually a glitch.


 * El Señor
 * El Picor
 * El Hedor
 * Donkey Woman

Other Single-Player Mounts
By hacking, you can unlock the 2 bulls and 2 buffalos from multiplayer in single player, and also gain the ability to ride 3 extra bulls (the type of bulls commonly found on ranches.)

Multiplayer Mounts
The mounts in multiplayer differ from those in single-player. Five horses and one mule are retained from single-player, with the rest of the mounts being exclusive to multiplayer.

Retained

 * El Señor
 * Lusitano Nag
 * Turkmen
 * Cleveland Bay
 * Hungarian Half-bred
 * American Standardbred

Exclusive to multiplayer

 * Bonzo (Bull)
 * Buffalo (American Buffalo)
 * Albino Buffalo (American Buffalo)
 * Super Bull (Texas Longhorn)
 * Zebra Donkey (Tijuana Zebra)
 * http://reddead.wikia.com/wiki/Dead_Horse* (Secret)

Horse Taming
The player is able to capture and tame horses for later use. Visit the Horse Taming page for more information on this activity.

John can only maintain one horse at a time. Taming a wild horse while actively using another, the newly tamed horse will not become John's primary mount until it has been hitched at a town.

Quality is important when taming a horse, a horse with a shiny coat and muscle definition will be much faster and more reliable than a horse with bones sticking out and a thin neck.

Horse Power
Horses also provide the physical power for stagecoaches, wagons and carts. Between one and four horses pull the weight of vehicles of various weights, and at various speeds. The player can drive these horses by occupying the driver's seat of the trailers.

It is confirmed that the player can detach horses from wagons, carts or stagecoaches.

Tack
There is no known way to modify the tack of your mount.

When you break a wild horse, it will be shown without a bridle or saddle. However, once hitched, the horse will have a brown saddle after the game is saved. All stolen horses will have a black saddle, until hitched.

Tips
A horse can be put over a dead animal that has yet to be skinned to skin it faster, instead of watching the animation. If the horse is positioned correctly over the animal while skinning the animation won't play and the animals properties will appear.

It's possible to use the sidetrack near railroads to travel faster sameway as using roads, though if player comes too close to tracks its considered as "offroad" and the speed of horse will drop more rapidly. It is possible to make the horse's stamina last indefinitely while riding top speed by pressing the sprint button once every 4 gallops.
 * It is also possible to carefully drop from a ledge of a certain height (e.g. the roof of a building) and land mounted on the saddle of the horse, a stunt performed in many westerns.
 * Additionally, the pressing of the sprint button 2 times every 4 gallops decreases stamina very slowly.
 * Be careful when charging through camps; if a horse comes in contact with a campfire it will die instantly

Bugs

 * If a player starts a multiplayer free roam session in Blackwater and whistles for their horse, there is significant chance that their currently saved single player horse will respond instead of their multiplayer unlocked horse. For example, a level 30 player could whistle for their Cleveland Bay, but instead the Kentucky Saddler they last used in single player will come. This glitch even extends to the War Horse. The bug seems to occur predominantly in Private Free Roam rather than Public, but once summoned the horse can sometimes transfer if the player changes between the two modes. (Xbox 360)

Achievements
The taming and riding or killing of horses are included in the completion of the following four available achievements: