American Standardbred

The American Standardbred is a horse breed featured in Red Dead Redemption. Among the three top-tier horses, the American Standardbred has the greatest speed, making it the fastest in the game. Its health and stamina are weaker by comparison, however. They are a solid black with a full black mane.

Locations/Obtaining
They are most often found in West Elizabeth, in the areas east of Manzanita Post and south of Beecher's Hope, as well as in the western portion of Tall Trees. They have also been found in other places, such as the Great Plains around the area where the Buffalo are found and north of Thieves' Landing. Rare occurrences have taken place where the American Standardbred has also been found around Marston's farm in Beecher's Hope and north of Wreck of the Serendipity, as well as in Cholla Springs and around Chuparosa. They can also sometimes be found galloping around MacFarlane's Ranch at night. Two American Standardbreds can also be found near Aurora Basin. Sometimes when walking through Rio Bravo you may also see this animal.

In rare occasions, this horse has been reported galloping with the Hungarian Half-Bred and the Kentucky Saddler. This is either a rare event, a game bug, or a spawn code error.

In Multiplayer, the horse is unlocked at level 40.

Deed
A deed for this horse can be purchased at any general store for $1500 ($750 with high enough honor, or low enough honor at Thieves' Landing), but only after you have successfully broken the horse at least once.

Trivia

 * The breed was developed in America, the result of crossing a Thoroughbred stallion imported in 1788 named Messenger with several local harness mares.
 * The breed was developed to produce horses with exceptional trotting speed.
 * The Standardbred of today is the fastest harness racing horse in the world.
 * When looking for the Standardbred, it is often easy to confuse this breed with the Dutch Warmblood, which in reality is dark brown and black. The Standardbred is completely black in any lighting and does not have any shade of brown.
 * In-Game, when galloping on the Standardbred (or any horse, for that matter) the player should tap A/X at a delayed rhythm - about once every second (or three strides). Doing this allows the horse to regain stamina before it is spurred again, while still retaining its top speed. Using this method, the horse can literally be spurred indefinitely, making the increased stamina of the Kentucky Saddler and Hungarian Half-Bred a useless perk.
 * A possible glitch spawns a herd of 4-5 Standardbreds near the river north of Beecher's Hope, close to the Great Plains/Tall Trees border. There is also a spawn point just south of Bearclaw Camp, near the river.

Achievement
The player is required to tame an American Standardbred to complete the following trophy/achievement:

Trotón americano Trotteur Américain