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.

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.

Spamming the X button on PS3, or the A button on Xbox 360 can sometimes cause the horse to buck you off and subsequently die.

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 you want a different breed. Using the horse deed can act as a quicksave as well when you are anywhere. Even if your horse is still alive. This is an easy way to save without having to search for a place to camp (NOTE: Need confirmation that this is considered the same horse when the deed is used as it may affect one of the achievements/trophies.)

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 you acquire your horse, there are varying levels of loyalty between you and your steed. Essentially, if you choose to lasso a wild horse and break it in for riding, this horse may not be too keen on the idea and may buck you 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 you treat your horse will also play a role in their loyalty. If you spur your horse nearly to death, your horse may opt to buck you 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 your horses to become jaded and they will have much more positive feelings towards you. The origins of your horse 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 not jump off a cliff despite attempts by the player to guide it over.

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 your side, then it is likely that the horse has been killed or died in some way or another. If the horse has died, you will have to continue on foot until you can find another horse.(NOTE: This still counts as the same horse even if it dies, so it wont affect the trophy as long as it's the same breed)

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 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.


 * El Señor
 * El Picor
 * El Hedor

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 from single-player

 * 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 (Bull)
 * Zebra Donkey (Tijuana Zebra)

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. If you tame a wild horse while actively using another, the newly tamed horse will not become John's primary mount (comes when you whistle) 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 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 your horse, a stunt performed in many westerns.

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: