Horse

Horses are the main way of transport in Red Dead Redemption. They are fast, allow the user to use a weapon while riding, and can carry equipment, all at the same time. They also come in a vast variety of colors, several of which appear to have different variations. With different horses coming in lighter or darker shades than their counterparts; and others with differing markings than those they share the same color with.

You can buy or steal horses, but also try to tame a wild one.Horses can be quite useful in combat as you can lasso enemies from horseback, gundown foes or even run them over with your trusty steed. Horses, just like the characters, will each have unique personalities.



Horses can be killed in combat or by wild animals. If you are stuck without a horse in the wilderness for more than a few minutes, you are presented with a situation to attain one.. The horses in RDR will utilize the Euphoria engine to create realistic procedural animation. As seen in 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 Martson, the horse will learn to trust it's rider. 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 on 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.

The horses are very realistic in their movement and behaviourisms. With that in mind, don't expect your horse to stay exactly where you left it. Horses may wander if they have not been tied, or shy away from gunfire and animals (especially snakes). Don't worry though, you will be able to whistle for your horse, who will return to your side. 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.Try not to get too attached to your mount, as it seems it will be quite easy for it to die in the rough west.

As for tack, so far pictures can be seen with the horses in various tack. In the trailer "My Name is John Marston", John can be seen breifly riding through town on a horse that is wearing a stage coach harness. Could this mean that if your stage coach some how is destroyed, but the horses still live, that you can cut free one of the horses from the team and ride away? There is no way to be certain, but we can be hopeful. In some gamplay footage and trailers, as well as pictures, John can be seen riding a horse bareback, sometimes wearing a bridle and sometimes simply having a string in it's mouth acting as a makeshift bit. It has been speculated, but not yet confirmed, that you may be able to choose, change or add to your horses tack. Whether or not the tack has any affect on the horse is unknown, but it would make sense that a horse unencumbered by a saddle may be able to run faster and maneuver more efficiently, of course all of this is pure speculation at this time.

It has been confirmed that there will be different horse breeds. Each breed will have a different advantage and disadvantage and can act as either a blessing or a burden depending on the situation. For example, one breed may have a lot of speed, making it useful during a chase, but bares very little health, rendering it useless during an ambush or combat sequence. On the other hand, another horse breed may have a lot of health and endurance, making it a great war horse, but is very bulky and slow, not very practical for a fast get away. That said, it may be a pain to have to keep buying, catching/taming, or stealing a new horse when each opportunity presents itself, hopefully there will be a "happy medium" in one of the horse breeds.

Breeds:
So far the known breeds in the game are:

-Kentucky Saddler

-American Standardbred

-Hungarian Half-bred

-Warhorse (Pre-Order incentive)

-Lusitano (Shown in the Multiplayer trailer)

-Turkmen (Shown in the Multiplayer trailer)

-Donkey/Burro (Technically not a true 'horse', though they share the same genus, 'Equus', along with horses, wild asses, kiangs, and zebras. A named donkey called 'El Senor' was shown in the Multiplayer trailer)