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Horseman Challenges are gameplay challenges which involve performing various actions with your horse in the single-player of Red Dead Redemption 2.

These challenges must be done in order, progress made before they are activated does not count. It is possible (albeit extremely difficult) to complete this challenge thread as Arthur

Challenges[]

  • Rank 1: Kill five rabbits from horseback.
  • Rank 2: Jump over three obstacles in 15 seconds.
  • Rank 3: Ride from Valentine to Rhodes in less than five minutes.
  • Rank 4: While mounted, drag a victim for 3300 feet using your lasso.
  • Rank 5: Trample five animals while on horseback.
  • Rank 6: Ride from Strawberry to Saint Denis in less than nine minutes without touching any water.
  • Rank 7: Kill seven enemies from horseback without dismounting.
  • Rank 8: Kill nine predators from horseback.
  • Rank 9: Ride from Van Horn to Blackwater in less than 17 minutes without touching any water.
  • Rank 10: Break every wild horse breed.

Rank 1[]

Kill five rabbits from horseback.

Rewards: Horseman Gun Belt

Rank 2[]

Jump over three obstacles in 15 seconds.

Rewards: 20 Stamina XP and $5

Jumping three fences at Emerald Ranch will pass this challenge easily.

Rank 3[]

Ride from Valentine to Rhodes in less than five minutes.

Rewards: Horseman Holster

Do not dismount your horse (even by accidentally falling), nor get involved in any shootout on the road, otherwise the challenge will reset.

Rank 4[]

While mounted, drag a victim for 3300 feet using your lasso.

Rewards: 50 Stamina XP and $10

The victim will almost certainly die whilst being dragged, but this will not affect completing the challenge. Using NPCs like the Eugenics Supporter and Jeremiah Compson will allow the player to avoid a bounty for kidnapping / murder.

Rank 5[]

Trample five animals while on horseback.

Rewards: 50 Stamina XP and $10

The easiest way to complete this is to go to Emerald Ranch or any settlement that has chickens.

Rank 6[]

Ride from Strawberry to Saint Denis in less than nine minutes without touching any water.

Rewards: 100 Stamina XP and $15

It is recommended to follow the train track all the way to Saint Denis. Turn right onto the tracks at Riggs Station and follow it all the way taking a right at the only fork you will come across.

Again, do not dismount nor fall from your horse, nor get involved in any shootout on the road to avoid reseting the challenge.

Rank 7[]

Kill seven enemies from horseback without dismounting.

Rewards: Horseman Bandolier

A rival gang hideout like Hanging Dog Ranch is a good option to accomplish this without honor loss, by just feeding the horse some horse meal and special horse stimulants and medicines (to avoid it getting killed) and then riding around the hideout shooting the rival gangsters with a rifle.

If there are no immediate enemies, antagonizing random people can serve as a quick way to make seven enemies but killing them may incur in loss of honor. Another way to complete this is trespass on to Braithwaite Manor and/or Caliga Hall after the two families turn on the gang as the workers on the land will generally shoot the player on sight.

Rank 8[]

Kill nine predators from horseback.

Rewards: 100 Stamina XP and $15

Obvious predators are cougars, bears, wolves, and so on. Smaller and easier to kill predators include coyotes, boars, ravens, or hawks.

The easiest method for this is to kill alligators using a long scoped rifle. Since alligators remain still unless the player gets close enough, this minimizes the chance of your horse becoming frightened and bucking you off.

Rank 9[]

Ride from Van Horn to Blackwater in less than 17 minutes without touching any water.

Rewards: 150 Stamina XP and $20

As with Rank 3, any bodies of water including rivers and streams should be avoided. A fully bonded Arabian can make the trip in 11–15 minutes. Again, dismounting or falling from the horse or stop it for any shootout on the road will reset the challenge.

This can be done before the epilogue but the player must be warned that they will be chased by Pinkertons once they get near Blackwater, so they must ensure beforehand a supply of items to restore and ideally fortify health and stamina as well, for them and their horse. They should also remember not to stop to fire back at the Pinkertons during the challenge. It is easiest to do this prior to the mission "The First Shall Be Last", as the player will not instantly become wanted upon entering the Great Plains / Tall Trees.

There is an easier way to do the challenge without actually having to go to Blackwater. The player must turn hard left when they get over Bard's Crossing and ride down to the farthest spit of land that pokes out, south of Bard's Crossing where the Flat Iron Lake borders Big Valley. The game will register the challenge as complete.[1]

There are reports of this challenge not registering even if the requirements are met. The game appears to count Dewberry Creek as a river despite it being dry, and as such it's suggested to ride through Emerald Ranch just in case.

Few important points:

  1. Raining does NOT affect this challenge.
  2. Pausing the game / accessing the map does NOT count to the total time taken.

Glitches:

If you have a bounty on your horseback, then you do not get wanted by the Pinkertons in the Great Plains and you can do the challenge as Arthur with ease.

Or, you can simply follow this YouTube link for the safest and fastest option.

Rank 10[]

Break every wild horse breed.

Rewards: Horseman Off-Hand Holster

Little Creek River, west of Wallace Station is a good spot for a variety of horse breeds. This challenge has an in-game checklist. You can easily tame the horses by keeping your left wheel at 5 PM.

The horses required (and their most reliable locations) for this challenge are:

Video Walkthrough[]

Red_Dead_Redemption_2_-_Horseman_Challenge_Guide

Trivia[]

  • It is possible to do Horseman 9 with a Mule.[2] However, if a donkey is used the challenge will not register as complete.

References[]

Related Content[]

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