RPG Tourist's Red Dead Redemption Horseback Tour

Sometimes really odd things happen like a wild turkey flying up and landing head first on your horse. I loved the female Rose Gray from play through one but I wasn't crazy about her appearance compared to the other Andalusians. I've changed my mind on their looks and I liked this male version just as much. Amigo did the last missions for Chapter 6 so I tried to do a little scenic view with him.

A nice clean shiny Buell being led towards mud. Buell is a unique, named, irreplaceable horse acquired at the completion of an optional stranger mission that comes available in Chapter 6. This mission can be completed at any time and I recommend completing it during the Epilogue chapters or after. He has the best stats of the Warmbloods and a bit of character and back story. All this horse bonding has made me very compulsive about their care. Recently I noticed that I reflexively press the calm/pet button on every level up. Good boah/girl! So it might even be a little beyond compulsive. Dirt shows so fast on Buell that I'm just constantly brushing him. It's my only beef. I thought I would see what happens if I rode through muddy streets and then travelled to a dusty town between brushings. Buell is definitely very unhappy.

Arthur has gone a little strange here. He thinks he's incognito but that didn't work of course. He's very happy with his massive war mount though. Oh that luxurious mane. I named her Freya because sure why not? The absolute top heavy horse in the game and ranks with the top Andalusions which come in at number 5 in the Chapter 2 list.

I have classified this horse as stolen because I honestly believe that they don't spawn in the wild. I'm not certain of that however. I have used a Chapter 5 label because players are guaranteed to encounter one during a Chapter 5 mission. Bounty hunters sometimes ride them and players also report finding them at camps. Her numbers are the same as the common Flaxen Chestnut Hungarian Halfbred which ranked at 21 in Chapter 2 but this horse is sought after for size, looks and rarity. I named her Sam short for Samantha? Good Samaritan? I don't know but that's what I named her.

Midas is always raring to go. Both Gold Turkoman I used were a bit rambunctious until fully bonded. Both were also male. Most race horses tend to lunge unexpectedly when startled and it was noticeable with him. In fact, Midas was the first horse I noticed Arthur losing his patience with. It was partly my fault because I had Arthur dismount too close to alligators. Midas ran off somewhere he couldn't quite figure his way back from. I thought he would catch up to Arthur because he was in whistling range but he refused to come. Arthur cursed and accused him of never coming when he, Arthur needed him. Oh my. Arthur backtracked and Midas did eventually meet him in the middle somewhere so I think he was actually trying and failing. This happened again a little later. Lesson learned. Leave horse in safe space before tromping around through alligators.

Thanks to their high health numbers the Turkoman rank just under the top Arabians.

Arthur should have acquired this horse much earlier in the game but I was still trying to move past my attachment to Champ, the Palomino Morgan from my original play through. Until I decided that a female would be an entirely different horse that is. Studying an unbonded horse doesn't seem to reveal the gender unfortunately so there's Arthur trying to figure it out. It seemed a little sad that I named her after myself but Victoria is sort of a female complement to Champ. I didn't detect any appreciable differences from Champ. She might have gotten a little more agitated but I spent so much time on Champ that I don't really know. All I remember is that he was a very good boah.

I probably over use the word spectacular but it really applies to this horse's coat pattern. Arthur is turning her in tight circles here. The Leopard Appaloosa unlocks for sale in Chapter 6 but most players will have an encounter during a mission in Chapter 4 and it's possible to bond with one then. This is one of two top Appaloosas and is one point faster than the wild types. 

Snakes kept invading her space while she was tethered and she`s understandably quite upset. I jokingly called her Cobra because she really does not like snakes. I almost forgot about this premiere horse unlocking at Scarlett Meadows Stable in Chapter 4. I had a male last time. The long forelock makes them look a bit rakish and the colour pattern is quite unique. I thought I would take Cobra on a proper hunting trip north of Strawberry. I managed to get taken by surprise by cougars twice even though I was watching out for them. Got dumped and guzzled both times. Snake hunting went well thanks to Cobra`s alert system. This is a strong, very fast horse but I think the player needs to stay on the ball when predators are around. The Fox Trotters overall ranking is the same as the Turkomans' but emphasizes speed and stamina over health.

He was troubled by a black bear in the vicinity while Arthur was distracted by an NPC who is currently hidden by the horse. His name was entirely prompted by this photo. He seemed a little noisier than any of the other Nokotas I have ridden including the Reverse Dapple Roan in my previous save. He even had some minor separation anxiety. His stats are the same as the top end Thoroughbreds but he was still easier to handle.

So often I encounter interesting environmental effects that obscure the horse. Couldn`t resist this one though. Progress was elected to carry Arthur into Chapter 4 and she did her job quite well. Like all Morgans she is small, pretty, willing and a bit fragile. This one is a very common NPC horse.

This horse eluded me in play through one. This time I thought I would try chasing one with a different elite breed. The Tennessee Walker got into a jam rather quickly and Arthur was able to leap over to her. After this she assumed the typical steady nature of her breed but I still thought Rebel was a fine name for her.

Mustangs don't seem to follow Arthur as closely as some other breeds. Thoroughbreds nearly walk over him. Mustangs will spawn randomly but rarely and the Wild Bay is hard to find outside of the Heartlands before the Epilogue. I didn't have an easy time capturing one. A couple of them got away and one bucked Arthur off during a lightning strike. Definitely the most effort I've put towards a capture so far.

We were chasing around a black bear and predictably neither Blossom nor the bear were real enthused about it. She got rather noisy but she never lost steam during the pursuit. Eventually we let it go. The problem with this horse is that they are so common and Arthur doesn't really present as well on small horses. I named her Blossom because she was a bit of a fragile flower. Morgans have the lowest health of all breeds and I did have to revive her once during an unexpected gun battle. Arthur adopted her after a mission.

Well, I have to admit this horse had some issues. This particular episode was over a snake which had already departed. I don't think I subjected the other Belgian to too much crazy so I can't really compare. I like the feathering and the flashy trotting action but Shires have that too. The extra point in acceleration isn't really a difference maker.

I'm really not sure how this happened. Arthur was supposed to stop and dismount but Desi just effortlessly jumped on the wagon and there he stood balancing by one hoof apparently. I had a rough time finding this common horse until I learned that I was looking in all the wrong places. This is the challenge of RDR2. The map is so vast you can travel the same areas repeatedly and still not see things. 

By this point, I was definitely struggling with the whole naming thing. Pinto Bean got tamed. Other than an attractive and slightly unnatural looking coat, there's nothing special to remark on about this horse. I think he spent most of his time standing around waiting for me to do gambler challenges.

Looks like Arthur caught a seahorse. I don't know why Bean was roaming around the river but she finally settled over on the other side. We were in cougar country so that might have been it. This horse is probably light gray with scattered black spots but her coat often reflects white. Bean is short for vanilla bean. I must still want an ice cream. The Few Spots is an uncommon coat and a relatively rare spawn. I had almost given up when I found Bean at an NPC camp. This horse has 1 point more stamina than the common Appaloosa. I find them a stable companion for the most part.

She reminds me of a chocolate sundae. RDR2 seems to give me some kind of sugar craving. I failed at this sliding stop maneuver with this particular horse before so what else to do on a foggy morning. She was found in the wild although very occasionally I have spotted the Tobiano as an NPC horse.

 See next ranked Chapter 2

There's a couple of things sort of cool about this horse. The Grullo Dun and the Wild Bay are the only multi-class horses that can be easily obtained early game for free. The black stripe along the Grullo Dun's back makes him seem a little more like a true wild horse. The downside is a low acceleration number but after successfully chasing this deer down I'd say that's offset by a decent stamina number. I couldn't get a good angle on the shot of actually roping the deer and we let the little fellow go. Smokey could get agitated but came back under control fairly easily. The Mustangs have a slightly better health number than the common Work class breeds and make for another all purpose option. 

I did not intend to do this at all. I had just left the stable with Bullet and was merely trying to run alongside this fellow but I hit the square button either by mistake or by just auto reacting to an on screen prompt and Arthur abruptly leaped over from Bullet, shoved him off and took over his mount. In a panic, I had Arthur remount Bullet and tried to outrun this very persistent, angry guy not at all paying attention to the horse's stamina drain. It was the first time I can remember getting thrown over empty stamina. I then subdued the guy with the lasso, refilled Bullet and got out of there. I have a history with this horse and should have known I couldn't get too far without a calamity. Both were male. 

This horse is pretty much identical to the Special/Ultimate Edition Dappled Black Thoroughbred which ranks 4 on the Chapter 2 list. That and the attractive brindle coat make this a desirable horse. I'd say the Brindle Thoroughbred is ideal for the run away, run away playstyle as long as you keep stamina filled. He's the fastest horse available before Chapter 4 in the standard edition unfortunately not until Chapter 3 and at the price of 450.00. He's not bad under gun fire but takes a while to bond so his cores need closer monitoring at first. Not a great hunting companion.

Horses do stick their tongues out but this is the first time I caught it so clearly with photo mode. This is a draft horse I liberated from a camper. The Suffolk Punch is shorter than the other draft types but Arthur seems to grunt while mounting no matter the breed. I had to look up what Sorrel actually meant as a colour and it seems to mean red horse without black markings that you could also call chestnut. It's probably more of a regional term or maybe a particular shade of red. OK then. She does have a very cute forelock. Sometimes I have in game luck that has nothing to do with the horse but causes me to remember them fondly.

We tried some fishing but that didn't really work as planned. I'm really starting to reach for the names here. Venus got selected to end Chapter 2. I decided to move on even though I have more wild horses to collect and there is still many items to hunt for. Things were getting repetitive however and I was running out of inspiration. I'm stuck on some challenges too. Venus got a lot of usage and held up pretty well.

Gipsee from a rabbit's point of view. I didn't intend to get a black horse immediately after Jet but this one wandered riderless into the Valentine stable corral and before I knew it I was fleeing to a post office on Gipsee with Jet in tow. There was a little kerfuffle over the name. I went looking on line for a female black American Saddlebred and found one named Gypsy Queen circa 1904 that looked black in the photo. Gypsy triggered a profanity check. Gipsy didn't work either so Gipsee it was then. I can imagine how the term can be misused on line but the profanity check makes me chuckle a bit in story mode.

 

I was trying to do that mysterious stranger all in black rides into town at dawn thing but it's actually early morning, the streets are in shadow and Arthur's hat is more of a very dark brown. Jet is fabulous though. She almost looks a bit like a cat in this photo. There are a number of black horses in story mode but the others all have some white markings. This one is pure (ha ha) jet black. I was determined to use a race horse to complete Horseman challenge 6 and Jet did the job. Her stats are the same as any other wild race horse but like the Blue Roan Nokota her coat is unique amongst the common.

Fer is meeting a new companion in the waning hours of a very busy day. We had three grizzly encounters and made two new discoveries that I had missed in my original game save. So good stuff. His name is the French word for iron. So much crazy went on with this mount that I usually never even thought of going into photo mode. My favourite was bolting into a market while being fired on and causing absolute chaos. The Gray isn't the most spectacular of the Kentucky Saddlers but I was very entertained by both Grays I have acquired.

 See next ranked Chapter 2

It was a struggle getting a shot that does justice to this handsome boah. Either the weather was bad, the lighting was too dark or too much crazy was going on to think about it. I thought maybe I could make Arthur do something interesting so we practiced dismounting with weapons drawn. This required some exact button manipulation but one of them didn't look quite right every time. So this is what I came up with. Buffed out this is a pretty nice horse and one of the top stable bargains in Chapter 2. He's faster than the wild race horses, bigger than the Nokota and more stable than the Thoroughbreds. Adonis had an unexpected trick up his sleeve too.

The Arabian possessing the least impressive stats but most resembling a Breyer figurine. Her numbers are balanced however and she's faster than most of the work class breeds. She didn't really enjoy hauling a large man through knee deep snow but I have a IRL thing about late day winter sun reflecting off a chestnut coat so Breyer got elected to go clear off some  northern objectives. Overall a successful trip but did get dumped once over a wolf swarm. She held for a couple of them but the last two were too much. 

File this under fun things to do. I tried to jump from the train to the horse but failed. Failure was a bit of a theme with Harmony. I saved a stranger from outlaws and thought a surviving outlaw was a good candidate for lassoing and dragging. I wound up just running him over with the Suffolk Punch instead. Everyone else had vamoosed except for the patient Harmony who was just standing there for the taking. My first White Roan was female as well. She has the same stats and handling as wild Thoroughbreds but is much quieter and easy to handle.

This bison makes the sturdy Suffolk Punch look small. They're not really that big are they? It might be a trick of perspective but I struggled to get both of them in the frame. We encountered the bison on it's own and the opening under the bridge slowed it down a bit so we were able to ride alongside for a few moments. Technically, Rufus was stolen but he was acquired from two very stupid strangers so I prefer to say "adopted". I called him Rufus for no particular reason. He was serviceable and agreeable.

That's an interesting spot you've put yourself in Thunder. The name is inspired by dose hooves. He does inspire confidence as you thunder along. His stats are the same as the Dark Bay Andalusian and they seem similiar in temperament. So it's a matter of preference between those two. Huffy and refined or snorting and bulky. We spent most of our time cougar hunting and trying to avoid being dumped. He is a fun horse though.

Here we have a horse named Luna watching the sun set on an alligator. Her coat didn't remind me of any candy but did sort of resemble the surface of a far away moon or planet. First play through I know I acquired a male version of this horse after a mission and I know I didn't do anything fancy to get him but I had to purchase Luna from Valentine stable. It was definitely worth it. I really like this horse. A little less edgy in the swamp than others.

I had a sweet horse named Truffle so why not Caramel. I meant to tame this horse right after Irwin, the Flaxen Chestnut Halfbred for a comparison but I'm going with the flow in this play through. The Silver Bay struck me as a similiar but more refined version. Kentucky Saddlers could have been classed as a war horse but in this game they have the weaker riding horse stats. We just moseyed around, taking in the scenery and looking for opportunity.

This is just a really silly photo. Her coat reminds me of a chocolate truffle and her face is so sweet I was looking for an open window to frame it. Then I impulsively entered the sheep pen not thinking that all the sheep would run out. I managed to round up a couple of them but I guess the rest are just roaming around town now. I ran into her and her rider while doing that Arabian go fast thing. Her rider ran off and poor Truffle was in terrible shape. I fixed her up and that settled the which horse is next question. It's really too bad about the low health stat because this is a loveable little horse.

It looks like Dynamo has made a little friend. The White Arabian is the best horse found in the wild and ranks third overall. A well rounded horse stat wise, she is always worth the trip to acquire her. I took her on a failed moose hunt. I really must stop doing this to Arabians.

As I mentioned before, this is the second nutty Andalusian acquired in this playthrough. Both my Dark Bays were male. I spent a lot of time in Lemoyne which Andalusians don't seem to tolerate as well as some other breeds. He improved a lot with maximum bond and heading north. Of course, Diablo didn't really ask to do things like deliberately antagonize grizzlies. I had so much fun with him, he has his own YouTube playlist.

Here's a nicer photo of him showing his form in a park. The Dark Bay Andalusian is probably my favourite RDR2 mount. He is a beauty.

This is another impulse taming and the second male. We seemed to have frequent close contact with wildlife so I named him Irwin because I like that better than Steve. He did get agitated but calmed fairly quickly. Just a big, solid horse.