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.