Horses Guide - Locations, Stats, Bonding, Taming, and Breeds - Red Dead Redemption 2 Guide - IGN (2024)

There are 19 different breeds of horses in Red Dead Redemption 2. Each breed is classified in different categories that which provide a unique feeling. Combined with 59 styles of coat and customizable accessories, your horse will truly feel like your own. Below you'll find our Horses guide which will tell you everything you need to know about locations, stats, bonding, taming, and different breeds.

Arthur Morgan will find a new horse early on in his adventure, but after you reach Chapter 2 you can undertake a quest with Hosea - Exit Pursued by a Bruised Ego - and he'll teach you about selling and buying new horses, and picking your primary riding horse, or stabling extra horses!

Once you unlock stables, you can visit new towns to see what horses are available to buy (which have better stats than their wilder variants but can cost a pretty penny), and you can also sell or name your primary horse, purchase upgrades for their tack, customize their looks, and clean them up.

Looking for something in particular? Click the links below to jump to...

• Obtaining a Horse in Red Dead Redemption 2
• The Best Horses in Red Dead Redemption 2
• How to Change Primary Horses
• Horse Bonding
• PC Exclusive Horses

Obtaining a Horse in Red Dead Redemption 2

Horses can be caught and broken in the wild, bought from town, or stolen from travelers. Having a horse will allow you to store gear and loot in the saddle. You can even toss kills, bounty targets, or pelts over the back of your steed and take it into camp or town. Any horse you steal or break in will be listed as your temporary horse - but this means you can't stash items or weapons on a temporary horse until you put your saddle on it.

• How to Tame Wild Horses
• How to Get a War Horse
• How to Get a Horse Brush

Whether wild or just someone else's horse - you'll often need to let them gain your trust by approaching them slowly to calm and pat them before they will let you ride them. If a horse doesn't like you or becomes agitated - it may just kick you in the face!

Found the perfect horse? Check out our Horse Upgrades Guide to learn more about purchasing stables and increasing the stats of your four-legged friend.

The Best Horses in Red Dead Redemption 2

As horses come in many types, most of them have some strengths but also carry drawbacks - however, below you'll find some of the best horses in a particular category at a glance:

How to Change Primary Horses

Since you can only have one saddle at a time, if you wish to change primary horses in Red Dead 2, approach the horse you no longer want to be your primary horse and lock on, then press up on the D-Pad to remove your saddle. Approach the horse you wish to use as your main horse, and press up on the D-Pad again to confirm your new primary horse.

Remember that horses can die - easily. A wounded horse can be cured with the right tonic, but if they die, you'll need to take your saddle off so you can claim a new horse later. If you lose your saddle, it will appear back at the stables in town.

Horse Bonding

Make sure to take care of your horse though. Keeping it groomed and well-fed will bump up its stamina, performance, and handling. These stats are unique to the horse. They can even become less skittish when in gun fights.

All horses have base levels of health and stamina that can raise as they bond with you - and improving your bond will cause it to learn new tricks like rearing, skidding, and piaffing.

PC Exclusive Horses

The PC version of Red Dead Redemption 2 contains 7 exclusive breeds that can't be found on other platforms (although some players have found a few on console). The first four horses are completely new while the second 3 are new wild horse breeds.

Some players have reported finding these horses in other locations, but we haven't been able to confirm if that's true. These locations below have been confirmed.