How to Buy a Horse in Red Dead Redemption

Last Updated: October 21, 2021

Red Dead Redemption is a 2010 Western action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar Games that is available for the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3. The game is set in the United States and Mexico, and horses are an important mode of transportation. You buy deeds for horses in general stores found throughout the game world. The price of each deed is determined by the star-ranking of the horse, where you buy it, and your level of honor (high or low, depending on the location). The guide below details how to purchase horse deeds at general stores in the game.

Steps

1
Travel to a town with a general store. You can pause the game, select "Map" from the menu, and zoom in to see which towns have general stores. General stores are marked by small "shop sign" icons.
- General store locations include S.M. Neely-Ship Chandler and Grocer (Blackwater), Manzanita Trading Co. (Manzanita Post), H.R. Putnam's General Merchandise (Armadillo), MacFarlane's Ranch General Store (MacFarlane's Ranch), River Traders Pawn Shop (Thieves' Landing), Almac�n de Chuparosa (Chuparosa), and Escalera.
- Most stores open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. in the game world.
2
Enter the general store and speak to the shopkeeper. This will bring up an inventory screen with "Buy" and "Sell" sections. Select "Buy."

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3
Scroll down the list of items and select a suitable horse deed. Typically, the more expensive a horse deed is, the faster and more robust the horse is. Horse speed is ranked by a star system, where more stars means the horse is faster and fewer means the horse is slower. These are the prices and star ranks of each horse breed that is available to buy:
- Three-star horses such as the Kentucky Saddler, American Standardbred, and Hungarian Half-bred can be purchased for $1500, or for $750 if you have high honor. These are the fastest horses in the game.
- Two-star horses such as the Highland Chestnut, Painted Quarter Horse, Painted Standardbred, Quarter Horse, Standard Bred Pinto, Tersk, Tobiano Pinto, and Welsh Mountain can be bought for $500. Other two-star horses like the Turkmen, Ardennais, and Cleveland Bay can be bought for $500, or for $250 with high honor. Dutch Warmblood can be bought for $500, or for $250 if you have low honor, at Thieves' Landing. These horses have moderate speed.
- One-star horses such as the Jaded Tersk, Lusitano Nag, and Infested Ardennais can be bought for $100. These horses have slow speed.
4
Confirm the purchase.
5
Select the purchased deed from your personal inventory screen to summon the horse. Make sure you are outside so that the horse can reach you. If the horse does not show up within a few moments, tap the button to whistle for it.

Community Q&A

Question

What level do I have to be to buy a horse in Red Dead Redemption?

Community Answer

No particular level, but you can get a horse more cheaply if your fame and honor are high.
Question

Where will my horse go after I buy one in Red Dead Redemption?

HiThereI'mAPerson

Community Answer

Your horse will be in your inventory, and you must select it and whistle for it to come to you.
Question

What do I do if I get attached to my horse in Red Dead Redemption and it dies?

Community Answer

You may want to reload your last save from before it died. That's what I do.

Warnings

Horses are susceptible to all the dangers of the game world including bullets, explosions, high falls, and animal attacks. Once your horse dies you can go out and buy or tame a new one.

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Kicking your horse too much to make it go faster will result in the horse throwing you off its back. Watch the stamina meter (located next to the mini-map) to gauge how many kicks the horse will take. When its stamina bar is completely empty, the horse will kick you off. Refrain from kicking the horse for a while to allow it to recover its stamina.

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