How to Customize your Horse in Red Dead Redemption 2

In Red Dead Redemption 2 you will spend a ton of time on your horse. Since the horse basically fills the position of a car in GTAV, there are a number of customization options to make it look and perform better. Below I will show you how to customize your horse in Red Dead Redemption 2.

Complete the Mission Exit Pursued by a Bruised Ego

You need to complete this mission to gain access to Stables.

In order to customize your horse, you need to gain access to Stables in game. To do this, you need to complete the Hosea mission called “Pursued by a Bruised Ego”. In this mission you and Hosea head out to hunt a legendary bear. Before going into the wilderness, Hosea has you stop into the Stable in Valentine. Doing this unlocks Stables throughout the world, which is what you need in order to customize your horse.

Visit Your Local Stable

The Stable is where you are able to change your horse’s equipment and look.

Almost every major town in Red Dead Redemption 2 has their own Stables. This is good for us. Make your way  inside the nearest Stable on the horse you wish to customize horse. Inside the Stable you will be shown a number of options:

• Manage owned horses: Manage your owned horses (can have 3 at a time).
• Buy Horses: Browse horses that are in stock.
• Tack and Services: Horse appearance, upgrade and service options.
• Horse Provisions: Buy items to care for your horse.

The option we want to select is Tack and Services. On this menu we can make a number of changes to our horse.

Tack: Purchase horse equipment

On the Tack menu you will find a number of equipment items which boost the performance of your horse.

The Tack option is houses everything you need to change the appearance and performance of your horse. Under Tack you can purchase the following customizations:

• Saddles: Higher quality Saddles improve your Horse’s Stamina Core and Health Core Drain Rate, while providing a Stamina Regen Rate increase. There are two types of saddles you can buy: Stock and Improved. Improved gives better stats than their core counterparts. When purchasing a saddle you can change the color of it by using left and right on the D-Pad.
• Saddlebags: Upgraded Saddlebags increase your outfit, mask and hat storage on your Horse.
• Stirrups: Higher quality Stirrups increase your Horse’s Speed and Acceleration and provide a Stamina Drain Rate reduction. Stirrups, like Saddles, come in a variety of designs and colors.
• Horns: Equip an aesthetic saddle horn.
• Blankets: Equip a blanket.
• Bedrolls: Equip a Bedroll.

Grooming: Edit the horse’s appearance

The Grooming menu allows you to change the visual look of your horse.

The Grooming option is your home for everything Horse appearance related. Under the Grooming tab you can change the look of your horse’s Mane and Tail. Take a look at the different styles to choose from as there are a number that are pretty crazy (dreadlock and braid for example). When you’ve selected the styles you like, use the left and right buttons on the D-Pad to change the color of your horse’s Tail and Mane.

 Services: Purchase horse care services

You can purchase certain services for your horse including changing its name.

Under the Services menu you can purchase a refill of your horse’s Cores and change your horse’s name for a fee.

That’s all there is to customizing your horse. As you can see the general vibe of this system is a lot like the car system in GTAV. If you played that, you should be fairly familiar with the options you find in the Stables.

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