Horse Bonding is one of the integral parts of Red Dead Redemption 2 because it allows you to have a lot of different advantages when it comes to riding in the game. However, increasing the loyalty of your horse can take a lot of time and our guide can help you learn all there is to know about how to reach max bonding level with your horse in RDR2.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Horse Bonding
There are a total of 4 different bonding levels per horse in RDR2. Whenever you upgrade to a new bonding level, you get a new benefit when riding your horse. The following are some of the benefits that you get from maximizing bonding with your horse in Red Dead Redemption 2:
Level 1: The health and the stamina of your horse receive a boost.
Level 2: You can now call your horse from a farther distance and when you are engaging in combat in RDR2.
Level 3: Your horse will now be able to travel in much more rougher terrain. On top of that, it will also be able to travel within deeper waters as well.
Level 4: Your horse is now much harder to steal.
How to Bond With Your Horse in RDR2
There are certain things that you need to do in order to increase your horse loyalty level in Red Dead Redemption 2. The first one is to ride and swim with your horse without draining its stamina core.
One of the easiest ways to do that is to create a waypoint marker and then using the Automatic Horse Travel mode (Cinematic mode to keep traveling to the waypoint in free roam) to get there without having to do anything.
You also need to feed your horse. The food can be bought from stables and then fed to the horse from your weapon wheel. However, you need to make sure that you do not overfeed your horse because that will lead to negative side effects.
When your horse is agitated by enemies or by predators, you can calm it down by pressing the L3 button. Arthur will say stuff such as “Hey Boy” and “Calm Down”, sometimes patting one the horse’s neck. You can also pat it while not on his back while standing next to him. This will also lead to a higher level of horse friendship.
Lastly, you need to groom your horse when it is dirty by pressing L2 to look at it and then pressing left on your d-pad to clean it. Remember that it only works when the horse is dirty. You can get the horse dirty by running through mud or desert areas so you can regularly groom and clean the horse.
Bonding Moves
You also unlock a few bonding moves when you upgrade your bond level with your horse
- Holding R1 and tapping square at Level 2 bonding can rear your horse when stationary.
- Level 3 will allow you to hold R1 and X to quickly turn or stop.
- Level 4 will allow you to perform the Piaffe if you hold the square or X button on your controller
