Red Dead Redemption 2: How to Brush Your Horse

How to Brush Your Horse in Red Dead Redemption 2

Forget dogs, it’s horses that are a cowboy’s best friend in Red Dead Redemption 2. Whether it’s carrying heavy pelt miles across a barren desert or helping you make a fast getaway from the O’Driscolls, your horse is the single most important companion in the game. So for goodness sake, keep the poor animal clean! Here’s how to brush your horse in Red Dead Redemption 2.

You won’t be able to brush your horse from the very beginning of the game. It’s not until during a story mission in Chapter 2 that this option will become available. You’ll be taken to a local stable in Valentine where Arthur has the option to buy a new horse.

It’s from here when Arthur will have the option to brush his horse, and you’ll want to do so straight away given that the horse you’ll most likely buy (the cheapest one) is covered in grit and mud.

To brush your horse, approach it and hold L1 (or the left bumper on Xbox One) and select the brush option. This is left on your d-pad on both consoles. You don’t need to hold this down, simply press it once and Arthur will whip out his brush and begin giving it a good clean down.

You’ll immediately notice that as Arthur brushes his horse it will turn nice and clean. This has a number of positive effects.

First, and most importantly, a dirty horse won’t recover its core stamina or health bar while it’s dirty. Secondly, brushing your horse increases your bond with the animal, just as feeding or patting it would.

Be sure to take the time to brush your horse in Red Dead Redemption 2, particularly if you’ve been riding it through rough conditions or if it has fallen over while riding.

That’s all you need to know on this particular subject, but if you’re looking for a more detailed explanation you can check out the video below. Our wiki page has a bunch more useful guides for Red Dead Redemption 2. It covers things like bounty, how to rob trains, gaining weight, and plenty more.