Red Dead Redemption 2 How to Raise Your Horse's Bond Level Guide 1

How do you raise your horse's bond level in Red Dead Redemption 2? Raising your horse's bond level is an important part of making sure your steed is reliable. Your horse is just about your most trusted companion throughout the game, and increasing its bond level gives you better control over it when riding. A higher bond level also makes it less likely to ignore your commands.

How to raise your horse's bond level in Red Dead Redemption 2

In order to raise your horse's bond level in Red Dead Redemption 2, you're going to need to spend some time with it. There's no especially quick way to raise the bond level, but the process isn't so slow that it's a grind.

There are four bond levels for every horse. The higher the bond, the further away you can be when you whistle for your horse. It'll also enjoy boosted health and stamina bars at higher bond levels. What's more, bond level 2 and 3 unlock advanced riding techniques, such as sharp turns and drifting.

Still, you can raise your horse's bond level more efficiently by performing certain actions regularly. We've listed these actions below.

  • Ride your horse - Simply riding around on your horse slowly increases its bond level.
  • Feed your horse - Feed your horse from time to time to raise its bond level a little more. Feeding it also restores its health and stamina cores.
  • Brush your horse - Stand next to your horse, lock onto it with L2, and select 'brush' to give your horse a quick clean. Not only does doing this repeatedly prevent your horse from becoming dirty, it also raises its bond level.
  • Pat your horse - Just like brushing it, patting your horse while locked on with L2 increases its bond level.
  • Ease your horse - When riding your horse, press L3 to ease or calm it. Horses can get spooked if there's a predatory animal nearby, or if you're riding along uneven or unsafe ground. Pressing L3 calms it down and increases your bond level. Even if there's no danger around, easing your horse is always an option, and it's worth doing regularly just for those small bond level increases.