Red Dead Redemption 2 players have figured out how to get every horse for free

If horses grew on trees, Red Dead Redemption 2's Arthur Morgan would have a much easier time amassing a stable of every steed in the game. But as it stands, you need to cough up the in-game cash to expand your horse collection - unless you take advantage of a secret, quite possibly bugged location. Imgur user Marcass2021 has put together some nicely illustrated instructions on how to get any horse - even rare breeds - for free, provided you're willing to spend some time in place of money.

This trick only works from Chapter 2 onward, but can result in horses seen throughout the entire campaign. You'll want to seek out a spot north of Saint Denis, the city at the southeast corner of the map. Between two unassuming houses, you'll find a stable where two randomly selected horses will spawn. "Unlike all of the other random horse spawns, these 2 pull from a pool of all of the horses," writes Marcass2021. "Rare wild horses, stable purchased, and random encounter." If you don't like the two types of horse that spawned in, you can simply re-roll them by running away, letting them despawn, and returning a few seconds later to see what the Horse Lotto (name not final) has served up this time.

Once you get the horse you want, saddle up and take your ill-gotten steed to the nearest stable for keeps. Be aware that onlookers will consider this stealing, in case that weighs on your conscience. Speaking of, this could be considered an exploit, given that you can unlock horses which are supposed to be gated off until the late-game, so bear that in mind if you're concerned about being a purist. Rockstar could very well patch this (very likely unintentional) spot sometime soon, so if you're looking to assemble a hoard of horses in record time, you should probably jump on this ASAP.

For more steed strategies, here's the primary method for getting Red Dead Redemption 2's best horse. 

Lucas Sullivan

Lucas Sullivan is the former US Managing Editor of GamesRadar+. Lucas spent seven years working for GR, starting as an Associate Editor in 2012 before climbing the ranks. He left us in 2019 to pursue a career path on the other side of the fence, joining 2K Games as a Global Content Manager. Lucas doesn't get to write about games like Borderlands and Mafia anymore, but he does get to help make and market them. 

Latest in Red Dead
Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden says 100-hour games are a "mismatch" to today's reality: "I haven't even opened Red Dead Redemption 2, because I don't have 90 hours"
Red Dead Redemption 2 screenshot showing the silhouette of a man with a cowboy hat on horseback, a glowing sun seen behind him
Red Dead Redemption 2's very own Arthur Morgan says he wishes that he could work with "genius" Metal Gear mastermind Hideo Kojima
Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2 modder makes "all wagons and horses travel at super sonic speeds," chaos and jumpscares ensue: "It's now a horror game"
Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption 2 dev reveals detail "99% of people never saw" that's part of "what makes Rockstar's games so good"
Red Dead Redemption
Rockstar veteran says Red Dead Redemption's PS3 version was "very hard and time-consuming" to make, but it was "easy to write for the 360"
Red Dead Redemption
After 14 years, the original Red Dead Redemption finally hits PC this month, with Undead Nightmare in two
Latest in News
A screenshot from MindsEye showing a character leaning out of a car, shooting another car with a gun.
GTA veteran says the games industry needs to "get smarter" about what people actually want: "There are so many games, and I think we're starting to feel the effects"
Posing with a rifle in the Fallout 76 Ghoul update
Fallout 76's art director "had to fight really hard" so Bethesda would make the MMO's map bigger than Skyrim's
Minecraft movie image of Jack Black as steve
Don't expect Minecraft to go free-to-play anytime soon, as Mojang says "It doesn't really work with the way we built it"
Yasuke looking over the water to a shrine during sunset in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows has an entire island stuffed with adorable kittens you need to check out, and it's based on an actual Japanese cat paradise
phase zero key art showing zombies in a hallway
Former Witcher 3 and Dying Light devs reveal their Resident Evil homage, complete with PS1-style fixed cameras
Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis System was only created because WB Games wanted something to combat Batman Arkham Asylum's second-hand sales, exec says