Red Redemption 2 Gang Members Horses
One of my sparks is horses. Another spark is red dead redemption. I found a connection to why all of the gang members have specific horses.
Bill- his horse's name is Brown Jack. Brown Jack is a Brown Roan Ardennes. Bill used to be in the war, and it shaped him into the man he is today. Ardennes horses were and are war horses both in the game and in the real world. An Ardennes horse was chosen as Bill's horse because both have involvement/ties to the war.
Charles- his horse's name is Taima. Taima is a Grey Snowcapped Spotted Appaloosa. Appaloosa's are/were commonly used by Native Americans. Charles is Native American and African American. Charles tried to connect with his Native American culture throughout the game. It would make sense for him to have an Appaloosa horse because of his cultural/racial identity.
Dutch- his horse's name is The Count. The Count is an Albino Arabian horse. Arabian Horses' s are an expensive breed. They are mostly, if not always, associated with high society. Dutch wants nothing more in the world than to strangely fit into high society and prove he is something he is not. Because Arabians are an expensive breed, Dutch owns one to feel as if he were to fit into the strange, backwards society.
Hosea- his horses name is Silver Dollar. Silver Dollar is a Silver Turkoman. Turkoman horses are a hardy breed, but are sadly extinct in our modern world. This is because of the industrial era, which we can actively see happen in the events of Red Dead Redemption. Hosea is seen as old fashioned and "washed up". He is extinct, much like the modern day Turkoman. The reason I say extinct is because, Dutch held a tight grip on Hosea, and the grip is what killed him, similarly to the Turkoman horse which has been relied on by humans for a very long time but eventually became "old" and "washed up" by the time the industrial era came. Cars were the newer, better thing. The equivalents to this in the game would be Micah.
Javier- his horses name is Boaz. Boaz is a Grey Overo American Paint horse. Javier is Mexican. American Paint horse's are the in-game modern day Azteca Horse. Azteca Horse's are native to Mexico and as time went on, and breeding contiuned, the American Paint horse was born. They are commonly used all throughout Mexico. As a Mexican man, similar to Charles, Javier owns an American Paint horse because it is a horse commonly used by his people.
Karen- her horses name is Old Belle. Old Belle is a Smokey Black Nokota. Nokota are known as a feral/semi-feral horse. This means they have a lot more trouble with domesticating them. They want to stay free, similarly to a Mustang and many other horse breeds. Nokota do not conform to societal standards of being a "well bred" and "well-tempered" horse. This is very similar to Karen as a person. Karen does not want to conform to society's standards of women. She acts the exact opposite of how a women "should act" in that time period. She can be seen in the same light as a Nokota, a "feral" horse and woman.
Kieran- his horses name is Branwen. Branwen is a Flaxen Roan Tennesse Walker. Tennese Walker's are known as Tennese Walking Horse's in our time. They are a very common horse breed, especially at the time the game took place in. They were relatively easy to find anywhere and everywhere. They got you to where you needed to go, and were affordable to buy. Anybody from a normal person to a common thief could own one. Kieran is a meek and weak willed person. He is forced into many things, like joining the O'Driscoll's and joining the Van Der Linde gang. He isn't seen as important enough to own a "specialty horse" like the other gang members, and he is very similar to any other person you would find. All of the gang members aren't in society because they have something that sets them apart from others. Whether they are a killer who enjoys killing, or someone who was harrassed or hatecrimed because of your race or gender, they are in a gang for a reason. This doesn't mean these people are more special. This just means that Kieran doesn't want the life that the others have and wants to live a normal, calmer life like many other people, not in a gang.
John- his horses name is Old Boy. Old Boy is a Silver Dark Bay Hungarian Halfbreed. Something important about Hungarian Halfbreed's are, that in our modern time, there is and never was any horse known as the Hungarian Halfbreed. This doesn't mean the horse doesn't exist, it just means it goes by a different name. John's horse is a Nonius horse. I believe that a Hungarian Halfbreed was chosen as John's horse because neither are what they seem. For starters, Hungarian Halfbreed isnt its name; it's a Nonius. 2nd, when they were domesticating the Nonius, they orignially planned to use the horse for light draft work, but it didn't work out. Then they realized they were best suited for agricultural work. John tries to pretend he is a mean, cold hearted man and denies many things. The most important thing being, his son. Once he realized that he was happy with the idea of a family and a "normal" life, he was better suited for that than killing and being an outlaw.
Lenny- his horses name is Maggie. Maggie is a Light Palomino Mustang. Mustangs are a commonly known horse, mostly because of that very loud car. Mustangs are assosiated with being young and moving fast, and that is all that Lenny did. One moment, everything was normal, then the next it wasn't. Lenny is around 18 years old when he joined the gang. He went from being a kid, to being on the run. He moved a bit too fast.
Micah- his horses name is Baylock. Baylock is a Black Missouri Fox Trotter. Baylock is said by many others to resemble the low honor scrawny nag that would come when called in Red Dead Redemption. I do not believe the Missouri Fox Trotter has anything to do with Micah specifically, other than the fact that the build and coat of it resemble the low honor scrawny nag from the first game. There are many comparisons with Micah, and specific things are chosen for a reason. Like how his hat is white while Arthur's is black. White is commonly used to resemble a "good" person while black is assoiated with a "bad" person, but in reality it is reveresed. They are doing the same thing with Baylock. I do believe Baylock is meant to look like the low honor scrawny nag for the first game, and that is why the Missouri Fox Trotter was chosen.
Sadie- her horses name is Bob. Bob is a Gold Dapple Turkoman. I mentioned the Turkoman earlier with Hosea, but I left out a key fact about them. I left it out so I can mention it in Sadie's area. It is no secret that Sadie is surronded by change. Her life changed in minute's all because of others actions and contiunes to change time and time again. But not only does change surrond her but she brings change as well. She changes alot of gender norms in the game. Turkomans might be extinct for us, but their blood is not. Turkomans are in almost every breed of modern day horse. They are known as a hardy and resillient breed, and traces of their blood still exist to this day. They brought a change in the whole horse world that will last forever and can be seen in modern horses. Sadie did something very similar. While Sadie did not single handedly change the gender roles in our world, and isn't even real, women like Sadie changed our world. People like Sadie all around the world, changed how we live, to be where we are now. A lasting impact and change was caused by both Sadie and the Turkoman that changed both of their species forever.
Sean- his horses name is Enis. Enis is a Silver Buckskin American Standardbred. For us, they are known as the Standardbred. Standardbred horses are show horses and alot of what they do (even if its not their choice) is for attention. Show horses do specific tricks and trots for attention. That's their job. Sean loves attention. He makes bad jokes and does bad things all for attention.
Trewlany- his horses name is Gwydion. Gwydion is a Brown Leopard Appaloosa. Appaloosa's were mentioned earlier in Charle's section but for a different reason. I think it's because he wants to appear as mysterious.
Uncle- his horses name is Nell II. His horse is a Sabino Kentucy Saddler. Kentucy Saddlers are known as "The American Horse". I think that kind of explains Uncle's horse choice pretty well. I don't really care for it much so I'm not going to say more.
I think these are all of the gang members horses. Arthur is not on this list because we choose his horse. Also, it's not confirmed what Boadecia is, and I will probably talk about my theories for it another time. I did all of this on my own. I didn't look up what others ideas were and such. So all of the credit of this goes to me. I also don't care about spelling errors.
