Red Dead Redemption
51 Achievements
Spurred to Victory
Complete 20 story missions without switching to a new horse at a hitching post. Details for this achievement will be revealed once unlocked
19.7%
How to unlock the Spurred to Victory achievement in Red Dead Redemption - Definitive Guide
Complete 20 story missions without switching to a new horse at a hitching post. (Secret) (Missable)
I made the solution mainly for those who are having to replay to get the achievement so I made it as fool-proof as I could. After hearing from more players it seems my solution is verging on paranoid lol. But after trying 3 times to get the achievement, that's how I felt. It probably comes down to simply - Never hitch any horse to a hitching post.
If you are starting a new game and you follow these guidelines, this achievement will unlock after mission 21. Otherwise, check to see if you have at least 20 missions left in the game and make sure to follow the guidelines. Here is a link to a mission list. http://reddead.wikia.com/wiki/Red_Dead_Redemption_missions
TA member teamwrk has verified that missions replayed from the Stats > Missions menu ***DO NOT*** count toward this achievement.
Guidelines
*Do not hitch any horse, including your own, to a hitching post. The game will force you to do this a couple of times at the beginning. No worries, this will not reset the counter. ***A few players have told me that they hitched the stallion without resetting the counter but I still recommend playing it safe and staying away from hitching posts.
*Always whistle for your horse when allowed. Do not take a horse from a hitching post, not even your own, unless the game forces you to do so. If you see your horse is hitched, just whistle and it will come. ***This may or may not be necessary but I think it's better to be safe than have to replay 21 missions over and over again.
*You will get a new horse during a mission with Bonnie. During the mission you will break a stallion (the Kentucky Saddlebred) and Bonnie will tell you to keep it. You can continue on using the Kentucky Saddlebred as this will not reset your counter.
*On the Seth mission when he tells you to steal a horse, instead mount your own horse and point your weapon at the law officers or lasso one of their horses. When you get your bounty, ride away and they will follow. ***This may not be necessary but it's an option if you don't want to chance it.
*If your horse dies, reload your most recent game-save. Save often!!!
*Do not use any horse deeds
Additional Tips
If this is your first play-through and you will be doing side missions and such, make sure you use your campsite to save often. Challenges do not auto-save until completed, so save after any progress you make with challenges.
If you are starting a new game just to get this achievement and want to get through as quickly as possible, use your campsite to fast travel to mission start locations and skip cut scenes. It will still probably take a 2 1/2 - 3 hours.
There are three save slots to choose from when you start a new game. Be careful not to save over a game you want to keep.
Good Luck!
Below are comments that I thought were relevant in specific situations.
** just a little addition that may not have been made entirely clear, I started the game with the war horse, when you get the stallion for the bonnie mission, do not use the deed to get your war horse back, otherwise the counter resets, I ended up getting the achievement with the war horse on mission 27
Posted by minus15T on 13 May 11 13:18:21
** I didnt see it mentioned in other comments, but if you allow your honor to drop to Desperado, when you whistle, a Dark Horse will respond. If you save with that horse, your counter will reset as well. I highly recommend that anyone attempting this achievement keep using the Kentucky Saddler for the duration as it is very easily recognizable and during many of the Act 1 missions it is unlikely that you'll come across any civilian riding one or randomly hitched to confuse you. +1 for the thorough guide (except for the dark horse mention!)
Posted by SGT Impaler on 03 Jun 11 11:47:07
Using this solution and THRACE 462753's guidelines above, you should have no problems with this one.
(Taken from http://reddead.wikia.com/wiki/Spurred_To_Victory)
Echoing the advice of others, until you get the achievement: 1) Always dismount and never hitch your horse to a hitching post. However, after you save your game at a safehouse, your horse will rematerialize at a hitching post. 2) ALWAYS WHISTLE for your horse, even if the horse is at a hitching post, to avoid accidently getting on the wrong horse. The horse will come when you whistle, even if at a hitching post. 3) Save often. If your horse dies, which can happen, just reload a prior save.
Echoing the advice of others, until you get the achievement: 1) Always dismount and never hitch your horse to a hitching post. However, after you save your game at a safehouse, your horse will rematerialize at a hitching post. 2) ALWAYS WHISTLE for your horse, even if the horse is at a hitching post, to avoid accidently getting on the wrong horse. The horse will come when you whistle, even if at a hitching post. 3) Save often. If your horse dies, which can happen, just reload a prior save.
FOR the Bonnie mission where you obtain the new horse, simply get it and never hitch.
if it helps from being tempted to do so get off horse away from the action and run up to objectives to avoid risk of it being killed or hitched, etc. i did random selection of missions no particular order unlocked after mission num 21 finished where i escorted Seth's wagon to tumbleweed to find map piece
It took me exactly 21 missions to get this achievement and it was all at the beginning.
I did all the Bonnie missions. I always whistled for my horse. I even walked away a bit when it was right in front of me and then whistled for it. I kept the original horse I got at the beginning and after breaking in the Kentucky horse I just hopped off and whistled for my original horse.
I also did all the Marshal missions including 'Hanging Bonnie MacFarlane'. I also did Seth missions up until he got his glass eye. I did all the Wells missions but I stopped before doing the 'The Sport of Kings and Liars'. I did a few Irish ones (up until you rescue Shaky the stutterer).
My horse didn't die once. I did plenty of reloads and retry checkpoints on missions. I was always being good and had my goodness maxed out by the time I got this achievement.
Good luck! Hope this helps.
THIS TROPHY IS MISSABLE!
To avoid missing this trophy, do NOT hitch any other horse except your current one. It's okay to break and ride other horses as long as you don't hitch another one or use a deed for a new horse. If your horse happens to die then pause and go to the main menu, then load last save. When you finish 20 story missions with the same horse and the trophy unlocks, you can hitch other horses and let them die if they happen to.
The only time your 20 story missions stack using a different horse is after earning the Kentucky Saddler. Meaning that after earning the Kentucky Saddler, your 20 story missions won't reset as long as you don't hitch your horse. You have a ton of story missions to attempt this as there are 57 total missions. However it would be wise to earn this early on to ensure you'll always have enough attempts to earn this trophy.
If you don't hitch a horse early on, this should unlock after you complete the "Let the Dead Bury Their Dead" mission and before you reach Mexico.
If you do hitch your horse by accident early on do not worry, just make sure not to hitch a horse after you complete "Father Abraham" as there won't be enough missions to attempt this anymore.
You will start the game with a default horse; you can either change your horse or stick to the one you are given. Just progress through the story without swamping your horse for 20 story missions.
I suggest you do this from the start of the game and progress through all the story missions until the achievement unlocks. You can hitch your horse, though if you mount another horse by mistake and hitch that one you will loose your progress.
You don't need to hitch your horse in this game so there is no real need. You can call your horse at any time by pressing and the horse you have always used will come running. If your horse dies your counter for this achievement will reset.
Act 1:
- Bonnie Macfarlane (8)
- Marshal Johnson (5)
- Nigel Dickens (5)
- Seth (3)
- Irish (4)
Act 2:
- Landon Ricketts (4)
- Vincente Desanta (5)
- Luisa Fortuna (4)
- Abraham Reyes (3)
Act 3:
- Agent Edgar Ross (4)
- Prof. Macdougal (3)
Home Missions:
- Jack (4)
- Abigail (2)
- Uncle (2)
- Fianle (1)
Note: This achievement has a mind of it's own so it may unlock sooner or later for some people.
I didn't change my horse throughout the game, a couple of times before story missions I was given a new horse, but after a bill I immediately returned my own (War Horse).