Can't upgrade speed of horse because it's locked behind a random encounter.

[ᛁᛖᛊᚢᛊ ᚨᚱ ᚷᚢᛞ]

Usually this game shines good from a design perspective but this one thing is truly idiotic. I can't upgrade my horse because the horce racers refuse to spawn.

Does anyone know how to force them to spawn or any other method of upgrading the speed of the horse?

[Kuroneko]

I'm guessing you are referring to Story Mode & if so then you just need to make sure that you feel & Groom your Horse often in order for it's level to raise, this in turn will increase it's speed & Handle.

So make sure to feed it properly & Groom it & Not shot it or Hit it...

[Kuroneko]

Btw this is what i did BUT in Online Mode & i leveled my Horse rather easy by Grooming it, it wen't from level 1 to max rather easy.

Every Horse has a Max Speed & Level ( Basically Stats ) & not all of them run fast or slow & such.

[ᛁᛖᛊᚢᛊ ᚨᚱ ᚷᚢᛞ]

Originally posted by Kuroneko:

I'm guessing you are referring to Story Mode & if so then you just need to make sure that you feel & Groom your Horse often in order for it's level to raise, this in turn will increase it's speed & Handle.

So make sure to feed it properly & Groom it & Not shot it or Hit it...

No, you misunderstand, in story mode there is a random encounter that permanently boosts the speed of all of your horses. I think there are three such encounters in total.

But they never spawn for me and I am stuck with a slow horse in story mode. I still appreciate the answers though even though.

[DargonBlak]

i don't think 1 increment of "Speed" will make any significant difference in Story Mode.

There is very little difference in Top Speed between speeds 3 and 6.

First off, remember that in Story Mode, your Horse's Speed is Always Limited during Missions - except for the race with Dutch.

Free horses (gathered in open world) generally have speed & accel around 3 (with the exception of the Arabians at 6).

And if 3 isn't fast enough, you can buy Tack to get up to +4 speed, and also greatly reduce the Stamina burden of ur horse (duration is more important than speed, imo)
https://reddead.fandom.com/wiki/Horse_Tack

A horse with total speed & accel around 5 is more than sufficient for Story Mode game.

However, Horse Type does make a difference for Handling. A big Shire (Draft Horse) will always act sluggish and be slow to respond - because "Acceleration" matters.

Here's the stats list:
https://rankedboost.com/red-dead-redemption-2/horse-saddle/

[ᛁᛖᛊᚢᛊ ᚨᚱ ᚷᚢᛞ]

Originally posted by DargonBlak:

i don't think 1 increment of "Speed" will make any significant difference in Story Mode.

There is very little difference in Top Speed between speeds 3 and 6.

First off, remember that in Story Mode, your Horse's Speed is Always Limited during Missions - except for the race with Dutch.

Free horses (gathered in open world) generally have speed & accel around 3 (with the exception of the Arabians at 6).

And if 3 isn't fast enough, you can buy Tack to get up to +4 speed, and also greatly reduce the Stamina burden of ur horse (duration is more important than speed, imo)
https://reddead.fandom.com/wiki/Horse_Tack

A horse with total speed & accel around 5 is more than sufficient for Story Mode game.

However, Horse Type does make a difference for Handling. A big Shire (Draft Horse) will always act sluggish and be slow to respond - because "Acceleration" matters.

Here's the stats list:
https://rankedboost.com/red-dead-redemption-2/horse-saddle/

Bruh, why are you telling me what I need and what is necessary for me?

I decide what I need and what is necessary and it's obvious that this speed setting is not enough.
I play freeroam as John, the story is over but there is a whole land to explore. I have the White Arabian horse and it's still not fast enough.

[XOLiD]

Originally posted by Victory Forever:

I play freeroam as John, the story is over but there is a whole land to explore. I have the White Arabian horse and it's still not fast enough.

Interesting... as far as I know the only way to get the third gold speed bar in story mode is after getting one of the random horse race encounter rematch which I think is only possible as Arthur.

The fastest top speed horse is a Missouri Fox Trotter, but Arabians are good too especially the one you can buy from the Blackwater stables as John.

[bcarter1100]

Still no luck huh? I am having the same issue and am starting to wonder if this is a new bug? Not sure if the story mode has been updated in years. I was able to find and race the old guy twice. Won the first one but the second one was on a new 1* bonded horse and lost. Now I can't seem to trigger ANY race. So you're definitely not the only one facing this issue.