Lend Me Your Horse V1.2

Camp is full of good horses and, until now, you couldn’t touch any of them. This mod lets Arthur borrow the gang’s horses: Hosea’s Silver Dollar, Charles’s Taima, Dutch’s The Count and the rest. He even asks for them out loud, using voice lines that Rockstar recorded and left unused in the game files.

Features

Borrow any gang member’s horse. Focus it with right-click, hold E on the Borrow prompt, and you’re on.
Arthur asks for it. Each gang member has their own “taking [name]’s horse” line (Bill, Charles, Dutch, Hosea, Javier, John, Lenny, Micah, Sadie, Sean). They’re in the game’s audio but never played.
Ride it anywhere. Normally a camp horse panics, throws you and bolts back once you ride too far. Not this one.
Real names, real marker. The prompts show the horse’s actual name, and it appears on your map with the game’s own Temporary Horse icon.
Whistle for it. Press H and the borrowed horse runs to you, and keeps coming if you keep moving.
Return it properly. In camp, hold R while riding. Out in the world, get off, focus it and hold E. It walks back to its camp spot by itself. No teleporting.
It remembers. Leave it far behind for 2 in-game days and it finds its own way back to camp.
There are consequences. Kill a horse you borrowed and you lose honor, get a message, and that gang member won’t lend you a horse for 3 in-game days.
Everything is configurable in a plain text .ini file, including every message.

How to use it

Walk up to a gang member’s horse in camp.
Hold right-click on it so the game’s focus menu appears.
Hold E to Borrow. Arthur says his line and climbs on.
Ride wherever you like. Your own horse is untouched.
Wandered off? Press H and it comes to you.
Done? Return it: hold R while riding if you’re near camp. Otherwise get off, focus the horse and hold E on Return.

The rules

One horse on loan at a time. Borrow a second and the first goes back to camp.
If the horse you borrowed dies because you killed it: you lose honor and that gang member refuses to lend you a horse for 3 in-game days. The lockout is saved, so quitting the game doesn’t reset it.
If it dies some other way (a fall, an animal, an enemy), you get no lockout.
If you try to borrow a horse whose owner is still angry, you’re told how many days are left.
The mod pauses itself during missions and cutscenes, and does nothing when you aren’t Arthur (might be changed).

Settings
Everything lives in HorseBorrow.ini:

Lockout length (in-game days) and the auto-return time and distance.
How far “in camp” is, and how long you hold the Borrow and Return prompts.
The whistle key (a letter, or a Windows virtual-key number), or switch the whistle off.
How long messages stay on screen, plus the full text of every message, with placeholders for the horse name, owner and days.
Turn the mod off, turn off the mission/cutscene pause, or allow it as John.
Debug logging for troubleshooting.

Delete the file and the mod writes a fresh one with defaults.

Horses

Bill: Brown Jack
Charles: Taima
Dutch: The Count
Hosea: Silver Dollar
Javier: Boaz
John: Old Boy
Lenny: Maggie
Micah: Baylock
Sadie: Bob
Sean: Ennis
Kieran: Branwen, Uncle: Nell II, Trelawny: Gwydion. These can be borrowed too, but there is no voice line for them, so Arthur stays quiet.

Requirements

Red Dead Redemption 2 (PC) no pirated copy support.
ScriptHookRDR2 and an ASI loader (the same you use for any .asi mod).

Installation

Copy HorseBorrow.asi and HorseBorrow.ini into your RDR2 folder, next to RDR2.exe.
Start the game and load story mode.

Uninstall: delete HorseBorrow.asi and HorseBorrow.ini (and HorseBorrowLockouts.txt if you like).

FAQ
Does it touch my own horse?
No. Your main horse is never changed or replaced.

Why do I ride a copy instead of the real horse?
Camp horses are controlled by the game’s camp system, which throws the rider off and sends the horse home after about 200 metres. A copy isn’t controlled by it. The real horse stays hidden at its camp spot and comes back when you return the copy.

Is the whistle the normal horse whistle?
It uses the same button idea, but it’s the mod’s own. The game wouldn’t accept the borrowed horse as its built-in temporary horse, so the mod handles the call itself. Your own horse’s normal whistle isn’t affected.

Does it edit my saves?
The mod doesn’t write to your save files. The only thing it saves is the lockout list, in a small text file next to the game.

Does it work as John in the epilogue?
No. The voice lines are Arthur’s, so the mod stays off for anyone else. (There’s a setting if you want to change that.)

Nothing happens when I focus a horse.
Check that you’re Arthur, not in a mission or cutscene, and that other .asi mods work (so ScriptHook is fine). Make sure Enabled=1 in the ini. Hold right-click on the horse itself, and stand within a few metres.

Something broke, how do I tell what?
Set DebugLog=1 in the ini. The mod then writes HorseBorrow.log with what it’s doing.

Compatibility
Works alongside most mods. Mods that change gang horses, prompts or camp horse behaviour may conflict. If you see double prompts, check that you aren’t running two copies of this mod.

Known issues

Off the horse you can only pat it. No leading, brushing or feeding (the game only allows those on your own horse).
The whistle and map marker are the mod’s own, not the game’s built-in temporary horse. Your own horse isn’t affected.
If the Borrow prompt doesn’t show, let go and hold right-click on the horse again.
The mod may pause briefly during some scripted scenes.
Borrowed horses are removed when you load a save or restart.
After borrowing a horse, the original horse’s reins are floating (not the actually borrowed horse you ride)

Credits:

goof133