Bonnie MacFarlane's Missions

Bonnie MacFarlane's Missions

(New Austin Walkthrough)

New Friends, Old Problems

When you regain control over Marston after the cutscene, follow the blue marker on your Mini Map to meet with Bonnie MacFarlane. Follow her to the two horses hitched to the hitching post next to the Stockade on the other side of the road. Mount the chestnut horse and start following Bonnie.

Hold the A/X button to match Bonnie's speed as she shows you around MacFarlane's Ranch. Hold the B/Circle button to look at the various amenities Bonnie points out as you ride along. You don't need to use the Left Stick to direct your horse when holding the A/X button and the B/Circle button at the same time.

Hitch your horse at the end of the tour and touch the yellow marker outside of Bonnie's house to trigger a cutscene. Bonnie gives John a Repeater Carbine rifle. You must use the Repeater Carbine while patrolling the farm on the lookout for bandits and pests.

Hold the A/X button while traveling with an AI companion who is also on horseback to match their speed.

Mount your horse and accompany Bonnie to the first crop field. The crop field is infested with rabbits. Dismount your horse and use your Repeater Carbine to kill all of the rabbits in the field. Each rabbit is marked on the Mini Map by a red blip.

The weapon targeting style in Red Dead Redemption is set to Expert by default. In the Expert targeting mode, you receive no aim assistance. Combat can be made much easier if you set the targeting mode to Normal. You can change the targeting mode in the Config sub-section of the Options section of the pause menu.

Aim your rifle with the LT/L2 button and then press RT/R2 to fire. You can tweak your aim with the Right Stick once you've locked on to a target (using the Normal targeting mode).

Once you've taken care of the rabbits, hop back on your Horse and follow Bonnie to the Corral. A pack of coyotes are after the chickens. You'll have to kill these coyotes from horseback. You can use Dead Eye here to make things a bit easier. Hold LT/L2 and click the Right Stick to activate Dead Eye, which will slow time and make it easier to hit the coyotes. You can't use Dead Eye indefinitely; time will revert back to its normal speed once the Dead Eye meter on the right side of the Mini Map is depleted. The Dead Eye meter will fill back up automatically, but killing enemies and scoring headshots will replenish the meter faster.

Exterminate the coyotes in the Corral.

Kill all of the coyotes in the Corral and then follow Bonnie back to the hitching post. Hitch your horse to complete the mission.

Obstacles in Our Path

It doesn't matter if you win or lose this horse race against Bonnie MacFarlane; you'll complete the mission and earn 20 Fame either way. You must follow the plumes of smoke around the track and make it back to the starting line at MacFarlane's Ranch to finish the race. Bonnie's horse is fast, so this will likely be a close race the entire way through.

Tap the A/X button to spur your horse. When spurring the horse to increase your speed, keep an eye on the horse's stamina meter on the left side of the Mini Map. Continuing to spur the horse when its stamina is depleted will slow it down; continue spurring the horse thereafter and it will eventually buck you off. Cease spurring the horse when its stamina meter is in the red and wait for the meter to replenish to at least halfway before spurring again.

Race Bonnie back to the ranch.

Each waypoint is detonated by a yellow blip on the Mini Map, so keep an eye on the map as you make your way around. Try your best to stick to the road so your horse can gallop faster, although staying on the road can be difficult because the road is quite narrow.

You can likely catch up to Bonnie even if she manages to get quite far ahead, so don't give up! Make it back to the starting line at MacFarlane's Ranch to complete the mission and earn 20 Fame, regardless of the race's outcome.

This is Armadillo, USA

Approach the driver's seat of the wagon and press the Y/Triangle button to hop in. Controlling a wagon is just like controlling a horse. The horses attached to the wagon have a stamina meter as well; continuing to accelerate when the meter is spent will slow the horses and prevent their stamina from replenishing.

Follow the yellow line on the Mini Map to make it to Armadillo. Once in Armadillo, enter the doctor's office and purchase one thing of Medicine from the Doctor. You can use Medicine to restore your health in a pinch.

Drive Bonnie to Armadillo.

Once you have the Medicine, head back outside and follow the blue marker on the Mini Map to meet Bonnie outside the General Store to complete the mission. As is explained in game, you can use a stagecoach to travel back to locations you've previously visited. Stagecoaches are detonated by an exclamation mark icon on the Mini Map.

Women and Cattle

Visit Bonnie at her house between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m. to accept this mission. Hop on your horse and follow Bonnie into the cattle pen. You must help Bonnie herd these cattle to pasture.

Trot behind the cattle to drive them out of the pen. Once out of the pen, get behind the group to guide them forward. Press up on the D-Pad to drive the herd faster toward the gate. When you come to the fork in the road beyond the gate, move to the right side of the herd to steer them to the left. Stay behind the herd and drive them forward toward the pasture, which is denoted by the yellow blip on the Mini Map.

Drive the merged herds to the old oak tree.

When the two groups of cattle have merged, you then must herd the larger group to the old oak tree, which is marked on the Mini Map by a yellow blip. Sweep behind the herd to keep them together and press up on the D-pad to drive them forward. Finish herding the cattle to the oak tree to complete the mission.

Wild Horses, Tamed Passions

Get on your horse and follow Mr. MacFarlane to the herd of wild horses. Bonnie has given you a Lasso, which you must use to catch and break a couple of the wild horses. To lasso a horse, gallop alongside it, aim with LT/L2 and press the RT/R2 button to throw the Lasso. Once you've lassoed a horse, hold RB/R1 to stop the lassoed horse and then dismount. With that, walk toward the lassoed horse and mount it to begin horsebreaking.

To break a wild horse, you must keep Marston centred while it tries to buck him off. Tap the Left Stick to the left or right to keep balance. Marston will lean to one side and flail his arms when he's about to be thrown by the horse; tap the Left Stick in the direction opposite the direction Marston leans to keep balance. Keep this up and Marston will eventually take control.

Dismount once you've tamed the first wild horse and get back on your horse. When Mr. MacFarlane departs, follow Bonnie back to the herd to catch and break another. Do the same as you did before to break a second horse and then follow Bonnie back to the ranch.

Horsebreaking is a three step process: lasso, mount and break.

After the cutscene, ride with Bonnie to meet with the ranch hands near where the second band of wild horses was spotted. You must guide this herd into the canyon to box them in. Do the same to guide these horses as you did to guide the cattle in the previous mission. Sweep behind the herd, pressing up on the D-pad to drive them forward when they're all together, and guide them to the yellow blip on the Mini Map.

The Kentucky Saddler, the fastest horse of the lot, manages to buck off the ranch hand and takes off. You must chase after the stallion and horsebreak him. This horse is fast, but keep after him and he will eventually tire, allowing you to lasso him. Chase after the horse until he begins to trot, then press LT/L2 to take aim and then RT/R2 to throw the Lasso. When the horse is caught, hold RB/R1 to slow him down,  then dismount and get on the lassoed horse to begin breaking him. Keep balance until Marston takes control.

Once you've tamed the stallion, ride him to Bonnie to trigger a cutscene and complete the mission. The Kentucky Saddler is yours now. This is the fastest horse in New Austin, so hold on to it.

Taming the Kentucky Saddler

A Tempest Looms

As a violent storm brews, you must help Bonnie and Amos herd the spooked cattle back to the ranch. Follow Bonnie to the first herd of cattle outside the ranch and start guiding them toward the old oak tree, which is marked on the Mini Map by a yellow blip. Press up on the D-pad to drive the group forward when they're all together.

There may be stragglers as you drive the herd forward. Any stragglers will appear as a dark blue, tear-shaped icon on the Mini Map. When a straggler appears, gallop toward it to turn the icon on the Mini Map light blue. The cow will then rejoin the herd, but don't stray too far from it, as it will become a straggler again if you do.

Gallop to the front of the herd to prevent the spooked cattle from running off the cliff.

Once you've merged the cattle with the second group by the old oak tree, a bolt of lightning will strike the tree and spook them. The herd is headed straight for a cliff and will plummet to their deaths if you don't stop them. You must get in front of the stampeding cattle to prevent them from running off the cliff. Gallop straight through the herd, tapping the A/X button to spur your horse while keeping an eye on the horse's stamina meter, and sweep in front of the herd to slow them. It's OK if a few of the cattle go over the cliff, but lose too many and you'll have to retry from the last checkpoint (which is, conveniently, right before the last cutscene).

When the cattle have calmed down, gather the stragglers to reform the herd and start guiding them back toward the ranch. Amos will help you here, so keep to the left side of the herd while he keeps to the right. Hang back a bit so you can spot any stragglers and catch them early.

Saving the cows

The Burning

Complete 'Spare the Rod, Spoil the Bandit' in Marshal Johnson's mission line to unlock this mission. Once you've done that, touch the marker at MacFarlane Ranch to get started.

Mount your horse and follow Bonnie to the ranch's outskirts to look for Mr. MacFarlane. Bonnie will eventually go off-road; continue following her to trigger a cutscene. After the cutscene, follow Bonnie back to the ranch. The barn is on fire! Spur your horse and make your way to the yellow blip on the Mini Map.

When you regain control over Marston after the cutscene, head to the yellow marker on the left side of the barn and press the X/Square button to jump and grab hold of the wooden awning. Press up on the Left Stick to climb onto the awning, then turn right and climb onto the higher awning there. From here, climb onto the windmill and walk around to the other end of the platform. Jump and grab hold of the wooden beam along the barn wall and inch your way to the left to reach the upper barn platform.

Find a way into the burning barn and rescue the horses trapped inside.

Walk along the platform to the back of the barn and enter through the doorway there. Climb down the first ladder and then either drop down from the lower platform or climb down the second later to reach ground floor. When you've made it to the ground floor, immediately sprint to the barn doors and press the Y/Triangle button to remove the  pitchfork that's preventing the doors from being opened.

Once you've opened the barn doors, you then must save the three frightened horses inside the barn. Approach one of the horses and press the Y/Triangle button to slap its rump, which will cause the horse to run out of the barn. Slap a second horse and then approach the final one. Some flaming rubble will fall from above and block the barn doors, trapping you inside. A horse can jump over this rubble. Mount the last horse in the barn, line yourself up with the rubble, then continuously spur the horse toward the rubble and the horse will jump over.

Outside, ride the horse to the corral and meet Bonnie by the pen to complete the mission.

Saving the horses inside the burning barn