GTA 5GTA 6RDR2RDR1
Account
EN
EnglishENPortuguรชsPTEspaรฑolESTรผrkรงeTRPolskiPLะ ัƒััะบะธะนRUDeutschDEFranรงaisFRItalianoITุงู„ุนุฑุจูŠุฉAR
outlawdb

Red Dead Redemption

StoryMissionsStrangersCharactersGangs
The worldPlacesHorsesWeaponsAnimalsOutfits
ReferenceChallengesCheats100%Trophies
All missions
Obstacles in Our Path, Bonnie MacFarlane
Bonnie MacFarlane

Obstacles in Our Path

Bonnie MacFarlane

Mission giver
Bonnie MacFarlane
Location
New Austin
Starts at
MacFarlane's Ranch
Ends at
MacFarlane's Ranch
Unlocked by
Complete the previous mission
Unlocks
This is Armadillo, USA, Political Realities in Armadillo

Player notes

At MacFarlane's Ranch, Bonnie MacFarlane asks John Marston how he knows Bill Williamson. John refuses to discuss that part of his past, saying it could bring trouble. Bonnie teases him about being a city man with secrets, but John rejects the description. She proposes a race instead, and the two riders head out from the ranch to its starting point.

Bonnie and John line up on horseback. Bonnie counts them down, then sends them racing across New Austin. They ride through the marked course, following the smoke beacons over the rough ground and across the bridges around MacFarlane's Ranch. Their exchange changes with the progress of the race as each tries to keep pace with the other.

The race ends back at MacFarlane's Ranch. Bonnie tells John that he should speak with the sheriff in Armadillo, offering him a lead in his search for Bill Williamson. John remains at the ranch after the ride.

Objectives

2 steps

In the order the game gives them. The unnumbered steps only appear if you go off script.

  1. 1Mount up and meet Bonnie at the race starting point.
  2. 2Race Bonnie through the waypoints.

Gallery

06

Screenshots from Obstacles in Our Path, mirrored from Red Dead Wiki.

Obstacles in Our Path (1/6)
Obstacles in Our Path (2/6)
Obstacles in Our Path (3/6)
Obstacles in Our Path (4/6)
Obstacles in Our Path (5/6)
Obstacles in Our Path (6/6)

Trivia

  • โ—†Interestingly, apart from the three racing missions given to you during the story ("Obstacles in Our Path"; "Liars, Cheats and Other Proud Americans"; "The Sport of Kings, and Liars"), the opportunity to race never presents itself again in single player. However, racing is available in the Grand Prix multiplayer game mode as part of the Liars and Cheats DLC.
  • โ—†It is somewhat difficult to beat Bonnie considering Marston's horse's low stamina, but it can be done. No extra bonus is rewarded for beating her.
  • โ—†One way of beating her is pacing the use of spurs. This means the player's horse isn't over-worked and can run at a good speed for the duration of the race.
  • โ—†The conversation will change depending on how the race is going, this means that there are two different speech tracks.
  • โ—†Just before the second bridge, the player's horse may veer off to the side and off the cliff, killing both the horse and the player. This will only happen if the horse is running at top speed. Slower moving horses will not veer off. This may be deliberate however, as in reality horses wary of oncoming obstacles such as jumps would naturally bolt or veer off to one side to avoid them. This being deliberate is unlikely though, considering horses in-game do not veer or bolt to the side of 'jumpable' objects. In fact, the only time horses move of free-will while being ridden in the game is before a dangerous and sudden decline, whinying loudly and veering away.
  • โ—†There is a bug at the end of this level. Once the player finishes, he will be stuck by the lamppost. Only the start button has a function.
  • โ—†There is a noticeable error in Bonnie's dialogue while the player and her are lining up for the beginning of the race; Bonnie says 'On the count of three... 3, 2, 1. Go!'. In actuality, "on the count of three" means the participants are expected to count upwards from 1 and the event will start on 3.
  • โ—†Although beating Bonnie is somewhat hard considering the horse's low stamina, when playing the Game of the Year Edition, beating Bonnie is easier since the player was given the War Horse in the previous mission.
  • โ—†Immediately after the ending cutscene, John smokes a cigarette. This is the very first time that a Rockstar Games protagonist has ever smoked in-game.
  • โ—†There is a cheat in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City that gives the protagonist a cigarette, but he does not smoke through the game using regular means.
View on Red Dead Wiki โ†’

Mission data from Red Dead Wiki, CC BY-SA. Not affiliated with Rockstar Games.

Last verified September 14, 2026