So I'm a bit late to the party here, but I picked up Red Dead Redemption for the 360 as a Christmas present for myself.  So far, it's proving to be one hell of a time sink.  It is genuinely hard to pull away from the game once I get started, and I have a good feeling that this could be one of the few Rockstar Games outings that I'll attempt to finish to completion.

I mentioned it in another thread, but I'm totally in love with John Marston.  He's well spoken, tough, but has a heart of gold; you just don't want to do a single wrongdoing in this guy's boots.  The only taint on my record is that I decided to kill...... Jenny.  I felt pretty shitty for doing so, but I wanted the Dastardly Achievement.  There's no way to save her anyway, right?  I just hope that didn't tarnish my Honor rep any.

Traversing through the gorgeous Western vistas never gets old; it's a truly relishing moment should you be outdoors and the sun is either rising or setting.   I almost never use quick travel, opting to ride to all my destinations.

Effectively shooting down your adversaries with just a scant few shots is a refreshingly realistic change of pace from the bullet sponge enemies of Uncharted.

I sort of wish I did more of the MacFarlene missions sooner.  I set off doing a whole bunch of other things, including a good amount of bounty hunting, before even acquiring the lasso.  I could've raked in a lot more cash had I brought those suckers in alive.

I haven't played very much of the side diversions, like horse shoes or poker, but in an instance of art imitating life, I sat through the movie shorts at the cinema, and they were entertaining all.  Down with modern medicine!

Digging Elm's and Jackson's score.  Love the Main Theme, and The Shootist is an awesome variation.  I've often been told that the moment that José González's "Far Away" plays is an awe-inspiring one.

Nope, there is no way.  That said, I just let nature take care of it and did the achievement you mention later on with a nun (am I a bad person?  yeah, probably).  The game is incredible, though.  I agree with basically everything you say.  I pretty much played straight through until 100% and found myself still wanting more.  Would easily be my personal game of the year were it not for Mario Galaxy 2.

Aside from John Marston himself, my favorite character is Bonnie. In an ideal world, those two would be together. Great, great game.

Two horse-related questions:

Is there any purpose to hitching your horse?  Seems to me it'll come back to you anytime, anywhere - hitched or not - with a quick whistle. 

Will there ever be somebody who truly needs roadside help, or are they all bastards (and bitches, as I just found out today) who'll attempt to steal your ride?

I could never figure out any purpose to this other than the initial action of making your horse your trusted companion (better stamina and stuff).  I always still did it though because I felt bad not!

Sure.  There are lots of encounters with people who are getting robbed or just got robbed or who had a love one dragged off who needs rescuing.  Just be prepared to blast anybody in case they're trying to rob YOU. 

Yeah, it is generally easy to spot the folks you've exemplified as those who really need help.  But more specifically, I'm talking about those lone individuals who'll throw you off your horse before you can even react, and then ride off lickety-split.  In cases like that, I figured it might just be better to ride on without risking to stop for those schmucks.  (Though I did find out that you can just whistle, and your trusty steed will throw any would-be robbers right off.  Very handy.) 

I still own the first horse I earned during one of the earliest MacFarlane missions, and I don't wanna lose the fella.

Protect him well. I probably went through... five horses in the course of the game.

Only 5!?

I'm horse-hopping like crazy in this game.
As soon as I see one that has a color that is closer to my current whim, I WILL TAKE IT.

In going from the beginning to 100%, I only had four.  The two that you're required to get for the story and then two more to complete the achievement where you have to catch the three breeds.  I very easily got the achievement for keeping a single horse through 20 missions very, very early.  If my horse died in anything I always restarted...

And I TOTALLY never knew you could whistle for your horse back when it got stolen... I always just shot the rider off.

Same here

If they takes mah horse, they's askin' for it.