After nearly 2,000 hours, Red Dead Redemption 2 fan discovers horses can walk backwards - and they're not the only one

While it can often take quite a few hours to get to grips with all the actions you can perform in a game, it's rare that after thousands of hours, you're still learning something new. But that's just the situation one Red Dead Redemption 2 fan found themselves in when, after spending nearly 2,000 hours playing the game, they realised that they could make their horse walk backwards.

Over on the Red Dead Redemption subreddit, user lumbaginator says "on my 5th playthrough with almost 1900 hours of play time, I just found I can back up my horse." They add "I'm not being ironic or making a joke, I deadass didn't know you could do this." The post is accompanied by a short video clip which shows the player atop their horse, and sure enough, it starts wandering backwards.

On my 5th playthrough with almost 1900 hours of play time, I just found I can back up my horse, I’m not being ironic or making a joke, I deadass didn’t know you could do this. from r/reddeadredemption

It turns out that lumbaginator wasn't the only one who was unaware of this subtle feature. "I'm halfway through my ninth and a f***ing reddit post is how I learn that you can back up horses..." replies one astonished Red Dead fan in the comments. Another confesses to only discovering the "reverse horse" manoeuvre in a gameplay video after they'd already brought Arthur Morgan's adventure to a close.

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As user NicotineLemmon helpfully points out, you can reverse your horse the "same way you back up a wagon or boat". Unfortunately, it turns out that many players weren't aware that you could put wagons into reverse either and have instead ditched the vehicle or cancelled the mission if they got stuck.

Sure, this knowledge might have come far too late for many players, but at least if Red Dead Redemption 3 happens, we'll all be able to ride our horses backwards and get our wagons out of a jam from the get-go.

Elsewhere, many Red Dead Redemption 2 fans have found themselves unable to play the game on PC following a recent Windows update.

Whether it's Wild West-style action or sprawling adventures you're after, you'll find it all in our guide to games like Red Dead Redemption 2.

Originally from Ireland, I moved to the UK in 2014 to pursue a Games Journalism and PR degree at Staffordshire University. Following that, I've freelanced for GamesMaster, Games TM, Official PlayStation Magazine and, more recently, Play and GamesRadar+. My love of gaming sprang from successfully defeating that first Goomba in Super Mario Bros on the NES. These days, PlayStation is my jam. When not gaming or writing, I can usually be found scouring the internet for anything Tomb Raider related to add to my out of control memorabilia collection.