Tracking down the perfect horse in Red Dead Redemption 2 can be a somewhat arduous process. There are 19 different breeds found throughout the game, with their own distinct characteristics, and the potential for multiple types of coats, which makes for a huge amount of variation. For this reason, once players find a horse that they like, most tend to stick with it for as long as possible and will do everything in their power to keep that horse alive and kicking. Unfortunately, however, horse related accidents can happen in RDR2, and often do.
Whether as the result of a violent gunfight or a terrible hunting accident, most players will at some point experience the tragic loss of a horse during their time with Red Dead Redemption 2. Thankfully, it appears that the team at Rockstar also grew attached to their steeds while developing the game, and implemented a mechanism by which players can revive their fallen four-legged companions in situations such as these. As one Reddit user recently found out though, this can sometimes have some unusual and unforeseen side effects.
While playing the game earlier this week, a terrible accident led to u/Creative_Word1148's horse being set ablaze. The Redditor didn't really elaborate on how exactly this happened, but they did share an image of the shocking result. As is perhaps to be expected, the horse didn't react all too well to the searing hot flames and quickly began to resemble the equestrian equivalent of Freddy Krueger. As luck would have it though, Creative_Word just happened to have a Horse Revive tonic in their inventory and brought the horse back from the brink just in the nick of time. Things didn't quite go to plan though.
Although the horse was successfully revived, its body remained covered in terrible burns; giving it an appearance that is both unique and terrifying in equal measures. While the image may be a little hard to look at, the story does at least have a happy ending. Creative_Word later confirmed that the horse had eventually reverted back to its normal self and that there were no lasting effects. This isn't the only recent discovery involving horses in Red Dead Redemption 2, either.
A little earlier this month, another Redditor noticed that if players switch into first person mode while riding a horse, Arthur can sometimes be heard quietly singing to himself. While only a minor detail, it's things like this that highlight the many little touches that went into creating Red Dead Redemption 2; as too does the game's continued ability to surprise its players despite now being more than two years old.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.