Players have begun reporting that lawmen in Red Dead Redemption 2 are stealing their horses in order to chase them down, and it looks like it's something Rockstar programmed on purpose. There are hundreds of little gameplay details and small touches hidden away inside Red Dead Redemption 2's massive open world, and players are still discovering new secrets like the truth behind Red Dead Redemption's giant bones.
Like every AAA gaming title, Red Dead Redemption 2 isn't without its flaws, and the large amount of complex mechanics at work have led to some pretty hilarious and irritating glitches and bugs in Red Dead Redemption 2 which have been periodically encountered since the game's release. There have been two-headed skeletons in Red Dead Online, headless NPCs seemingly going about their daily life uninhibited, and even a recent visual glitch which seemed to show John Marston's butt cheeks through his pants.
Now, players are encountering another new experience in Red Dead Redemption 2, but it seems like this one is something that Rockstar intended. According to a recent query on Reddit by user u/P0neh, a police officer stole their horse in order to pursue them after a crime. The player stated that although they've played through the game several times already, this is something which they've never encountered, as "a lawman got on my temporary horse (a morgan) before it started to follow me and used it to chase after me." Check out the full post below:
It's interesting that Rockstar would allow the temporary horse icon to turn red in this situation, definitely indicating to the player that the animal has been stolen by an enemy. In the comments for the thread another Reddit user who goes by the name u/Outimee replied that a similar thing had happened to them, "but it happened while i was messing around with the trailer, i spawned a bodyguard and he started to follow me on my horse, and it turned red too." Another user also commented in the thread, saying they have never heard of such a thing happening either.
While likely not a bug or a glitch, this is definitely something Red Dead Redemption 2 players should be on the lookout for, as committing crimes and then subsequently getting away from the police force with all of the accumulated goods and animals intact is kind of the title's entire core gameplay loop. While it makes sense for Red Dead Redemption 2's lawmen to go after a player's means of escape first, some (if not all) gamers wouldn't take too kindly to someone else sitting in their horse's saddle, and that will just make the situation escalate even faster.
Source: P0neh/Reddit