Getting across Red Dead Redemption 2 can feel like hard work. The game features the largest map ever created by developer Rockstar Games and it will take players an estimated 16 minutes (in real-time) in order to get across it.

While players can take the train to get around, there are plenty of scenarios when a horse is the only available or appropriate form of transport. And, even if players have the very best horse in the game, it's still going to take players a long time and a lot of button-mashing to get to where they're going. Luckily for those whose thumbs are exhausted from pressing the A/X button so much, Red Dead Redemption 2 does allow players to automatically ride a horse.

In order to automatically ride a horse, players will first need to set a waypoint for their destination. Then, they have to set the horse's speed by tapping A or X to get the horse to trot, canter or gallop, depending on how fast that players want to get there. After that, all players have to do is to change Red Dead Redemption 2's default camera to the cinematic camera either by pressing the touchpad on the PS4 controller or pressing the View button on an Xbox One controller. The horse will then automatically gallop (or trot, or canter) along until they've reached the waypoint; players won't even have to touch the A/X button.

arthur morgan posing on horse

However, there are some important things to note. The first is that if players set their horse to full-on gallop automatically, they will still lose stamina as they move. The horse will still get tired and players may want to check in every so often just to see that the horse isn't exhausted. Moreover, players will still be affected by interactions from NPCs. This means that if Arthur is attacked by NPCs, he could be mortally wounded. Depending on how high the horse loyalty level is, the horse may act erratically because of the combat. As such, players shouldn't completely divert their attention from the game.

While there are a couple of caveats, the automatic horse riding trick is still a useful one to know. Players can automatically sprint without pressing buttons, too, by making use of the game's hidden settings. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a great game but no one wants to get a repetitive strain injury because of its button-mashing.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is available on PS4 and Xbox One.