Nothing wrong with being victim to a common misconception...They're usually universal.
NOW... this other guy in my tabletop game should be ashamed. He told me he pushed backwards on a horses' reins in order to drive it back. I then narrated that he grasped the "bridle" because... well, you can't really push on reins to move a horse. That's like pushing on the rope attached to the wagon to get it to move. You can't push on a rope! Ropes are for pulling!
We sat there arguing about this for a half an hour. At one point, he even went and built a miniature wagon out of a rubber eraser, five tacks and some string and then spent several minutes muttering and trying to figure out why it wouldn't work....