We all love horses — how could you not? These majestic, powerful, and loving creatures are so much fun to ride around nature on or just admire from afar. For thousands of years, humans have had a connection to horses both as transportation and, more recently, as long-time companions.
It makes sense, then, that some of these horse owners would translate their love for horses into a beautiful quote that thousands have read. Below are 101 of our favorite horse quotes, containing a healthy mixture of silly, serious, and sweet quotes from prominent figures or anonymous writers.
Use these quotes for captions for Instagram pictures with your horse, share them to your fellow equestrians, or just have fun reading through these 101 horse quotes!
101 Of The Best Horse Quotes
- “A pony is a childhood dream; a horse is an adult treasure.” – Rebecca Carroll
- “Horses lend us the wings we lack.” – Unknown
- “We will never have to tell our horse that we are sad, happy, confident, angry, or relaxed. He already knows – long before we do.” – Marjike de Jong
- “If you want a stable friendship, get a horse.” – Unknown
- “No matter how big or small you are, your horse is always there for you when you need your spirit lifted.” – Unknown
- “There are some things better left unsaid… but you can bet a cowgirl will say them anyway!” – Unknown
- “In riding a horse, we borrow freedom.” – Helen Thomson
- “Life is like a dressage test. If you’re too busy thinking about your last move, the next one won’t be any good either.” – Unknown
- “The hardest thing about riding… is the ground.” – Unknown
- “A horse is the projection of peoples’ dreams about themselves – strong, powerful, beautiful – and it has the capability of giving us escape from our mundane existence.” – Pam Brown
- “Horses are like shoes – you need one in every color.” – Unknown
- “What does riding horses give us? An escape from the world. Exercise in fresh air. Adrenaline rushes. Healing through the bond.” – Unknown
- “In the end, we don’t know what horses can do. We only know that when, over the past thousands of years, we have asked something more of them, at least some of them have readily supplied it.” – Jane Smiley
- “…for there is no other feeling in the world to compare with it if one loves a great horse. It gives a thrill that nothing else ever can. It cannot be put into words, because words cannot express it.” – Samuel Riddle
- “There are many wonderful places in the world, but one of my favorite places is on the back of my horse.” – Rolf Kopfle
- “We who choose to surround ourselves with lives more temporary than our own live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. Unable to accept its awful aps, we still would live no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan. The life of a horse, often half our own, seems endless until one day. That day has come and gone for me, and I am once again within a somewhat smaller circle.” – Irving Townsend
- “The essential joy of being with horses is that it brings us in contact with the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit, and freedom.”– Sharon Ralls Lemon
- “The horse you get off is not the same as the horse you got on. It is your job as a rider to ensure that as often as possible, the change is for the better.” – Unknown
- “A man on a horse is spiritually as well as physically bigger than a man on foot.” – John Steinbeck
- “One can get in a car and see what man has made. One must get on a horse to see what God has made.” – Unknown
- “In the steady gaze of the horse shines a silent eloquence that speaks of love and loyalty, strength and courage. It is the window that reveals to us how willing is his spirit, how generous his heart.” – Unknown
- “It is the horse’s gift to connect us with Heaven and our own footsteps.” Ronni Sweet
- “No philosophers so thoroughly comprehend us as dogs and horses.” – Herman Melville
- “A horse can lend its rider the speed and strength he or she lacks – but the rider who is wise remembers it is no more than a loan.” – Pam Brown
- “A great horse will change your life. The truly special ones define it.” – Unknown
- “The history of mankind is carried on the back of a horse.” – Unknown
- “Stay away from a horse long enough and you’ll start tapping your fingers to the beat of a trot.” – Unknown
- “Then they worry, because no matter how brilliantly they perform their jobs, success comes down to the horses, and Thoroughbreds are anarchists at heart.” – Nan Mooney
- “We have almost forgotten how strange a thing it is that so huge and powerful and intelligent an animal as a horse should allow another, and far more feeble animal, to ride upon its back.”– Peter Gray
- “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” – Sir Winston Churchill
- “God forbid that I should go to any Heaven in which there are no horses.” – R.B. Cunninghame Graham
- “I am still under the impression that there is nothing alive quite so beautiful as a horse.” – John Galsworthy
- “One who believes that he has mastered the art of horsemanship has not yet begun to understand the horse.” – Unknown
- “When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk: he trots the air; the earth sings when he touches it; the basest horn of his hoof is more musical than the pipe of Hermes.” – William Shakespeare
- “A horse gallops with his lungs, perseveres with his heart, and wins with his character.” – Tesio
- “Before I loved horses, I had nothing to live for. Now I love horses and can’t stop seeing things to live for.” – Unknown
- “A man on a horse is spiritually, as well as physically, bigger than a man on foot.” – John Steinbeck
- “A canter is a cure for every evil.” – Benjamin Disraeli
- “For one to fly, one needs only to take the reins.” – Melissa James
- “Whoever said a horse was dumb, was dumb.” – Will Rogers
- “No Heaven can Heaven be, if my horse isn’t there to welcome me.” – Unknown
- “Let a horse whisper in your eat and breathe on your heart. You will never regret it.” – Unknown
- “A horse doesn’t care how much you know until he knows how much you care. Put your hand on your horse and your heart in your hand.” – Pat Parelli
- “Many people have sighed for the ‘good old days’ and regretted the ‘passing of the horse’. But today, when only those who like horses own them, it is a far better time for horses.” – C.W. Anderson
- “Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.” – John Wayne
- ”A dog looks up to a man. A cat looks own on a man. But a patient horse looks a man in the eye and sees him as an equal.” – Unknown
- “No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle.” – Winston Churchill
- “When the Almighty put hoofs on the wind and a bridle on the lightning, He called it a horse.” – Unknown
- “Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people.” – W.C. Fields
- “The world is best viewed through the ears of a horse.” – Unknown
- “He knows when you’re happy. He knows when you’re comfortable. He knows when you’re confident. And he always knows when you have carrots.” – Unknown
- “A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!” – William Shakespeare
- “One must think when looking at a horse in motion, that he hears music inside his head.” – Unknown
- “Where in this wide world can man find nobility without pride, friendship without envy, or beauty without vanity? Here where grace is laced with muscle and strength by gentleness confined.” – Ronald Duncan
- “You took me to adventure and to love. We two have shared great joy and great sorrow. And now I stand at the gate of the paddock watching you run in an ecstacy of freedom, knowing you will return to stand quietly, loyally, beside me.” – Pam Brown
- “I can make a General in five minutes, but a good horse is hard to replace.” – Abraham Lincoln
- “And indeed, a horse who bears himself proudly is a thing of such beauty and astonishment that he attracts the eyes of all beholders. No one will tire of looking at him as long as he will display himself in his splendor.” – Xenophon
- “A horse is worth more than riches.” – Spanish proverb
- “There is no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse.” – R.S. Surtees
- “The wagon rests in winter, the sleigh in summer, the horse never.” – Yiddish proverb
- ”Through the days of love and celebration and joy, and through the dark days of mourning – the faithful horse has been with us always.” - Elizabeth Cotton
- “My horses are my friends, not my slaves.” – Reiner Klimke
- “I heard a neigh. Oh, such a brisk and melodious neigh it was. My very heart leapt with the sound.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
- “The horse, with beauty unsurpassed, strength immeasurable and grace unlike any other, still remains humble enough to carry a man upon his back.” – Amber Senti
- “If your horse says “no”, you either asked the wrong question, or asked the question wrong.” – Pat Parelli
- “Success is like a wild horse. If you do not know how to handle it, it will throw you off and look for another rider who can handle it well.” – Ajith Kumar
- “At its finest, rider and horse are joined not by tack, but by trust. Each is totally reliant upon the other. Each is the selfless guardian of the other’s very well-being.” – Unknown
- “I call horses ‘divine mirrors’ – they reflect back the emotions you put in. If you put in love and respect and kindness and curiosity, the horse will return that.” – Allan Hamilton
- “When a horse greets you with a nicker and regards you with a large and liquid eye, the question of where you want to be has been answered.” – Unknown
- “One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from a horse master. He told me to go slow to go fast. I think that applies to everything in life. We live as though there aren’t enough hours in the day but if we do each thing calmly and carefully we will get it done quicker and with much less stress.” – Viggo Mortensen
- “Your horse’s behavior always seems to depend on the number of people watching you.” – Unknown
- “You try to do the best with what you’ve got and ignore everything else. That’s why horses get blinders in hose racing: You look at the horse next to you, and you lose a step.” – Jimmy Lovine
- “We kept him until he died… and sat with him during the long last minutes when a horse comes closest to seeming human.” – C.J. Mullen
- “Will is to grace as the horse is to the rider.” – Saint Augustine
- “All music is folk music. I ain’t never heard a horse sing a song.” – Louis Armstrong
- ”When you are on a great horse, you have the best seat you will ever have.” – Sir Winston Churchill
- “A horse is a thing of beauty… none will tire of looking at him as long as he displays himself in his splendor.” – Xenophon
- “Bread may feed my body, but my horse feeds my soul.” – Unknown
- “The only sport I’m not interested in is horse racing. That’s because I don’t know the horses personally.” – Nat King Cole
- “A dog may be man’s best friend… but the horse wrote history.” – Unknown
- “Being on a horse is one of my most natural places to be.” – Sinbad
- “He has galloped through young girl’s dreams, added richness to grown women’s lives, and served men in war and strife.” – Toni Robinson
- “It’s hard to lead a cavalry charge if you think you look funny on a horse.” – Adlai Stevenson I
- “The love for a horse is just as complicated as the love for another human being… if you never love a horse, you will never understand.” – Unknown
- “If you are fearful, a horse will back off. If you are calm and confident, it will come forward. For those who are often flattered or feared, the horse can be a welcome mirror of the best in human nature.” – Claire Balding
- “A good rider can hear his horse speak to him. A great rider can hear his horse whisper.” – Unknown
- “If a horse has four legs, and I’m riding it, I think I can win.” – Charles Caleb Colton
- “You and your horse. His strength and beauty. Your knowledge and patience and determination and understanding and love. That’s what fuses the two of you onto this marvelous partnership that makes you wonder… ‘ What can heaven offer any better than what I have here on earth?’.” – Monica Dickens
- “When a horse offers their face to you, they’re interested in what you are, what you’re doing. They’re paying attention.” – Brady Jandreau
- “Horse thou art truly a creature, for thou fliest without wings and conquorest without a sword.” – Unknown
- ”I frequently dream of being on these horses’ backs and running across a field. And the horse and I are one.” – William Shatner
- “To understand the soul of a horse is the closest human beings can come to knowing perfection.” – Unknown
- ”A stubborn horse walks behind you, an impatient horse walks in front of you, but a noble companion walks beside you.” – Unknown
- “Wherever man has left his footprints in the long ascent from barbarism to civilization, we find the hoofprints of a horse beside it.” – John Trotwood Moore
- “You took care of your horse, and your horse took care of you.” – Elton Gallegly
- “Horses change lives. They give our young people confidence and self-esteem. They provide peace and tranquility to troubled souls. They give us hope!” – Toni Robinson
- “A horse never runs so fast as when he has other horses to catch up and outpace.” – Ovid
- “A large and liquid eye… the swirl of dust around pounding hooves… these, then, are the images that move us.” – Unknown
- “A fly, Sir, may sting a stately horse and make him wince; but, one is but an insect, and the other is a horse still.” – Samuel Johnson
- “Looking for love is tricky business, like whipping a carousel horse.” – George Cukor
- “To many, the words love, hope and dreams are synonymous with horses.” – Unknown
Did you connect to any of these quotes? Which one of these quotes was your favorite? Do you have any fun horse stories that you want to share? Leave a comment below for us and other horse lovers to read!