For approximately 5,000 years the horse has been an ever-present ally of humans. We have used horses to help build our civilizations and have consistently depended on them for agriculture, transport, war, and other uses. The increased level of mechanization since the 1930’s has since reduced this dependency. However the bond between humans and horses remains strong. This unique bond and relationship has been captured in writing throughout the years by many different people which have since become well known horse quotes.
Writers, historians, politicians, musicians, and film stars are just some of the people who have spoke about the amazing nature of horses. The following list captures many of the best known horse quotes.
Horse Quotes by Famous Politicians
Former US president Ronald Regan
“No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle.”
Winston Churchill
“I’ve often said there is nothing better for the inside of the man, than the outside of the horse.”
Ronald Reagan
“When you are on a great horse, you have the best seat you will ever have.”
Winston Churchill
“I can make a General in five minutes, but a good horse is hard to replace”
Abraham Lincoln
“God forbid that I should go to any heaven in which there are no horses.”
R.B. Cunningham Graham
Horse Quotes by Writers, Poets, & Scholars
“Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people.”
W.C. Fields
“A man on a horse is spiritually, as well as physically, bigger then a man on foot.”
John Steinbeck
“A few fly bites cannot stop a spirited horse. “
Mark Twain
“No one can teach riding so well as a horse.”
C.S. Lewis
“I am still under the impression that there is nothing alive quite so beautiful as a horse.”
John Galsworthy
“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 pony is a childhood dream. A horse is an adulthood treasure.”
Rebecca Carroll
“What he loved in horses was what he loved in men, the blood and the heat of the blood that ran them. All his reverence and all his fondness and all the leanings of his life were for the ardenhearted and they would always be so and never be otherwise”
Cormac McCarthy
“There are many wonderful places in the world, but one of my favorite places is on the back of my horse.”
Rolf Kopfle
“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
“The horse. Here is nobility without conceit, friendship without envy, beauty without vanity. A willing servant, yet never a slave.”
Ronald Duncan
“In riding a horse, we borrow freedom.”
Helen Thompson
“No philosophers so thoroughly comprehend us as dogs and horses.”
Herman Melville
“There is something about jumping a horse over a fence, something that makes you feel good. Perhaps it’s the risk, the gamble. In any event it’s a thing I need.”
William Faulkner
“There is no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse.”
Robert Smith Surtees
“There is no better place to heal a broken heart than on the back of a horse.”
Missy Lyons
Quotes by Horse Breeders & Trainers
Federico Tesio
“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
“A horse gallops with his lungs, Perseveres with his heart, And wins with his character.”
Tesio
“…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
Quotes from Historians
“Wherever man has left his footprints in the long ascent from barbarism to civilization, we find the hoofprint of a horse beside it.”
John Trotwood Moore
“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
“The air of heaven is that which blows between a horse’s ears.”
Arabian Proverb
Horse Quotes from Celebrities
John Wayne
“Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.”
Anne has been riding since she was only 5 years old and she's been obsessed with horses ever since. An avid horsewoman now, she loves horses and this sport more than anything else, sharing stories and info that she hopes will be helpful and meaningful to anyone who's on their path to become a better horse owner, a better rider and why not, a better person. Learn more about Seriously Equestrian's Editorial Process.
