Great Horse Quotes

If you’ve read many of my hubs, you know that I’m a lifelong horse lover. I haven’t ridden in several years, but I still love handling horses, looking at horses, reading about horses, and watching movies about horses. I even like the smell of horses.

With all this in mind, it’s not surprising that I enjoy horse quotes. I’ve rounded up numerous horse quotes to share with you, from various sources.

Horse quotes from famous people

Horses are beloved by humans across the globe, and famous people are no exception. The horse has figured prominently in our legends, myths, and folklore, and has also had a huge impact on man’s history. Even the most famous writer of all time, Shakespeare, gave us some memorable horse quotes. Below you’ll find them, along with some horse quotes by other famous people:

O, for a horse with wings! – William Shakespeare (Cymbeline)

A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse! – William Shakespeare (Richard III)

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 (Henry V)

He doth nothing but talk of his horse. – William Shakespeare (Merchant of Venice)

Take care to sell your horse before he dies. The art of life is passing losses on. – Robert Frost

Honor lies in the mane of a horse. – Herman Melville

There is a touch of divinity even in brutes, and a special halo about a horse, that should forever exempt him from indignities. – Herman Melville

I heard a neigh, Oh, such a brisk and melodious neigh it was. My very heart leaped with the sound. - Nathaniel Hawthorne

A good horse makes short miles. – George Elliot

A man on a horse is spiritually as well as physically bigger than a man on foot. – John Steinbeck

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

To many, the words love, hope, and dreams are synonymous with horses. - Oliver Wendell Holmes

If a man works like a horse for his money, there are a lot of girls anxious to take him down the bridal path. – Marty Allen

A pony is a childhood dream; a horse is an adult treasure. – Rebecca Carroll

Horse sense is a thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people. – W.C. Fields

God forbid that I should go to any heaven in which there are no horses. - Robert Browning

You must in all Airs follow the strength, spirit, and disposition of the horse, and do nothing against nature; for art is but to set nature in order, and nothing else. – William Cavendish

No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle. – Winston Churchill

There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man. – Winston Churchill

Four things greater than all things are – women and horses and power and war. – Rudyard Kipling

She knew that the horse, born to serve nobly, had waited in vain for someone noble to serve. – D.H. Lawrence

Some of my best leading men have been dogs and horses. – Elizabeth Taylor

To me, horses and freedom are synonymous. - Veryl Goodnight

One way to stop a runaway horse is to bet on him. – Jeffrey Bernard

I’d rather have a goddam horse. A horse is at least human, for God's sake. - J.D. Salinger

A horse never runs so fast as when he has other horses to catch up and outpace. – Ovid

Alimony is like buying hay for a dead horse. – Groucho Marx

All you need for happiness is a good gun, a good horse, and a good wife. – Daniel Boone

Horse quotes from the Bedouin

The Bedouin were Arab nomads who lived in the desert regions. They were instrumental in the development of the Arabian horse. The Bedouin tribes prized their Arab steeds and treated them like members of the family. In fact, the horses often shared a tent with their masters.

Because their horses were such an important part of their culture, the Bedouins had many horse quotes about their beloved equine. Most believed that the Arabian horse was especially blessed by Allah. Below are some of the best known horse quotes from the Bedouins, some from the Qu’ran:

The wind of heaven is that which blows between a horse’s ears.

When God wanted to create the horse, he said to the South Wind, "I want to make a creature of you. Condense." And the Wind condensed.

The horse is God's gift to mankind.

Of all creatures God made at the Creation, there is none more excellent, or so much to be respected, as a horse.

And Allah took a handful of southerly wind, blew His breath upon it, and created the horse.... Thou shall fly without wings, and conquer without any sword. Oh, horse.

So tender is the Arab of his horse, that he will seldom beat or spur him; and in consequence of this humane treatment, the animal considers itself as one of the family, and will allow the children to play round it, and to fondle it like a dog.

When God created the horse he said to the magnificent creature: I have made thee as no other. All the treasures of the earth lie between thy eyes. Thou shalt carry my friends upon thy back. Thy saddle shall be the seat of prayers to me.

Anonymous horse quotes

Okay, these horse quotes aren’t about anonymous horses – they were made by anonymous people:

There is just as much horse sense as ever, but the horses have most of it.

Horses lend us the wings we lack.

Give a horse what he needs and he will give you his heart in return.

To ride a horse is to ride the sky.

A woman needs two animals - the horse of her dreams and a jackass to pay for it.

A dog may be man's best friend, but the horse wrote history.

A horse is like a violin. First it must be tuned, and when tuned, it must be accurately played.

Horse sense, n.: Stable thinking.

In my opinion, a horse is the animal to have. Eleven-hundred pounds of raw muscle, power, grace, and sweat between your legs - it's something you just can't get from a pet hamster.

Speak your mind, but ride a fast horse.

Horses - if God made anything more beautiful, he kept it for himself.

A horse is poetry in motion.

I've spent most of my life riding horses. The rest I've just wasted.