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Equine Fiction

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An index of fictional works which revolve around or focus on horses, be they tamed or untamed. For this to apply, the work must feature a horse, a mythical version of said animals (such as the Pegasus, Hippocamps, or Kelpies), or a member of another equine species (such as donkeys, zebras, and mules) as the main protagonist, threat or otherwise of key importance to the plot. If it merely has a horse in it, it doesn't apply. Expect a ton of tropes found under Equine and Equestrian Tropes. These forms of works may fall under Pony Tale (although not all of the time).

A sub-index of this is Unicorn Works, which can overlap if horses and unicorns get similar screen time (which they sometimes do).

Works:

Also see:
    open/close all folders 

    Multimedia Franchise 

    Anime & Manga 
  • Lady!! Season 2 focuses on Lynn becoming a Passionate Sports Girl regarding horse-riding, and having her own horse named Andrews. Together, Lynn and Andrews work to win the qualifier, defeat their rivals, and represent Great Britain in the Olympics.
    • In the manga, Lynn went back to Japan and also became an equestrian at her school sports club.
  • Pop Team Epic made some dedicated animated short about horse racing, being sponsored by Japan Racing Association (JRA).
  • Uma Musume: Great race horses are reincarnated as Little Bit Beastly horse girls. Adapted from the video game.

    Comic Books 
  • Lucky Luke: The eponymous cowboy's very intelligent horse, Jolly Jumper, often has a big role to play. He's particularly central to the plot in Un Amour de Jolly Jumper.
  • Black Fury: About the sometimes fantastical adventures of a wild mustang.
  • The Lone Ranger: His horse Silver had his own comic book (The Lone Ranger's Famous Horse Hi-Yo Silver) published by Dell Comics, which ran for 35 issues from 1952 to 1960.
  • Mr Ed: Adaptation of the TV series Mr. Ed.

    Creators 
  • The vast majority of Dick Francis's books have horse racing or a related field as central plot element and horses are sometimes central to the action.

    Film — Animation 

    Film — Live-Action 
  • Albion The Enchanted Stallion
  • Au Hasard Balthazar follows the life of the titular Balthazar, who's a donkey.
  • Dream Horse: A syndicate of villagers raise a foal called Dream Alliance and make him a working class champion on the race track.
  • EO: EO is a donkey, and the film is a tragedy in which EO and other animals suffer cruelty at the hands of humans.
  • Flicka: About a girl who longs to one day run the horse ranch she lives in befriending a wild mustang called Flicka. Loosely based on the original book by O'Hara, it also updates the story to the 21st century, and casts a female as the friend of Flicka.
  • Francis the Talking Mule: Revolves around the misadventures of a talking mule.
  • Hidalgo is the story of a cowboy who joins a endurance horserace in a desert. The title refers to the name of the horse.
  • The Horse Whisperer: A trainer with a remarkable gift for understanding horses is hired to help an injured teenage girl and her horse back to health following a tragic accident.
  • Jappeloup: Candian-French 2013 film about the show jumper Jappeloup de Luze and rider Pierre Durrand, Jr., who won the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea. Biopic.
  • Last of the Wild Horses
  • Lean on Pete: An orphaned boy and an old racehorse go on a cross-country trip to find the boy's aunt.
  • The Mustang
  • Miracle Of The White Stallions: A 1963 Disney film about George Patton arranging to rescue the Lipizzaners from Vienna during World War II. Later also aired on televison as part of Walt Disneys Wonderful World Of Color.
  • My Friend Flicka
    • Thunderhead Son Of Flicka
    • Green Grass Of Wyoming
  • National Velvet: The flim adaptation of National Velvet. Got a sequel (International Velvet) which updated the events to the 70s, also featuring the original Velvet's niece, and a horse descended from the original winner.
  • Racing Stripes: About a zebra who grows up believing he's a horse and therefore wants to race.
  • Seabiscuit: A Biopic about the race horse of the same name.
  • Secretariat: A Biopic about the horse who bought home the first Triple Crown trophy in twenty-five years in 1973.
  • Thoroughbreds: One of the characters owned a horse in the past, which she had to euthanise and which shows off her moral code. There is also a recurring Horse Motif in the film.
  • Tonka: A Sioux boy's horse becomes a mount for the U.S. cavalry, and is sent with Custer's forces to the Little Big Horn.(1958) Note: Later aired on television as Commanche.
  • A View to a Kill: A significant portion of the first act has James Bond investigating the stables and horse race fields of shady billionaire Max Zorin in Chantilly, France. He finds out about a drug that dopes Zorin's horses that is activated with a microchip.
  • Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken: Biopic about Sonora Webster, a diving horse rider.

    Folklore 
  • Dapplegrim
  • The Little Humpbacked Horse

    Literature 
  • Black Beauty: A view at the treatment of horses in Victorian Era England, from the eyes of a black horse living during the time.
  • The Black Stallion
  • Bonnie Prince Fetlar: The Story of a Pony And His Friends by Margaret Marshall-Saunders.
  • Brighty Of The Grand Canyon by Margareite Henry. About a burro living in Arizona.
  • The Chronicles of Narnia: Talking horses (as well as related mythological creatures like unicorns and pegasi) are among the inhabitants of Narnia, though only a few books feature them as major characters:
    • The Horse and His Boy: A horse and a peasant boy flee from their lives of servitude in Calormen, with the goal of reaching Narnia and freedom.
    • The Last Battle: A unicorn is one of the main heroes, while a donkey becomes an unwitting accomplice of the villains.
  • Comanche Story Of Americas Most Heroic Horse by David Appel. Based on the fact that the only cavalry survivor at the Little Big Horn was a horse.
  • The Dancing White Horses Of Vienna by Alois Podhajsky was the book basis for the film Miracle Of The White Stallions.
  • Gulliver's Travels: The fourth part describes the land of the Houhnnhnnyms, talking horses who enslave deformed humans known as Yahoos. The book ends with Gulliver at home in England treating his horses with great care and honor.
  • I Am The Great Horse - Historical fiction book written from the perspective of a warhorse
  • Jill: One of the earliest examples of the Pony Tale Genre, it concerns a girl named Jill befriending and taming horses.
  • Julius Zebra: A zebra is separated from his mother and must become a gladiator.
  • Justin Morgan Had A Horse by Margareite Henry. About the founding of the Morgan horse breed in early America.
  • King of the Wind: About the (mis)adventures of a young slave named Agba and the Arabian horse he is bound to serve.
  • Latawnya, the Naughty Horse, Learns to Say "No" to Drugs
  • The Messenger Series by Monica Dickens is a series of novels about a girl who is chosen by a magical horse to fight evil by travelling through time to investigate and resolve their origins.
  • Misty Of Chincoteague by Margareite Henry is a juvenile novel about the annual round-up of wild ponies living on the Atlantic island of Chincoteague. Based on a real-life pony and her human family, Misty became a familiar visitor to urban libraries and schools on the mainland.
  • Mr. Revere and I: Being An Account Of Certain Episodes In The Career Of Paul Revere Esq, As Told By His Horse by Robert Lawson. A historical fantasy of Paul Revere's ride, as recalled by the English mare who became part of the American Revolution.
  • My Friend Flicka: 1941 novel by Mary O'Hara about a Wyoming rancher's 10 year-old son Ken and the sorrel filly he loves. But she is half mustang and has a wild streak, so he must work hard to tame her. First in a trilogy.
    • Thunderhead Second, 1943. Flicka gives birth to a white colt sired by a neighbor's Thoroughbred stallion. Ken trains Thunderhead as a racehorse, but he is injured in his first race and cannot continue racing. Later, the ranch is threatened by Albion, the mustang stallion who sired Flicka.
    • Green Grass Of Wyoming Third, 1946. Thunderhead has been roaming free, having taken his grandsire's place as herd stallion. He is the subject of a search by ranchers when a grown Ken returns with a new mare, Crown Jewel.
  • National Velvet: About a girl named Velvet gaining a horse and disguising herself as a boy to compete in races.
  • Piilomaan pikku aasi: The main character and his family are donkeys.
  • Ponies Plot
  • The Red Pony
  • The Saddle Club
  • The Silver Brumby: The story of a wild horse in the Australian outback.
  • Smokey The Cowhorse 1926 novel by Will James about a cowpony who goes from owner to owner. Winner of the 1927 Newbery Award for children's fiction.
  • Sylvester and the Magic Pebble: A donkey encounters a pebble which can grant any wish for him.
  • Thoroughbred: A girl named Ashley befriends a sickly runt foal named Wonder after having to sell off her previous horse.
  • War Horse
  • White Stallion Of Lipizza by Margareite Henry is a juvenile novel about a boy named Hans who longs to become a rider of Lipizzaners at the famed Spanish Riding School in Vienna. Fate allows him his chance to attend, and learn from his stallion, Borina.
  • Woodbury Pony Club

    Live-Action TV 
  • Donkey Hodie: A spin off of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood about a young donkey who lives Someplace Else.
  • Free Rein: A girl named Zoe is convinced to tackle her problems when she befriends a mysterious horse named Raven.
  • Fury: The Brave Stallion: About a boy, his uncle and a black horse named Fury who live on a ranch in the western United States. Kids' drama series from the Sixties.
  • The Gene Autry Show: Starred a singing cowboy and his horse, named Champion. Champion later got his own spin-off aimed at children, called The Adventures of Champion.
  • Heartland: Takes place at a ranch which helps horses recover from their injuries.
  • Mister Ed: About a man and his talking horse (who only spoke to said man).
  • The Moon Stallion: Features the experiences of a young blind girl in Victorian Britain as she comes across a mystical white horse.
  • My Friend Flicka (1956-57, with reruns into the '60s and again in the '80s.)
  • Wildfire: About a troubled teen who befriends a horse named Wildfire.

    Tabletop Game 

    Video Game 

    Web Original 

    Western Animation 

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