Horses

Where is the horse gone? Where the rider?
Where the giver of treasure? ~ Anonymous

Horses (Equus caballus, occasionally Equus ferus caballus) are large ungulates. Horses have had a long relationship with humans. There is evidence to suggest that horses have been domesticated since 4000 BC. The horse is prominent in religion, mythology, and art; it has played an important role in transportation, agriculture, and war.

Quotes

Allah took a handful of southerly wind, blew His breath over it, and created the horse. Thou shall fly without wings, and conquer without any sword, O, Horse! ~ Bedouin legend

When I
and stallion
blend
the grass gets cropped. ~ John Carder Bush

Before the gods that made the gods
Had seen their sunrise pass,
The White Horse of the White Horse Vale
Was cut out of the grass. ~ G. K. Chesterton in The Ballad of the White Horse

He could not be captured,
He could not be bought,
His running was rhythm,
His standing was thought...

And only the poet
With wings to his brain
Can mount him and ride him
Without any rein,
The stallion of heaven,
The steed of the skies,
The horse of the singer
Who sings as he flies. ~ Eleanor Farjeon

My horse is the gallows. ~ Mr. Wednesday to Shadow in American Gods by Neil Gaiman

You know, everyone thinks we got this broken down horse and fixed him, but we didn't. He fixed us. Every one of us. And I guess in a way, we fixed each other, too. ~ Seabiscuit

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. ~ Dauphin from Henry V by William Shakespeare

Where is the horse gone? Where the rider?
Where the giver of treasure?
Where are the seats at the feast?
Where are the revels in the hall?
Alas for the bright cup!
Alas for the mailed warrior!
Alas for the splendour of the prince!
How that time has passed away,
dark under the cover of night,
as if it had never been!
- Anonymous author of The Wanderer

Allah took a handful of southerly wind, blew His breath over it, and created the horse. Thou shall fly without wings, and conquer without any sword, O, Horse!
- Anonymous Bedouin legend, as quoted in Mr. Darcy Takes the Plunge (2010) by J. Marie Croft

When I
and stallion
blend
the grass gets cropped.
- John Carder Bush, in "Control: A translation" (1974)

The Cossack prince rubb'd down his horse,
And made for him a leafy bed,
And smooth'd his fetlocks and his mane,
And slack'd his girth, and stripp'd his rein,
And joy'd to see how well he fed;
For until now he had the dread
His wearied courser might refuse
To browse beneath the midnight dews:
But he was hardy as his lord,
And little cared for bed and board;
But spirited and docile too,
Whate'er was to be done, would do.
- Lord Byron, Mazeppa, stanza III

Ohé, I cry a loud lament for Kalki! The little silver effigies which his postulants fashion and adore are well enough: but Kalki is a horse of another color.
- James Branch Cabell, in The Silver Stallion : A Comedy of Redemption (1926), the character Horvendille, in Book Six : In the Sylan's House, Ch. XXXIX : One Warden Left Uncircumvented

Before the gods that made the gods
Had seen their sunrise pass,
The White Horse of the White Horse Vale
Was cut out of the grass.
- G. K. Chesterton in The Ballad of the White Horse (1911)

Age beyond age on British land,
Aeons on aeons gone,
Was peace and war in western hills,
And the White Horse looked on.
- G. K. Chesterton in The Ballad of the White Horse (1911)

For the White Horse knew England
When there was none to know;
He saw the first oar break or bend,
He saw heaven fall and the world end,
O God, how long ago.
For the end of the world was long ago,
And all we dwell to-day
As children of some second birth,
Like a strange people left on earth
After a judgment day.
- G. K. Chesterton in The Ballad of the White Horse (1911)

Koń jaki jest, każdy widzi.
- Horse is as everyone can see.
- Benedykt Chmielowski, definition of a horse from the first encyclopedia written in Polish Nowe Ateny (1745)

He could not be captured,
He could not be bought,
His running was rhythm,
His standing was thought;
With one eye on sorrow
And one eye on mirth,
He galloped in heaven
And gambolled on earth.
And only the poet
With wings to his brain
Can mount him and ride him
Without any rein,
The stallion of heaven,
The steed of the skies,
The horse of the singer
Who sings as he flies.
- Eleanor Farjeon, in "Pegasus", St. 3 & 4, from The New Book of Days (1961), p. 181

I told you I would tell you my names. This is what they call me. I'm called Glad-of-War, Grim, Raider, and Third. I am One-Eyed. I am called Highest, and True-Guesser. I am Grimnir, and I am the Hooded One. I am All-Father, and I am Gondlir Wand-Bearer. I have as many names as there are winds, as many titles as there are ways to die. My ravens are Huginn and Muninn, Thought and Memory; my wolves are Freki and Geri; my horse is the gallows.
- Neil Gaiman, in American Gods (2001), Mr. Wednesday to Shadow.

God forbid that I should go to any Heaven in which there are no horses.
- Robert Cunninghame-Graham, in a 1917 letter to Theodore Roosevelt

Where now the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?
- Song sung by Aragorn in The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien

There is no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse.
- Robert Smith Surtees in Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour, chapter 31

Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper? the glory of his nostrils is terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he back from the sword. The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear and the shield. He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage: neither believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet. He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha; and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
- Book of Job (39:19 - 25) (KJV)

A canter is the cure for every evil.
- Benjamin Disraeli, The Young Duke

A horse is dangerous at both ends and uncomfortable in the middle.
- Ian Fleming, The Sunday Times (1966)

As much as I like horses – they can keep their cheese.
- Martin Clunes (b. 1961), British comic actor. In an appearance on the Paul O'Grady Show, Channel 4 television, 7th Oct. 2009

Equo ne credite, Teucri
Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentis
- Do not trust the horse, Trojans. Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks even when they bring gifts.
- Virgil, The Aeneid

You know, everyone thinks we got this broken down horse and fixed him, but we didn't. He fixed us. Every one of us. And I guess in a way, we fixed each other, too.
- Red Pollard, as portrayed in Seabiscuit (2003) by Gary Ross.

What a long night is this! I will not change my horse with any that treads but on four pasterns. Ca, ha! He bounds from the earth, as if his entrails were hairs; le cheval volant, the Pegasus, qui a les narines de feu! 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, in Henry V, Act III, Scene VII, the Dauphin speaking

He is pure air and fire; and the dull elements of earth and water never appear in him, but only in patient stillness while his rider mounts him. He is indeed a horse, and all other jades you may call beasts.
- William Shakespeare, in Henry V, Act III, Scene VII, the Dauphin speaking

He's mad that trusts in the tameness of a wolf, a horse's health, a boy's love, or a whore's oath.
- William Shakespeare, King Lear, Act III, scene vi

And Duncan's horses,—a thing most strange and certain,—
Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race,
Turn'd wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out,
Contending 'gainst obedience, as they would make
War with mankind.
- William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act II, scene iv

He doth nothing but talk of his horse.
- William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act I, scene ii

Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations

Quotes reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 378-79.

Then I cast loose my buff coat, each halter let fall,
Shook off both my jack-boots, let go belt and all,
Stood up in the stirrup, leaned, patted his ear,
Called my Roland his pet name, my horse without peer;
Clapped my hands, laughed and sang, any noise bad or good,
'Til at length into Aix Roland galloped and stood.
- Robert Browning, How They Brought the News from Ghent

Gamaun is a dainty steed,
Strong, black, and of a noble breed,
Full of fire, and full of bone,
With all his line of fathers known;
Fine his nose, his nostrils thin,
But blown abroad by the pride within;
His mane is like a river flowing,
And his eyes like embers glowing
In the darkness of the night,
And his pace as swift as light.
- Barry Cornwall, The Blood Horse

Morgan!—She ain't nothing else, and I've got the papers to prove it.
Sired by Chippewa Chief, and twelve hundred dollars won't buy her.
Briggs of Turlumne owned her. Did you know Briggs of Turlumne?—
Busted hisself in White Pine and blew out his brains down in Frisco?
- Bret Harte, Chiquita

Like the driving of Jehu, the son of Nimshi: for he driveth furiously.
- II Kings, IX. 20

Villain, a horse—Villain, I say, give me a horse to fly,
To swim the river, villain, and to fly.
- George Peele, Battle of Alcazar, Act V, line 104. (1588–9)

Steed threatens steed, in high and boastful neighs,
Piercing the night's dull ear.
- William Shakespeare, Henry V (c. 1599), Chorus to Act IV, line 10

An two men ride of a horse, one must ride behind.
- William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing (1598-99), III. 5

For young hot colts being rag'd, do rage the more.
- William Shakespeare, Richard II (c. 1595), Act II, scene 1, line 70

Give me another horse: bind up my wounds.
- William Shakespeare, Richard III (c. 1591), Act V, scene 3, line 177

A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
- William Shakespeare, Richard III (c. 1591), Act V, scene 4, line 7. Taken from an old play, The True Tragedy of Richard the Third (1594). In Shakespeare Society Reprint, p. 64

Round-hoof'd, short-jointed, fetlocks shag and long,
Broad breast, full eye, small head and nostril wide,
High crest, short ears, straight legs and passing strong,
Thin mane, thick tail, broad buttock, tender hide:
Look, what a horse should have he did not lack,
Save a proud rider on so proud a back.
- William Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis (1593), line 295

I saw them go; one horse was blind,
The tails of both hung down behind,
Their shoes were on their feet.
- Horace and James Smith, Rejected Addresses, The Baby's Debut (parody of Wordsworth)

Quadrupedumque putrem cursu quatit ungula campum.
- And the hoof of the horses shakes the crumbling field as they run.
- Virgil, Æneid (29-19 BC), XI. 875. Cited as an example of onomatopœia.

Ardua cervix,
Argumtumque caput, brevis alvos, obesaque terga,
Luxuriatque toris animosum pectus.
- His neck is high and erect, his head replete with intelligence, his belly short, his back full, and his proud chest swells with hard muscle.
- Virgil, Georgics (c. 29 BC), III. 79

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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

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

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

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

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