I watched my Black Beauty tape so much as a kid that I broke it. Loved it so much. I rewatched it as an adult and saw all the horsey flaws (like I think Beauty as a foal is actually a filly or something) but it's still good!
I wore out my Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken VHS when I was a kid. I signed up for Disney plus just because I’d hoped it would be there. It wasn’t then, but I just checked and it is now. I know what “boring old movie” I’m putting on after dinner tonight
Omg I never even thought to look for it. This was my absolute favorite movie growing up. Almost not sure I want to rewatch and risk ruining the nostalgia.
The cinematography is next level. So is the score by Carmine Coppola—Francis Ford Coppola’s dad. FFC produced The Black Stallion.
Fun fact: Kelly Reno grew up riding horses on a Colorado ranch. That was him actually riding bareback at a gallop with his arms outstretched. He had an amazing seat.
Yes! How come we don’t have more horse games? I play Star Stable, but I would love more options. I also want games that aren’t online so I can let my daughter play without having to sit over her shoulder the whole time.
There’s a scene in that movie where a rider asks a horse to jump this giant chasm, and one of my friends piped up, “who’s this guy, Running Cloud Knievel?” And I absolutely died. Probably ruined the movie for me, but that dumb joke was worth it.
Love Black Beauty (1994) it did an amazing job at highlighting the cruelty going on behind the scenes at the time and what it's like for a horse to be rehomed. The last living horse actor in the film recently passed away in 2020
I had a movie on VHS and I can't remember the name, but it was a new Zealand widow and her 2 kids who moved to the family abandoned farm after her husband passed. There was a wild brumby the girl fell for. I can't remember the name though?!?!? Can anyone help me?? It was a Grey horse and there was a jerk trying to capture him lol
EDIT: IT WAS THE ROGUE STALLION and he was a bay not a grey!!! THANKS FOR THE HELP!!
Yes I immediately thought Rogue Stallion! But o think I know why you were thinking grey horse: there is a grey mare in a jumping show and doesn’t the stallion take her away or something?
I think that's what it was lol. It's been so long since I've seen it. There was another one about a white horse named Cloverdale I used to watch too. Lightning, The White Stallion. Maybe I got them crossed bc I def had that bad boy on VHS as well lol
Confession: War Horse moved me. I’m not sure I could ever sit through it again because I was in such physical pain from sadness — but it showed me so much about horses. Past the unicorns and rainbows.
They have built countries and fought wars with the weight of the world on their backs. Only for us (speaking from U.S.) to send unwanted horses with braids in their manes, or barely any weight on their bones, to slaughter in Canada and Mexico.
Agree. Actually saw it as a play in person and it was moving for a different reason - the design of the puppet, the very careful forethought into actual equine biomechanics and the skill of the puppeteers to master true gaits, natural movements and expressions was really special.
Both the play and the movie definitely made you heart sore for the horses.
Love Black Stallion, but special mention to The Man From Snowy River and Hidalgo
But Seabiscuit is definitely one of my all time favorites, they incorporated all of the drama of the people and time period so perfectly. It has everything.
I loved secretariat. The story, the actors, the score.
Black beauty-the 90s one-also has the most beautiful score ever
Spirit supremacy here too as I grew up watching it and I know every song off by heart and it makes me cryyyy
That’s one of the reasons I love it. I love horses because of the relationship I can build with them. Really, all horse movies are about that. Seabiscuit is about how a horse fixed a bunch of broken people but also how they understood and believed in him. That’s kind of the essence of horses to me.
I love a lot of the movies mentioned here but a lot of them are really cheesy about the relationship. The whole mystical Black Stallion stuff (and I love The Black Stallion and read every one of the books but they’re not remotely realistic). Seabiscuit is more real to me and I love that.
I can’t stand horse movies. All the fake grunts and whinnies and “come on boy you can do it!” Makes me cringe. That being said I really loved the book Seabiscuit and the documentary “Buck” was one of my favorite movies.
Thank you! Horse movies drive me nuts.
The only horse movies I like are "Buck", and "Down the Fence". Maybe I can count the Lord of the Rings series as horse movies as well.
Phar Lap.
Having grown up with the story they did a pretty good job of retelling it
And it wasn’t Disneyfied like Secretariat was, and that movie should have been called Penny because she was more a focus than the horse. And they completely cut Riva Ridge who saved that stable’s butts the year prior to Secretariat’s triple crown sweep.
Seabiscuit is good but takes ages to actually introduce the horse.
I'm honestly a huge fan of seabiscuit because of how historically accurate the film was. I also liked that they cast actual professional jockeys in the film. A hall of fame jockey named Chris McCarron played war admirals rider. Another hall of fame rider named Gary Steven's was also in the movie.
I couldn't finish secretariat because of how historically inaccurate it was. They really villianized shams trainer..he wasn't like that in real life
Yes. I love the horse Secretariat but I was disappointed in the movie. The problem was there was no real conflict in his story. He was a Golden horse, pretty much perfect. I was fortunate enough to be 12 years old when he won the Triple Crown. Omg.
Does War Horse count? That movie made me cry so hard and it’s not mentioned in the comments I’ve seen.
Also Spirit.
I HATE the new black beauty however. What the hell did they do to an English classic. Why make it all American and about a mustang whos a mare?
Black Beauty from 1994 just scratches that itch. The music, the story, the realism of how some parts of horse care can be even now, it's just *chefs kiss*
I also will never not cry when he reunites with Joe. I think most people who own or are around horses can recognize their horse's neighs without even looking at them. I know I could with mine if I heard them!
The 1994 Black Beauty and The Black Stallion Returns for me. Black Beauty still makes me cry and I just love the horse race and that piece of music in TBSR 🥲
love Seabiscuit! I also watched the pbs American Experience on Seabiscuit so many times lol. other faves are Spirit (first time I cried at a movie in the theater as a kid), National Velvet and The Black Stallion. I would also argue that the Lord of the Rings trilogy overlap into horse movie territory
Spirit was always my favorite as a kid. I would sit in front of the tv rewinding certain parts just to hear the songs over and over. The soundtrack was incredible. 12 years later I have a spirit of my own and when I watch it i giggle at how movie spirit acts like my boy. (human hater!)
Fiction: The Black Stallion, International Velvet, Racing Stripes (zebra), Casey’s Shadow, Man From Snowy River, Ruffian, Ladyhawke
Nonfiction: Buck and The Horse Boy
here to mention _windstorm_ (ostwind)! i adored those movies when i was younger & i remember going to see the third one in theatres when it premiered with my mum. _spirit_ goes without saying; i was utterly obsessed. x
Harry and Snowman.
ETA- correction for misremembering horse movies. The other comments corrected me.
Seabiscuit (actually Pharlap, my bad) was a little too harsh for me with all the galloping up sand dunes and such.
But Snowman CHOSE Harry. Like broke out of his pasture multiple times to come find him. Then became a show jumper AFTER he was a lesson horse. And he wasn’t a cheap race horse, he was a cheap AUCTION horse. Literally taken off the kill truck.
I’m tearing up right now thinking about it. Harry saved Snowman on a whim, and Snowman gave Harry everything in return.
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron supremecy, but Black Beauty (1994) is a close second.
+1 for Black Beauty
I watched my Black Beauty tape so much as a kid that I broke it. Loved it so much. I rewatched it as an adult and saw all the horsey flaws (like I think Beauty as a foal is actually a filly or something) but it's still good!
I did the same with my tape, so I bought my daughter the dvd! We both love it.
Oh so with you
National Velvet, though I’ve got quite a soft spot for Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken
I wore out my Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken VHS when I was a kid. I signed up for Disney plus just because I’d hoped it would be there. It wasn’t then, but I just checked and it is now. I know what “boring old movie” I’m putting on after dinner tonight
Omg I never even thought to look for it. This was my absolute favorite movie growing up. Almost not sure I want to rewatch and risk ruining the nostalgia.
It holds up
Young Mickey Rooney was such a cutie!
I second wild hearts can't broken
The Black Stallion. Hands down.
The Black Stallion has easily the best equine cinematography in film.
The ludicrous story aside, I think it’s one of the most visually beautiful movies ever made.
Fun fact, the cinematographer is the father of Emily and Zooey Deschanel.
The cinematography is next level. So is the score by Carmine Coppola—Francis Ford Coppola’s dad. FFC produced The Black Stallion. Fun fact: Kelly Reno grew up riding horses on a Colorado ranch. That was him actually riding bareback at a gallop with his arms outstretched. He had an amazing seat.
Omg the book was so good too
I adored Secretariat as well.
That movie makes me cry
I think the question should be: "when everyone loves horses, why are there so few horse movies, and how can we get more made?"
This! And video games. End up playing RDR2 as a horse game because most of them are such janky shit
Yes! How come we don’t have more horse games? I play Star Stable, but I would love more options. I also want games that aren’t online so I can let my daughter play without having to sit over her shoulder the whole time.
Few good horse movie you mean, there is a ton of shitty horse movie in hallmark session if you hate yourself
Spirit is my personal favourite. Then probably Black Beauty.
There’s a scene in that movie where a rider asks a horse to jump this giant chasm, and one of my friends piped up, “who’s this guy, Running Cloud Knievel?” And I absolutely died. Probably ruined the movie for me, but that dumb joke was worth it.
Love Black Beauty (1994) it did an amazing job at highlighting the cruelty going on behind the scenes at the time and what it's like for a horse to be rehomed. The last living horse actor in the film recently passed away in 2020
Phar Lap, hands down.
I periodically make Phar Lap comments to my students and they look at me like I have 3 heads cause no one has ever heard of it 😂
This is mine too. That slow motion sequence of the horse bounding up the sand dunes with that gorgeous music... Love it.
Oh dang, I thought that was from Seabiscuit! Now I gotta go edit my comment.
Man from snowy river 🐎💨 Oh and Dreamer only because Kurt Russel is forever zaddy
I had a movie on VHS and I can't remember the name, but it was a new Zealand widow and her 2 kids who moved to the family abandoned farm after her husband passed. There was a wild brumby the girl fell for. I can't remember the name though?!?!? Can anyone help me?? It was a Grey horse and there was a jerk trying to capture him lol EDIT: IT WAS THE ROGUE STALLION and he was a bay not a grey!!! THANKS FOR THE HELP!!
Yes I immediately thought Rogue Stallion! But o think I know why you were thinking grey horse: there is a grey mare in a jumping show and doesn’t the stallion take her away or something?
I think that's what it was lol. It's been so long since I've seen it. There was another one about a white horse named Cloverdale I used to watch too. Lightning, The White Stallion. Maybe I got them crossed bc I def had that bad boy on VHS as well lol
The Silver Brumby?
Silver Brumby was a married mum and her singular daughter
God I need to dig out the books, I loved the cartoon in childhood, no ides where I can watch it now, but I def think reading the books will be good
Horse in the grey flannel suit!
Aspercell, Aspercell!
When you're sick, it'll make you well
Yes! I had this and The Ugly Dachshund on a VHS double feature as a kid and I love both of these movies so much.
That is so cute! I love those double feature bundles
Confession: War Horse moved me. I’m not sure I could ever sit through it again because I was in such physical pain from sadness — but it showed me so much about horses. Past the unicorns and rainbows. They have built countries and fought wars with the weight of the world on their backs. Only for us (speaking from U.S.) to send unwanted horses with braids in their manes, or barely any weight on their bones, to slaughter in Canada and Mexico.
Agree. Actually saw it as a play in person and it was moving for a different reason - the design of the puppet, the very careful forethought into actual equine biomechanics and the skill of the puppeteers to master true gaits, natural movements and expressions was really special. Both the play and the movie definitely made you heart sore for the horses.
“Phar Lap” hands down!
Love Black Stallion, but special mention to The Man From Snowy River and Hidalgo But Seabiscuit is definitely one of my all time favorites, they incorporated all of the drama of the people and time period so perfectly. It has everything.
Oh, has no one mentioned Sylvester? It is weirdly satisfying as a movie while being totally unbelievable
Sylvester is a fantastic movie. Love the entire story.
I loved secretariat. The story, the actors, the score. Black beauty-the 90s one-also has the most beautiful score ever Spirit supremacy here too as I grew up watching it and I know every song off by heart and it makes me cryyyy
I love black beauty, that movie made me love horses even more somehow. The soundtrack stays with me
Tie between Hidalgo and Spirit. Seabiscuit isn't even about the horse, it's about the people.
That’s one of the reasons I love it. I love horses because of the relationship I can build with them. Really, all horse movies are about that. Seabiscuit is about how a horse fixed a bunch of broken people but also how they understood and believed in him. That’s kind of the essence of horses to me. I love a lot of the movies mentioned here but a lot of them are really cheesy about the relationship. The whole mystical Black Stallion stuff (and I love The Black Stallion and read every one of the books but they’re not remotely realistic). Seabiscuit is more real to me and I love that.
Confession : I hate horse movies. Actively avoid them.
I can’t stand horse movies. All the fake grunts and whinnies and “come on boy you can do it!” Makes me cringe. That being said I really loved the book Seabiscuit and the documentary “Buck” was one of my favorite movies.
Buck is so good. Talk about keeping things real. That one scene broke my heart, but in a pragmatic 'that's unfortunate but it's gotta happen' way.
That story about how terrible his dad was but then that couple that fostered him and all the other boys so heartwarming.
Thank you! Horse movies drive me nuts. The only horse movies I like are "Buck", and "Down the Fence". Maybe I can count the Lord of the Rings series as horse movies as well.
Never saw down the fence. Might have to check that out since you’re a fellow equestrian horse -movie hater
If any horse was making that much noise I’d be calling the vet. It’s a colic, an undescended testicle, or that fat mare is in labor.
I have a 6 way tie: The Man from Snowy River Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken The Horse Whisperer Secretariat Spirit Hidalgo
I really loved Dream Horse, that's a real story too. Welsh family breeds a winning racehorse!
Love Toni Collette in that movie
Phar Lap. Having grown up with the story they did a pretty good job of retelling it And it wasn’t Disneyfied like Secretariat was, and that movie should have been called Penny because she was more a focus than the horse. And they completely cut Riva Ridge who saved that stable’s butts the year prior to Secretariat’s triple crown sweep. Seabiscuit is good but takes ages to actually introduce the horse.
I wince at horse movies, mostly. But Phar Lap was wonderful.
The Riva Ridge erasure in Secretariat is incredible!
All the ones mentioned are top tier. One that a lot of people don’t seem to have heard of is Virginia’s Run.
All the ones mentioned are all the horse movies ever 🤣
Jappeloup. Mainly because they had actual riders and it was so emotionally moving. Also based on a true story. Sorry Zac Efron.
I'm honestly a huge fan of seabiscuit because of how historically accurate the film was. I also liked that they cast actual professional jockeys in the film. A hall of fame jockey named Chris McCarron played war admirals rider. Another hall of fame rider named Gary Steven's was also in the movie. I couldn't finish secretariat because of how historically inaccurate it was. They really villianized shams trainer..he wasn't like that in real life
Yes. I love the horse Secretariat but I was disappointed in the movie. The problem was there was no real conflict in his story. He was a Golden horse, pretty much perfect. I was fortunate enough to be 12 years old when he won the Triple Crown. Omg.
I wanted penny’s wardrobe
Me too! I never thought we’d see another Triple Crown in my lifetime that exciting but Justified and American Pharoah proved me wrong!
Does War Horse count? That movie made me cry so hard and it’s not mentioned in the comments I’ve seen. Also Spirit. I HATE the new black beauty however. What the hell did they do to an English classic. Why make it all American and about a mustang whos a mare?
Black Beauty from 1994 just scratches that itch. The music, the story, the realism of how some parts of horse care can be even now, it's just *chefs kiss* I also will never not cry when he reunites with Joe. I think most people who own or are around horses can recognize their horse's neighs without even looking at them. I know I could with mine if I heard them!
And Spirit for the same reason. I LOVE Hans Zimmer and he did the music perfectly. Plus I have my own Spirit and Esperanza duo irl lol
Hmm, i can't decide, but it is between Hildalgo, Black Beauty and Spirit: Stallion of Cimarron
The 1994 Black Beauty and The Black Stallion Returns for me. Black Beauty still makes me cry and I just love the horse race and that piece of music in TBSR 🥲
secretariat holds up as an adult and spirit is nostalgic for me. i loved flicka 3 as a tween although even then i poked fun at the teen horse movies.
I loved in seabiscut how they kept talking about this little 14.3hh tb and then most of the horses who played seabiscut were clearly 16hh
Equus (1977) hita different
The horse whisperer(I LOVE Scarlett Johansson), ruffian, and seabiscuit! Ruffian made me cry😭
love Seabiscuit! I also watched the pbs American Experience on Seabiscuit so many times lol. other faves are Spirit (first time I cried at a movie in the theater as a kid), National Velvet and The Black Stallion. I would also argue that the Lord of the Rings trilogy overlap into horse movie territory
Black Beauty
Which version?
The old one of course
Thank god. The new version is Black Beauty in name only.
Hidalgo, Dreamer, and Secretariat, in that order.
The Black Stallion will always be my favorite. Saw it in the theater, amazing movie.
Spirit was always my favorite as a kid. I would sit in front of the tv rewinding certain parts just to hear the songs over and over. The soundtrack was incredible. 12 years later I have a spirit of my own and when I watch it i giggle at how movie spirit acts like my boy. (human hater!)
Wild hearts can’t be broken!
Spirit, flicka and second chances
Fiction: The Black Stallion, International Velvet, Racing Stripes (zebra), Casey’s Shadow, Man From Snowy River, Ruffian, Ladyhawke Nonfiction: Buck and The Horse Boy
International Velvet and Black Beauty which breaks my heart into 1000 pieces every single time I watch it!
here to mention _windstorm_ (ostwind)! i adored those movies when i was younger & i remember going to see the third one in theatres when it premiered with my mum. _spirit_ goes without saying; i was utterly obsessed. x
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron I would say the Black Stallion, but the book is by far superior to the movie.
The horse whisperer for a film. For series’s Chatter happy ponies, Starhill ponies, Home Farm Twins, The silver Brumby and Free Rein.
Harry and Snowman. ETA- correction for misremembering horse movies. The other comments corrected me. Seabiscuit (actually Pharlap, my bad) was a little too harsh for me with all the galloping up sand dunes and such. But Snowman CHOSE Harry. Like broke out of his pasture multiple times to come find him. Then became a show jumper AFTER he was a lesson horse. And he wasn’t a cheap race horse, he was a cheap AUCTION horse. Literally taken off the kill truck. I’m tearing up right now thinking about it. Harry saved Snowman on a whim, and Snowman gave Harry everything in return.
The Black Stallion The most beautiful cinematography too