Cool Horse



""Look at my horse, my horse is amazing Give it a lick ("Mmm! It tastes just like raisins!") ''Have a stroke of its mane, it turns into a plane And then it turns back again, when you tug on its winky-""

- Amazing Horse

So, you have yourself a Badass, who now needs a badass way to get from point A to point B. Naturally, the Cool Car and the Cool Bike are there for him! The problem? We are in a High Fantasy story, mate. And we've got no stomach for that much Anachronism Stew. Rats.

Enter the Cool Horse.

An easy way to tell a Cool Horse is to check if it has a name. Especially, if it has a badass name. More especially, if it can run through the entire story without having to rest and eat. Most especially, if it looks badass - a Hellish Horse is cool by definition, as well as if it's involved in Horseback Heroism. Bonus points if, for whatever reason, the hero is the only person who can ride it.

A race who are Born in the Saddle will have plenty of these, though the chief probably has the pick of the coolest ones.

Many Cool Horses can be used in battle without any serious training -- which is very much not true in Real Life. Indeed Give Me a Sword often asks for a horse.

On alien planets, a Cool Horse will usually have a different color... and may also be a machine. Or even talk. See Powerup Mount for video game examples. Compare My Horse Is a Motorbike, when a modern-day vehicle (most commonly a motorcycle) is given Cool Horse traits.

Contrast The Alleged Steed (which can be a Cool Horse in disguise).

Supertrope to
 * Automaton Horses
 * Hellish Horse
 * Horse of a Different Color
 * Horseback Heroism
 * Mechanical Horse
 * Our Centaurs Are Different
 * Pegasus
 * Powerup Mount
 * Rearing Horse
 * Sapient Steed
 * Unicorn
 * White Stallion
 * Winged Unicorn

Advertising

 * The Man Your Man Could Smell Like: "I'm on a horse."

Anime and Manga

 * The entire point of B't X. Bonus points are included for Winged Unicorn, Pegasus, Mechanical Horse, Horseback Heroism, Sapient Steed and Powerup Mount
 * Celty from Durarara has a headless ghost-horse disguised as a motorbike. It's name is Shooter.
 * Raoh in Fist of the North Star has a massive black stallion. Its presence in a nuclear wasteland pushes the Fridge Logic even further, but seeing a giant man ride up on a giant horse is just too awesome to not let slide.
 * One of many shout outs from Sakigake Cromartie Koukou to Fist of the North Star is the fact that Freddie rides an exact copy of Raoh's horse to, in and around school.
 * In the beggining of Hana No Keiji, the hero, who is reminiscent of Kenshiro, hears of a powerful, giant horse much similar to Raoh's Kokuoh and spends 10 days befriending the horse so he could help him in a war.
 * Mobile Fighter G Gundam's Master Asia has a horse, Fuunsaiki, which pilots a mobile suit shaped like a giant mechanical horse.
 * A Running Gag in the series' Yonkoma parody strips is the idea that Domon Kasshu is only Master Asia's second apprentice in the martial arts. Fuunsaiki is the first. And outranks Domon.
 * Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora's Kyoshiro has himself a White Horse that transforms into a kind of airborne platform not dissimilar to those present in Kirby Air Ride.
 * Ashitaka's red elk mount Yakkul from Princess Mononoke. Not a horse, per-se, but close enough.
 * The Five-Tails from Naruto has characteristics of a horse.
 * Reign the Conqueror was a cyberpunk version of the Alexander story, so naturally Bucephalus is present, as an almost demonic creature.
 * The non-mechanical horses in Sengoku Basara: For example Takeda Shingen's horses (which he dual rides, standing with one leg in each saddle) defy gravity by climbing castle walls. And then there's Masamune's horse, which has Harley Davidson exhaust pipes and bike handles. in 16th century Japan.
 * There is Entei from Inuyasha.
 * Aki's borrowed horse in Silver Spoon is "only" a mortal horse, but wow, can it make a cool entrance. The hero initially mistakes it for a bear
 * And it comes with a reference to the aforementioned Cool Horse in Fist of the North Star.
 * Saber Rider's Steed and April's Nova (in the American version) in Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs.

Comic Books

 * Apocalypse, Batman's huge, black warhorse (with batwinged barding) in the American Civil War Elseworld The Blue, The Gray, and The Bat.
 * Marvel's The Mighty Thor has Odin's horse, Sleipnir, which is a giant white horse with eight legs.
 * There is also Beta Ray Bill
 * In the Silver Age, Supergirl had Comet the Super-Horse, who had the powers of unaided flight, super-strength, super-speed, telepathy, and the ability to turn into a human named Bronco Bill. They were dating.
 * Wild West-era Ghost Rider usually got hellish horses burning with Hellfire.
 * Don Rosa's The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck has Hortense, Scrooge's mare named after his hot-tempered sister. Smart, fearless, and capable of things extraordinary for regular horse, including mast climbing.
 * Dynamite, the first and most famous steed of Tex Willer.
 * Taken Up to Eleven with Lucky Luke's Jolly Jumper. Aside from being Luke's Non-Human Sidekick, Jolly can ride on its own with Luke sleeping ( and vice versa), thinks of escape Luke's escape routes by itself, is a sarcast smartass, can play chess and not only do math, but write the correct answer in the sand.

Film

 * Artax from The Neverending Story. Although his death traumatized many a wee kidlet, he remains a beloved equine, especially his resurrection/reappearance at the end of the film racing across the plains with Atreyu on his back.
 * In the original novel, he spoke. )
 * Terry Gilliam's Baron Munchhausen rode a horse called Bucephalus.
 * Navarre in Ladyhawke rides a Friesian (called Goliath in the movie and named Othello in real life). The Count of Anjou has a gray Andalusian.
 * Cactus Jack Slade, the protagonist of the western comedy film The Villain, "owns" a horse named Whiskey who is at least five times smarter and more capable than he is.
 * The western parody Rustlers Rhapsody features Rex O'Herlihan the Singing Cowboy and his ultra-smart wonder-horse Wildfire.
 * Before Trigger's multiple appearances for Roy Rogers both in Film and TV, he was reported to be Maid Marian's steed in Errol Flynn's 1938 The Adventures of Robin Hood.
 * The horse that was ridden by John Rambo in Rambo 3, and also by Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - the one where said horse charges a tank and wins.
 * Carter Slade's horse when he goes into Ghost Rider mode in, well, Ghost Rider is damned impressive-looking, as is...
 * Daredevil, the horse of Sleepy Hollow's Headless Horseman.
 * Toy Story 2 has Bullseye.
 * History of the World Part One has Miracle. And that horse can
 * Hidalgo, from the movie of the same name.
 * In the Disney animated version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Phoebus had a horse called Achilles, who would actually sit down on command - usually on top of someone bothering his master.
 * "Achilles, heel!"
 * Frollo has a Cool Horse too. Although the animators named it Snowball for a joke.
 * The Fire Mares of Krull, which can travel really fast, and can fly over cliffs.
 * Khartoum, Jack Woltz's magnificent stallion from The Godfather, who was infamously killed because Woltz wouldn't give Johnny Fontane, the godson of mob boss Don Vito Corleone, the starring role in a new movie.
 * Spirit from Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. You should see what he puts his enemies through.
 * Several other Disney horses include:
 * The pegasi and unicorns from Fantasia.
 * Widowmaker (so called because no one else can tame her) from Melody Time.
 * Both Cyril Proudbottom (J. Thaddeus Toad's horse) and Gunpowder (the Headless Horseman's horse) from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.
 * Both Major and the mice-turned horses from Cinderella.
 * Samson from Sleeping Beauty.
 * Captain from One Hundred and One Dalmatians.
 * Frou-Frou from The Aristocats.
 * Philippe from Beauty and the Beast.
 * Before finally deciding on an elephant, Genie from Aladdin for a split second actually turns Abu the monkey into a horse.
 * Khan from Mulan.
 * Buck from Home on the Range.
 * Maximus, the horse of the Captain of the Guard in Tangled. Determinator, master tracker, easily the biggest Badass on this whole list. Not to mention the posters put him with a sword in his mouth. And the know how to use it in the movie.
 * Altivo from The Road to El Dorado.
 * The plot of The Electric Horseman involves the title character's journey to set a champion racehorse free. At one point he rides the horse and outruns police vehicles.
 * As mentioned in the comic section, Odin's eight-legged horse is briefly shown in Thor. This version is black, however.

Literature

 * Orlando Innamorato and Orlando Furioso feature Bayard, a Sapient Steed who can stretch to fit four riders, Rabican, a flying horse born of wind and fire, and the original hippogriff.
 * Black Beauty. This horse is not only the main character of one of the best-selling books of all time, but is the protagonist of the first story that was ever told in first person narrative from the point of view from an animal, kick-starting an entire sub-genre of animal stories. His story led to more responsible use of the bearing rein (which was then often used to hold a horse's head in an unnaturally high and uncomfortable position) and is also believed to have made a difference in reducing the taxicab license fee of the time, something that was often exploited by those that hired out cabbies to drivers. He also had an in-book Crowning Moment of Awesome when he refuses to cross a bridge that he instinctively knows is dangerous, saving himself and his two passengers by doing so.
 * Although usually The Alleged Steed, Rocinante has moments of this.
 * JRR Tolkien's Middle-earth (The Silmarillion, The Lord of the Rings, etc) has a LOT of the beasts, both of the slightly super-horsian as well as the Badass Normal variety: First there is Nahar, ridden by the Vala Oromë, the first and coolest of cool horses. The Mearas, a rare breed of super-horses, kept by the Rohirrim (whose culture revolves around horses) besides their regular horses; the most famous individuals are Felaróf, the steed of Eorl, and Shadowfax, the steed of Gandalf. And there are lots of regularly Badass Normal horses. ...and so on.
 * Hell, even Bill the pony was the unofficial tenth member of the Fellowship until he was sent away at the gates of Moria. . Tolkien just loved horses too much to write about one that was not, in some way, awesome.
 * There is an entire race of cool horses in the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, known as the Ranyhyn.
 * Perhaps based on the Houyhnhnms of Gulliver's Travels; the latter are a subversion, they're beautiful and have an orderly, intellectual society, but they're also racist, smug and lack compassion.
 * We mustn't forget from Terry Pratchett's Discworld.
 * Death's other horses are perhaps cooler (one is a skeletal steel, the other is made of fire) but were somewhat impractical due to their tendency to fall apart and ignite their bedding respectively.
 * In Going Postal, we also see Boris - a Hellish Horse without the look but with enough personality to make up for it; Boris is, literally, aimed at the destination where, upon arrival, Moist von Lipwig has to look for somewhere soft to land. Boris won't stop... Also,
 * The titular animal from Piers Anthony's On A Pale Horse, who turns into a Cool Car. Seriously.
 * With a name like Mortis, what can you expect??
 * Not to mention Sequiro from the Mode series, the unicorns from Apprentice Adept, and many other equine creatures...definitely an Author Appeal.
 * The Night Mares.
 * For a Heralds of Valdemar example of a Cool Horse that's really a horse, try the Shin'a'in battlesteeds: as smart as a smart dog, incredibly loyal, able to survive on even the worst feed, and faster than anything on four legs -- except a Companion.
 * They're also incredibly ugly. Even the Shin'a'in freely admit they were bred for function over form to the point that looks were not even a consideration.
 * While the above mentioned Companions look the part, they are guardian spirits in equine form and are annoyed or insulted to various degrees when referred to or treated as horses.
 * The Sothoii coursers in David Weber's The War Gods series.
 * Bree and Hwin in The Horse and His Boy talk, although whether that makes them cool or just irritating is up for debate.
 * In the David Eddings series The Malloreon, there's Chretienne, who's given to Belgarion by 'Zakath after they become friends.
 * Horse is also pretty much a Cool Horse, given that he's Touched by Vorlons and can apparently travel through Subspace or Hyperspace or something. And is the mount/BFF of Eriond,
 * Faran, from The Elenium and The Tamuli also by David Eddings, is the incredibly intelligent and capable companion of Sparhawk the Knight. Their relationship is less than one of perfect compliance and involves the kind of trickery and coercion one might actually see in a strong-willed horse. Faran acts like he has a bad temper exclusively because Sparhawk actually likes him to act that way.
 * Melynlas, Taran's horse in Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain, was not excessively badass but was extremely loyal -- so much so that when he was stolen, Taran was able to prove his ownership by being the only person the horse would allow to mount him.
 * His mother, Melyngar, was the prized mount of Taran's friend Prince Gwydion, and she was quite the quadroped badass.
 * Parodied with Rocinante, Don Quixote's horse. Let's just say Rocin=horse in bad shape.
 * Morgenstern, Julian's horse from the Chronicles of Amber. Specially crafted out of Shadow to be made of awesome.
 * In Journey to the West, the dragon prince Yulong Santaizi transforms into a white horse for Xuanzang to ride. He stays a horse most of the time and doesn't have a huge role otherwise, but transforms back a couple times in dire situations.
 * Zorro's horse, Tornado.
 * The book series The Black Stallion is built on this trope.
 * While she doesn't actually have magical powers, Bela in The Wheel of Time, an old cart horse, is notable as the only character aside from Rand al'Thor to appear in all eleven books so far. Popular fan theories posit that she is actually the Creator in disguise, or maybe the Dark One.
 * Fan theories about Bela ran so rampant that the collector of Loony Pet Theories refused to include any theory which included Bela. Including the one that Bela is a perfectly normal horse.
 * Bela also didn't appear but as a dream-Bela in Egwene's dreams in Lord of Chaos. The Jordan Internet fandom promptly organized a writing contest on what she had been up to during the book.
 * Dragon Bones and its sequel feature a few cool horses, the coolest being Stygian, a battle steed ridden by the main character who is vicious, bad tempered and killed the main character's Father. The most awesome part is that the main character immediately renames his badass, evil, ugly horse that everyone wants to put down as Pansy. Other characters are not amused.
 * From Chivalric Romance, Beves of Hampton has a horse not only rather fast but capable of recognizing him.
 * Jack Aubrey's fine Arabian mare, Lalla, from the Aubrey-Maturin novels.
 * The rathorns in P.C. Hodgell's Chronicles of the Kencyrath are a combination of Hellish Horses and unicorns.
 * All the post-Immortals Trilogy horses in Tamora Pierce's Tortall Universe books. Since they have heightened intelligence thanks to Daine, it makes them all the more Badass. Peachblossom, Kel's battered warhorse in the Protector of the Small quartet, practically defines this trope. If you try to pet and/or mount him and your name isn't Kel, Tobe, Stefan, or Daine, he will either bite your arm off or try really hard to.
 * pre-Immortals Trilogy (by almost 2 centuries!) Lady Sabine's warhorses Drummer and Steady. Try to hurt their lady, get kicked in the head repeatedly. Try to stop them from getting to their lady when they've figured out that she's in danger, watch the whole stable staff get killed. They're also trained to detect common poisons by smell and will refuse any meal that's suspect.
 * Thaouka in Jules Verne's The Children of Captain Grant.
 * The Hunnuli, in Mary Herbert's Dark Horse series: Big, powerful, distinctive in appearance, fast as hell, resistant to magic, and telepathic.
 * Blackjack from Percy Jackson and The Olympians. Also Rainbow the Hippocamp (ie: literal sea horse). Mrs O'Leary is a giant hell-hound but she can be ridden through shadows (don't try it if you're afraid of the dark). From The Heroes of Olympus, we have Arion.
 * The coolest horse in A Song of Ice and Fire would have to be Stranger, Sandor Clegane's beloved warhorse. Huge, black, powerful, and viciously savage, he's gentle as a lamb with Sandor but will maul anyone else who gets near him. Notable victims include two hapless priests, one lately left with a broken leg and the other short an ear. And while Stranger is a cool enough name on its own, it becomes instantly more badass when you take into account that in Westeros, "the Stranger" is the much-feared god of death.
 * Dany's silver also deserves mention and is indicated to be a mount of quite exceptional quality.
 * Dilvish the Damned's Black was a demon in horse form.
 * Jimmy Hedgecock's Black taught chickens to dance in Gunfighter's Ride.
 * Mad Amos's horse was a bad tempered
 * In Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian novel The Hours of the Dragon, Xaltotun's chariot is drawn by "weird horses." When he dies, they bring the chariot and, when someone puts the body on board, carry it off.
 * Ryshadium from The Stormlight Archive, are bigger, stronger, faster, and smarter then normal horses, and they are also pseudo-Bond Creatures, they chose their own riders and are apparently picky about it, there are only a dozen men in all the Alethi warcamps that have one.
 * Hob and Pearl, from Douglas Hill's Blade of the Poisoner and Master of Fiends. Sure, they're just ordinary horses—and Hob looks more like The Alleged Steed—but they're both written as being rather smart and tough.
 * Athansor, from Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale.
 * Thunder in Septimus Heap.
 * The unicorns from The Firebringer Trilogy are a race of Badass warriors who regularly take on (and defeat) large predators such as gryphons and wyverns. Notably, their initiation ritual involves making a journey to the very heart of their worst enemies' homeland to drink from a magical pond.

Live-Action TV

 * In the sentai show, Seijuu Sentai Gingaman each ranger had their own horse, except the Sixth Ranger who had a giant biomechanical bull.
 * Brisco's horse Comet has an almost human level of intelligence. He even manages to unlock a combination lock!
 * Roy Roger's Trigger.
 * A horse which also carried around Maid Marian in The Adventures of Robin Hood.
 * Chico from Queen of Swords.
 * Gasp! How could we forget Argo, steed of the Warrior Princess herself?
 * The Power Rangers Samurai can use Symbol Power to summon up horses to ride on.

Mythology

 * In Norse Mythology, Odin's horse Sleipnir has eight legs and can fly. And Loki is his mother. Try not to think about that too much.
 * Older Than Feudalism Cool Horses in Classical Mythology:
 * Poseidon's hippocampi and Helios' fire steeds.
 * Xanthos and Balios, the immortal horses owned by Achilles in The Iliad.
 * Bucephalus, the favored mount of Alexander the Great. Supposedly, only he had the force of will to break this feral stallion. (A differing story says that Alexander was simply the only one smart enough to realize that Bucephalus was afraid of his own shadow. He solved the problem by facing the horse into the sun.)
 * Lu Bu's personal steed, Red Hare, increased his already Badass legend, and then Red Hare was such a Cool Horse that Lu Bu  to get it.
 * Celtic Mythology:
 * Morvarc'h, the coal-black steed of the legendary Breton king Gradlon. Morvarc'h could swiftly gallop across the tops of ocean waves as if he was running on dry land.
 * Grey of Macha and Black of Saingliu, twin steeds of Cuchulainn. Born at exactly the same time as their master.
 * Enbarr of the Flowing Mane was another water-walking horse, owned by (fittingly) the ocean god Manannan Mac Lir.
 * In King Arthur legends, Sir Gawain had a part-supernatural-being horse, Gringolet. (Also called Kincaled depending on who you ask.)
 * The four horses of the Apocalypse. After all, you've gotta be a pretty damn cool horse to put up with riders like War, Pestilence, Famine and Death.
 * The The Shahnameh has Rakhsh, tamed by the Persian hero Rostam because he's the only horse in the world strong enough to bear his weight.

Radio

 * The Lone Ranger's horse, Silver, who appears in every adaptation of the story (television, film, comic books, etc.) He even had his own comic book at one stage.
 * To a less extent, Tonto's own horse, Scout, qualifies too.
 * In the animated version that ran in the '60s, Silver once pulled the Lone Ranger out of quicksand -- reaching his head back to grasp in his teeth the coiled lasso hanging from the saddle (is that even anatomically possible?), he flung the loop end into the Ranger's hands (the other end was already tied to the saddle). It'd take Lassie or Rin-Tin-Tin to top that!

Real Life

 * Phar Lap, probably one of Australia's most famous celebrities. He was so fast that when he was brought to the US... he was poisoned by the mob. Thanks a lot, United States.
 * His Spiritual Successor is Makybe Diva. Don't laugh at the name, she won the Melbourne Cup three times in a row.
 * There's a reason there's far more famous racehorses than there are famous jockeys.
 * George Washington had his trusty steed, Nelson.
 * Bucephalus, the horse of Alexander the Great. He lived to be almost thirty and was Alexander's most prized companion, so much so that the conqueror named a city after him.
 * Man o'War, who ran twenty-one races in his two-year racing career, and won twenty of them. The one loss was due to being faced the wrong way when the race started, and even then he caught up from dead last to finish second. He set three world records, two American records and three track records, and was the sire of the also-famous War Admiral and the grandsire of Seabiscuit. Towards the end of his second racing season, almost nobody was willing to race their horses against him, even with Man o'War carrying absurdly heavy handicap weights; had he raced for a third season, he would have had to carry a heavier handicap than any horse has in the official history of racing.
 * And Seabiscuit himself, of course, the short, funny-looking horse with an underdog background and winner of some amazing races who became a national icon during the Great Depression.
 * Toes the horse(s) of Julius Caesar. The original mount was given to him as a joke as it had an odd mutation where it had splithooves and therefore could not be shod or ridden effectively. Caesar bred a line of warhorses off him.
 * Babieca, famous warhorse of the Spanish hero Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (a.k.a. El Cid). Legends have it that when the Cid died his corpse was strapped to the horse and sent charging into battle. (Of course, nobody bothered asking Babieca if he was cool with the idea.) Babieca is also said to have lived to the age of at least sixty.
 * Secretariat was so awesome, ESPN named him as the 35th greatest athlete of the 20th century. No, really. His trainer said that he displayed an almost human-like curiosity, frequently looking up at planes passing overhead, and upon his death, it was discovered his heart weighed 22 pounds (10 kg) - more than twice as large as an average horse of comparable size.
 * How many other racing sports do you know of, in which a major long-distance world record still stands that was set in 1973? (Secretariat's 2:24 in the Belmont, which he won by thirty-one lengths.)
 * Trigger, Roy Roger's horse. According to The Other Wiki, he knew 150 trick cues and is considered the most famous horse in film history. In fact, Golden Cloud (his original name) appeared as Maid Marian's palomino mount in 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood prior to being cast as Trigger. Now that is a Cool Horse!
 * Zenyatta, a five-year-old Thoroughbred mare who is undefeated, tied for the longest winning streak in the history of modern bookkeeping (19), and the defending champion of the Breeders' Cup Classic, arguably the most important race in American Thoroughbred racing. Not only is she the defending champion of that race - she is also the first filly or mare to win it. Ever.
 * Even her first and only loss (her last race, also the Breeder's Cup Classic), counts as a Crowning Moment of Awesome. After lagging EIGHTEEN LENGTHS for most of the race, and while having dirt kicked in her face, she made possibly the most spectacular run to finish second by the slimmest nose ever. She was in front of the winner, Blame, one stride before the wire, and passed him again one stride after it. Cooler still, she then went on to win Eclipse Horse of the Year over the only horse to defeat her on the track.
 * Eclipse, the most famous racehorse in history. Born during a solar eclipse, he raced and won eighteen times and his bloodlines run in every top-quality racing horse in the world. Like Secretariat, he had the "X-factor" - a larger-than-normal heart.
 * Although not a horse, Simpson's donkey Duffy may count. During WWI, at the battle of Gallipoli, she helped Simpson carry wounded Australian soldiers back to the trenches for treatment. When Simpson was eventually sniped by the Turks, she carried on with him and the wounded soldier on her back.
 * The Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts football teams.
 * RUFFIAN. That is all.
 * Miniature horses have been trained as guide animals for the blind, some of whom prefer them over dogs because they live a lot longer.
 * Cigar. 40 plus races undefeated.
 * The longest winning streak in thoroughbred history belongs to Kinscem, a plain, even ugly, bay filly foaled in Hungary in 1874. She raced across Europe against males and females and was undefeated in fifty-four starts. For comparison, Zenyatta's winning streak was 19 races. The great Australian mare Black Caviar is currently undefeated with 17 starts. According to The Other Wiki the second-longest winning streak by an undefeated horse was New Mexico's Pepper's Pride, with 19 wins in her career. To cap it, Kinscem produced several daughters who while not quite as successful as their dam were still winning racehorses and successful broodmares. She even has a park named for her in Budapest, a statue in her honor, is still a Hungarian national heroine, and reportedly was once stolen by gypsies--when caught and confronted about why they stole the ugliest filly in the stable, they said that the others were just horses, this one was going to be special. She even has a kidnap story! Kinscem was a very Cool Horse.
 * Depending on your opinion of the teal era, the Detroit Pistons basketball team's logo.

Tabletop Games

 * Dungeons and Dragons, as usual.
 * Paladins have a special ability to summon a "special mount". This grew until they can get an epic mount from outer planes that is attuned only to them. It doesn't have to be a horse per se, but it usually is one. And until Third Edition, a Paladin could only summon the thing once every ten years.
 * Considering Paladins need every stat but Intelligence, there is a very good chance that the paladin's mount is smarter than they are.
 * Nightmares in Dungeons and Dragons are a fiery option for the Evil Counterpart of paladins, the Blackguard.
 * Unicorns and Celestial Chargers (Half-Celestial Unicorns) are also out there.
 * There's also the pegasi, the hippocampus, griffons, hippogriffs, riding dogs, dinosaurs, worgs, dragons... Asperi and comet steed. There's no shortage of creatures to ride around on.
 * Eberron has magebred horses and the Valenar elves have specially bred horses.
 * Rifts also has a couple of these, such as the Psi-Pony and Megahorse, plus several Horses Of A Different Color, and even Mechanical Horses.
 * Archaon the Evechosen from Warhammer Fantasy Battle had Dorghar, Steed of the Apocalypse.
 * Prince Tyrion rides Malhandir, the Father of Horses. It has a move of 12 which means it can charge 24... The same range as an arrow from a longbow.

Toys

 * My Little Pony is perhaps the best example for toys, being an entire line of miniature multicoloured horses, often with accessories and magical powers, all aimed entirely at preteen girls.
 * And once G4 Rainbow Dash came around, they weren't really limited to girls or preteens.

Video Games

 * Epona, Link's steed, particularly in The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess; she's so beloved by fans of the series that she's practically the Trope Codifier.
 * Game Freak and Nintendo also give us the Pokémon Ponyta and Rapidash, which are horses with flaming manes and tails. Blitzle and Zebstrika are native to Pokémon Black and White's Unova region; as the name indicates, they're electric zebras.
 * And, also, there's Arceus.
 * Agro from Shadow of the Colossus. She shrugs off so much abuse, he must be the 17th Colossus.
 * Given the sheer size of that thing, it may be true. Agro is larger than some draft horses.
 * Toward the end of the game, Agro
 * HASHIRE, TROMBE!
 * Boko from Final Fantasy V who carries three people at once while jumping over pits during an earthquake.
 * In Final Fantasy Adventure, you get Chocobot with robotic feet!
 * In Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame, a horse statue comes to life, and it lets the Prince ride through the air in a couple of cutscenes.
 * Paladins in World of Warcraft can learn to summon a cool horse at level 30. The Alliance Paladins (Humans, Dwarves, Draenei) get one with gold and blue barding, while the Blood Elf (Horde) paladins get one in bronze and red.
 * At level 60, Alliance paladins go through an epic quest chain to get an Even Cooler Horse, which has horns and glows gold. Blood Elves go through a different quest (which involves desecration of a church and the massacre of its guards, no less) to get one that glows red and looks like it feeds off kitten blood.
 * Warlocks learn to summon a flaming steed at level 30. At level 60 they have an epic quest to learn to summon an epic, flaming, scaled, horned steed.
 * Death Knights will get a spectral horse with flaming blue hooves.
 * Plus there are cool horse drops from bosses - Deathcharger (a skeletal horse with purple barding) and Midnight (which has flaming green hooves and buckteeth... okay, not so cool).
 * Let us not forget the mount of the Headless Horseman, a spectral mount with flaming green hooves, who can run on air.
 * You can buy (with real money) a Cool Winged Horse from Blizzard online store.
 * More than merely Cool, it's a living constellation, translucent so you can see the stars glowing within.
 * The Fan Nickname for this creature is Sparkles the Wonder Pony.
 * The Forsaken have Cool Horses as their default racial mount: they're skeletal, ghoulish steeds decked out in tattered gear and sporting the Glowing Eyelights of Un-Death. The level 40 variations include tarnished armor and twisting horns.
 * The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion has Shadowmere, a ludicrously fast immortal black mare with red eyes, who, if you let her, will thoroughly kick the shit out of any enemy in-game.
 * The sequel, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has
 * The horse armor DLC too... Although that wasn't really the best armor, or DLC for that matter...
 * Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater. The Boss rides around Cold War era Russia on an Andalusian for absolutely no apparent reason aside from being too damned Badass for normal transportation. Plus, Naked Snake loves horses so much, he wants to... do stuff to it.
 * Helios's fiery steeds in God of War are all lesser gods.
 * And Poseidon's Leviathans, they're a part of his god form.
 * And Chrono's steeds. THEY'RE A HUNDRED FEET TALL AND MADE OF LIVING STONE!!!
 * Ruin from Darksiders is the horse of War. It's a black horse with hooves and fetlocks of fire.
 * Ixion from Final Fantasy X is a damn awesome unicorn, once you get past that horrific, scythe-like horn that takes up half his face. And the exposed ribs/musculature. And the lightning powers that mean running away would be futile since he'll just electrocute you to save time.
 * ...so in other words, a damn awesome unicorn.
 * The player gets a magnificient horse in Red Dead Redemption. If you're in a foul mood you can even shoot and skin it!
 * Taken Up to Eleven with the Undead Nightmare expansion pack. Not only are there four "Horses of the Apocalypse" running around, trailing things like locusts and fire, but if you break 'em all in, you get a chance at the ultimate mount: a unicorn. A unicorn that emits a cloud of butterflies when it's grazing and leaves a rainbow behind it as it runs.
 * The second stage of Shinobi III begins with Musashi riding a horse to the sound of Itaden while fighting enemy ninjas who come from giant kites. Musashi also rides the horse alongside the sunset at the ending.
 * The Lord of the Rings Online allows you to buy and ride a horse (or a pony, if you're a hobbit or dwarf) after buying the Riding skill for Turbine Points (or if you're a VIP, after you've gotten the skill through a quest gotten at level 20). They're a very nice way to get around Middle-Earth in general.

Webcomics

 * Windstriker, Miko's horse, in Order of the Stick. See above about paladins and D&D.
 * By the same token, Lloyd's horse Sandstorm in the Order of the Stick-inspired Murphy's Law.
 * Shiratz (actually an AI) and the G.E.M.'s in UNA Frontiers.
 * Takan'dor, Arid's huge, jet-black war horse in Planes of Eldlor.
 * Vane's mount Diamonds in Next Town Over, who is already a hardy horse before becoming a zombie cyborg horse.
 * Looking For Group has the Bunny, which served as a mount for Richard when he was transformed into a baby (a "Little Dick", if you will).
 * In Rusty and Co, parodied. Note: do not send the Gelantinous Cube to get your horses.
 * In American Barbarian, Uli realizes that of the three of them, the horse acted the smartest.
 * In Our Little Adventure, Emily's Phantom Steeds get their coolness -- and limits thereof -- discussed at length.

Web Original

 * In The Gamers Alliance, Ax's horse Widowmaker aka Dubya.
 * Bad Horse from Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Just don't try to ride him... or he'll make you his mare!
 * "Look at my horse, my horse is amazing..."
 * "Look at my pony, my pony's amazing..."

Western Animation

 * Adventure Time has Lady Rainicorn.
 * Lemon Horse, too. C'mon- the uncanny resemblance it has to Lemongrab is just awesome!
 * Rainbow Brite had Starlite, who was "the most magnificent horse in the universe" -- at least, according to him. Well, he could talk and fly (okay, technically he walked on rainbows) and had rainbow colored hair.
 * Then there's Skydancer, Stormy's horse. Though he couldn't talk, he could fly unaided, and when he ran he trailed rain and lightning shot from his hooves.
 * Parodied with Twinkle the Marvel Horse on Dave the Barbarian.
 * Arguably Appa, from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Not a horse, but a huge, 10-ton, six-legged flying bison. With an arrow on his head. How is that not awesome?!
 * Honey Pie Pony and the other Strawberryland fillies from the 2003 version. Apart from Honey Pie Pony, some appeared in the series, while others did not.
 * There was also "Maple Stirrup" in the 1980s version.
 * Which got a passing mention in a game the 2003 series version (to be specific, mentioned in one of the story books in the GBA game Ice Cream Island Riding Camp).
 * Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders (or "Starla and the Jewel Riders", depending on where you live) is an example of this trope (with Sunstar, Moondance and, in season 2, Shadowsong).
 * The "cybersteeds" in Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers.
 * Galtar rode a horned, blue horse-like creature named Thork, who was brave and strong and intelligent.
 * Horace Horsecollar.
 * Bravestarr has the ever-loyal Thirty Thirty. Though technically an equine alien, he could shift between a bipedal and quadrupedal form with ease and carried a BFG called Sara Jane.
 * Wildfire, from the series of the same name
 * She Ra had Swift Wind, a winged unicorn who could talk. Swift Wind's alter ego was an ordinary looking horse called Spirit. However, even as Spirit he was strong, clever and still had the ability to speak.
 * Played with in the My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic episode "A Dog and Pony Show." The fact that Equestria is populated mostly by ponies usually keeps the characters from being considered this trope in-universe, but this doesn't stop Spike from trying to ride Twilight into battle to save Rarity (complete with a "Hi-ho, Twilight! Away!"). Twilight is not amused.

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