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1%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1306216740060159100
2%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.
3%%
4[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/phantom_ganon_oot.png]]]]
5[[caption-width-right:350:[[MemeticMutation Anything is possible when you're a shadowy clone of the King of Evil.]]\
6[[Advertising/TheManYourManCouldSmellLike I'm on a horse.]]]]
7%%
8->''"I should probably clarify, that diamond horse I've been telling you about? It's not a sculpture or anything! It's a living horse that actually happens to be made of -- actually, I'll just go get her. Butt Stallion! Come here girl! Say hello, Butt Stallion!"''
9-->-- '''Handsome Jack''', ''VideoGame/Borderlands2''
10
11So, you have yourself a badass, who now needs [[TravelCool a badass way to get from point A to point B]]. Naturally, the CoolCar and the CoolBike are there for him! The problem? We are in a HighFantasy story, mate, and we've got no stomach for that much AnachronismStew.
12
13Enter the Cool Horse.
14
15An 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 [[AutomatonHorses run through the entire story without having to rest and eat]]. Most especially, if it [[EvilIsCool looks badass]] -- a HellishHorse is cool by definition, as well as if it's involved in HorsebackHeroism. Bonus points if, for whatever reason, the hero is the ''[[OnlyTheChosenMayRide only]]'' person who can ride it.
16
17A race who are BornInTheSaddle will have plenty of these, though the chief probably has the pick of the coolest ones.
18
19Many Cool Horses can be used in battle without any serious training -- which is very much not true in RealLife. Indeed GiveMeASword often asks for a horse. However, even a Cool Horse is sometimes not above a little HorsingAround for comic relief when he is feeling ornery.
20
21On alien planets, a Cool Horse will usually have a [[HorseOfADifferentColor different color]]... and may also [[MechanicalHorse be a machine]]. Or even ''[[SapientSteed talk]]''. See PowerUpMount for video game examples. Compare MyHorseIsAMotorbike, when a modern-day vehicle (most commonly a motorcycle) is given Cool Horse traits.
22
23Contrast TheAllegedSteed (though an Alleged Steed could become a Cool Horse if it TookALevelInBadass). Can go with DiligentDraftAnimal when horses are used for manual labor.
24
25SuperTrope to:
26[[index]]
27* AutomatonHorses
28* DiligentDraftAnimal
29* HellishHorse
30* HorseOfADifferentColor
31* HorsebackHeroism
32* MechanicalHorse
33* OnlyTheChosenMayRide
34* OurCentaursAreDifferent
35* OurHippocampsAreDifferent
36* {{Pegasus}}
37* PowerUpMount
38* RearingHorse
39* SapientSteed
40* SeahorseSteed
41* {{Unicorn}}
42* VirileStallion
43* WhiteStallion
44* WingedUnicorn
45[[/index]]
46
47%%
48%%
49%% Please put examples that fit into one of the subtropes on that page, rather than here.
50%%
51%%
52----
53!!Examples
54
55[[foldercontrol]]
56
57[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
58* The Survey Corps from ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' make use of specially-bred horses in their operations. [[AllThereInTheManual Bonus Material]] gives more detail on these unique horses, ''each'' of which is worth more than the average citizen makes in a lifetime. Their top speed is 75 - 80 km/h (47 - 50 mph), and they are the ''only'' means to escape Titans when outside the Walls and in open areas. They are specifically bred to have exceptional stamina and strength, as well as NervesOfSteel so that they do not spook when encountering Titans or when riders activate their gear while in the saddle.
59* X the Kirin, the title name holder and tritagonist of ''Anime/BtX''. Bonus points are included for WingedUnicorn, {{Pegasus}}, MechanicalHorse, HorsebackHeroism, SapientSteed and PowerUpMount.
60* ''Manga/CesareIlCreatoreCheHaDistrutto'' has protagonist 16-year-old Cesare Borgia with his fierce black stallion Romulus. Historically, he loved horses and was very skilled with them. His first appearance in the manga is his MeetCute with TheWatson Angelo -- despite his lack of horse experience, Angelo was made to ride Remus, the brother of Cesare's horse, and lost control. Over the series, his growing skill with the horse shows his character development, and relationship with Cesare. Artist Fuyumi Soryo was known for her horse illustrations before she started this manga.
61* One of many {{shout out}}s from ''Manga/CromartieHighSchool'' to ''Fist of the North Star'' is the fact that Freddie rides an exact copy of Raoh's horse to, in and around school.
62* ''Manga/{{Dororo}}'': One of the demons Hyakkimaru faces is a possessed female warhorse named Midoro who is forcibly separated from her foal by her cruel master to fight in one of his latest battles. When she is near death, she makes a bargain with an equine demon to use her body in exchange never to lose against any human. The ghostly horse is easily able to go hoof-to-toe with Hyakkimaru. The horse comes under the possession of Hyakkimaru's power-hungry rival, Saburota, who falls under the demon's spell. He uses it to raze nearby villages, and even hammers in spike-studded horseshoes so it could kill more people.
63* Celty from ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'' has a headless ghost-horse [[MyHorseIsAMotorbike disguised as a motorbike]]. [[FluffyTheTerrible Its name is Shooter]].
64* Raoh in ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' has a massive black stallion named Kokuoh ("Black King"). Its presence in a nuclear wasteland pushes the FridgeLogic even further, but seeing a giant man ride up on a giant horse is just [[RuleOfCool too awesome to not let slide]]. This horse is so strong that it doesn't die when Kenshiro hits it.
65* In the beginning 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.
66* Invoked by Saturn from ''Manga/HeavensDesignTeam'', who considers the horse as his masterpiece due to its magnificent appearance. He frequently uses the horse as base for his future design submissions (such as the Pegasus, Unicorn, and Kelpie), which results in failure.
67* Entei from ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'', a flying demon horse with a mane and tail of actual fire.
68* ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'''s [[OldMaster Master Asia]] has a horse, Fuunsaiki, which pilots a mobile suit shaped like a giant mechanical horse. A RunningGag 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.
69* The Five-Tails from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has characteristics of a horse.
70* ''Anime/ReignTheConqueror'' was a cyberpunk version of the Alexander story, so naturally Bucephalus is present, as an almost demonic creature.
71* In the ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' anime, one of the filler episodes features a horse who jumps between several stationary boats without pausing in between, and then follows this up by leaping on top of a train.
72* Saber Rider's Steed and April's Nova (in the American version) in ''Anime/SaberRiderAndTheStarSheriffs''.
73* The non-mechanical horses in ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'': For example Takeda Shingen's horses (which he ''dual rides'', standing with one leg in each saddle) defy gravity by climbing castle walls. Then there's Masamune's horse, which has Harley Davidson exhaust pipes and bike handles. [[AnachronismStew in 16th century Japan]].
74* In ''Manga/ShamanKing'', Tao Ren sometimes rides a gigantic white horse possessed by the spirit of the warhorse named Hei-Tao who was ridden by his spirit partner, Bason during his living days as a Chinese warlord.
75* ''Anime/ShatteredAngels'''s Kyoshiro has himself a WhiteHorse that transforms into a kind of airborne platform not dissimilar to those present in Kirby Air Ride.
76* Aki's borrowed horse in ''Manga/SilverSpoon'' is "only" a mortal horse, but wow, can it make a cool entrance. The hero initially mistakes it for a ''bear''. It comes with a reference to the aforementioned Cool Horse in ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar''.
77** The protagonist is entering Equestrian Club, so of course it features varied horse, most of them qualify for this trope, from large and super-strong Ban'ei horse to agile Hokkaido's small horse to [[TheAllegedSteed an ugly, temperamental]] and [[SnarkyNonHumanSidekick snarky]] horse who actually very good in hands of competent rider.
78* Cowboy Andy from the ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' episode "[[Recap/CowboyBebopSession22CowboyFunk Cowboy Funk]]" has a Cool Horse to aid in his role as {{foil}} to CoolStarship-owning Spike. Said horse, Onyx, is able to do a DynamicEntry through a thick glass wall, survives several explosions, predicts a bomb -- and moves outside its blast radius -- before her owner does and is able to operate an elevator on her own. According to Andy she also plays a mean game of chess. Spike is, to say it the least, sceptical.
79* No horses in ''Manga/ACentaursLife'' have prominently featured, but they all have six legs, as fitting in a world where all vertebrates evolved from a hexapod ancestor.
80[[/folder]]
81
82[[folder:Ballads]]
83* In the Literature/{{Child Ballad|s}} ''Literature/YoungBeichan'', the heroine gives the hero a cool horse in some variants.
84[[/folder]]
85
86[[folder:Comic Books]]
87* ''ComicBook/AmethystPrincessOfGemworld'': Amy owns a white, winged unicorn.
88* ''ComicBook/{{Bamse}}'': Billy Boy is a more realistic version of the trope; he's a fairly normal horse with a normal horse's intelligence and behavior -- but no less cool for that, as he's exceptionally strong and fast, and can beat just about any other horse in a race.
89* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': Apocalypse, Batman's huge, black warhorse (with batwinged barding) in the UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Creator/{{Elseworlds}} ''ComicBook/BatmanTheBlueTheGrayAndTheBat''.
90* ''ComicBook/BlackFury'': The titular character is a mustang who wanders around the Old West, bringing evildoers (who he can invariably identify) to justice and fighting off various apex predators. People know better than to even try catching a horse from the herd that Black Fury leads- they '''will''' fail, they always have, and he will make you look like an idiot into the bargain. Besides, most of them owe their lives or livelihoods to Black Fury's intervention.
91* ''ComicBook/{{Black Knight|MarvelComics}}:'' Dane Whitman has had three flying horses in his career, all three of which are named after characters from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''.
92* ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'': Don Rosa's ''ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'' has Hortense, Scrooge's mare named after his hot-tempered sister. Smart, fearless, and capable of things extraordinary for regular horse, including ''mast climbing''.
93* ''ComicBook/GhostRider'':
94** The Wild West-era Ghost Riders usually got {{hellish horse}}s burning with {{hellfire}}.
95** PlayedWith with [[ComicBook/TheGhostRider Carter Slade]]'s horse, as while he didn't possess hellfire like the later Rider's would, he painted his horse with a phosphorescent substance that caused it to glow in the dark so as to appear as a true spirit.
96* ''ComicBook/KidColt'': Kid Colt's steed was called Steel. Steel was a very smart and well trained horse and was able to understand simple orders. The horse often carried Kid Colt off to safety when the outlaw was wounded.
97%%* ''ComicBook/LadyDeath'': Lady Death's war horse Vassago.
98* ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'': Jolly Jumper. Aside from being Luke's NonHumanSideKick, Jolly can ride on his own with Luke sleeping (and vice versa), thinks of Luke's escape routes by himself (helps Luke is prone to [[SuperWindowJump window departures]] which LandInTheSaddle), is a [[DeadpanSnarker sarcastic smartass]], can play chess well enough to beat [[TheAce Lucky Luke]] himself, can not only do math, but write the correct answer in the sand, and, of all things, ''fish''. [[LampshadeHanging How did he get the bait on the hook]]? "Like everybody: [[MathematiciansAnswer With disgust.]]"
99-->'''Cavalry commander:''' Lucky Luke's horse escaped? Didn't you tie him?\
100'''Cavalry recruit:''' I could not. The horse tied me up!
101* ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'':
102** Marvel has Odin's horse, Sleipnir, which is a giant white horse with eight legs.
103** There is also ''ComicBook/BetaRayBill'' [[spoiler:No no, get your minds out of the gutter -- [[http://comicattack.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/71420comic_storystory_full-5823244_thoratw42.jpg Bill is simply an extremely equine looking alien.]]]] Bill's semi-official nickname is "Thorse".
104** In ''Thor and [[ComicBook/PowerPack the Warriors Four]]'', a [[spoiler:de-aged]] Thor rides a similarly [[spoiler:de-aged]] Bill. It is [[http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/1998918.html#cutid1 the most adorable thing ever]].
105* ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'': In one issue, Spike gets to ride around on Celestia's back. For those unfamiliar with the franchise, Celestia is the setting's BigGood PhysicalGoddess WingedUnicorn, you'll be hard-pressed to find a mount cooler than that.
106* ''ComicBook/RawhideKid'': Nightwind is the horse that was ridden by western legend the Rawhide Kid during the days of the American Frontier. The horse became the Kid's regular companion since the day that Rawhide avenged the murder of his uncle Ben Bart, and later as the Rawhide Kid rode across the west as an outlaw.
107* ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'': In UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}}, 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. [[spoiler:Okay, okay, he was actually a centaur who got turned into a horse by a witch, but it's ''still'' creepy.]]
108* ''ComicBook/TexWiller'':
109** Dynamite, the first and most famous of Tex' steeds, who showed amazing speed, formidable strength and stamina, and, most importantly, far greater smarts one would expect from a horse.
110*** After a while Dynamite was replaced with {{Disposable Mount}}s, but a 2019 story explained what had happened: as the horse was growing old, Tex procured him a herd and left him to wander free in the Navajo Reservation, though when said herd was stolen he had one last adventure with Tex to rescue them, even saving his life thanks to his smarts (and dying in the process). If Tex is coming from the reservation, chance is his horse is one of Dynamite's descendants, who are also stronger, faster and more resistant to fatigue than most horses.
111** Son of the Wind, a wild mustang living in the Arapaho reservation, so exceptional in everything that the Arapaho convinced themselves he was the personification of their remaining freedom, and would start an Indian war to keep him free.
112** "The Great Race" features a horse race from Tucson to Los Angeles, so any of the horses that passed the selections qualify, but two stand above the others: West Wind, an Appaloosa whose physical abilities are so exceptional that Tex doubted ''Dynamite'' could have beaten him in a race, and the unnamed steed of count Sergey Guriev, that West Wind could barely defeat in the race.
113* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol. 1]]:
114** Serge, the horse Diana keeps as Diana Prince, has a sixth sense about danger that helps Diana save a child from a villain without revealing her second identity as Wonder Woman. Serge never seems to get tired (though Diana can run much faster than a horse anyway) and is really good with children.
115** Rainbow and Stardust are a stallion and mare that are cannily intelligent and roam Texas befouling the plans of rustlers. They've got a soft spot for the Candy family since they've never tried to capture the pair and like to give them apples, and have rescued Etta and the family horses on a couple of occasions.
116* ''ComicBook/{{Yakari}}'': Little Thunder is the fastest of all horses the Sioux have; in ''Yakari and the White Buffalo'', he lost the race with Rainbow and Buffalo Seed on his own accord because ''he wanted to make the former happy''.
117[[/folder]]
118
119[[folder:Fairy Tales]]
120* In "Literature/ThePrincessOnTheGlassHill", three magnificent horses are eating all the grass in the field; once he catches them, the hero can climb the glass hill on their backs.
121* In ''Literature/TheFireBirdTheHorseOfPowerAndThePrincessVasilissa'', the title horse of power. It talks, for one, and is smarter than its owner, and can ride to far off lands easily.
122* Hungarian fairy tales often have a talking horse that eats embers, drinks wine, can fly, instantly go from one place to another in a blink of an eye, and provide exposition. They are often referred to as "Táltos" (Shaman), and like many shamans, may possess physical deformities - usually an odd number of legs. The hero usually finds them neglected (or purposely starved) and half dead, and has to nurse them back to health to earn their help.
123* Dapplegrim, of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dapplegrim the eponymous fairytale]], is so massive that the protagonist can barely climb on him even when he lies down, and his coat so gleaming that sunbeams reflect off it like a mirror. All the protagonist's achievements are enabled by Dapplegrim and his UndyingLoyalty, and it's a plot point that his equal can only be found in hell.
124* In ''[[Literature/{{TheEbonyHorse}} The Tale of the Ebony Horse]]'', the adventures of Prince Achmed begin when an evil magician crafts a flying mechanical horse, which Achmed cannot resist trying to ride. It subsequently bears him away into many fantastic realms, and takes him home once he figures out how to make the damn thing descend.
125* "Literature/TheDeathOfKoscheiTheDeathless": The horse of Koschei is large, sapient and incredibly swift stead.
126-->Koschei was out hunting; as he returned home late in the afternoon his good horse stumbled under him. ''What is the matter with you, you old nag?'' he demanded. ''What made you stumble? Have you scented some misfortune?'' The horse answered: ''Prince Ivan has come and carried off Maria Morevna.''\
127''But can we overtake them?'' Koschei asked.\
128''You could sow your wheat, wait for it to grow, you could harvest it and thresh it, grind it into flour, bake bread from it in five ovens, and eat the bread, and only then set out in pursuit. And even so we would overtake them,'' said the horse.
129* "Literature/PrinceIvanTheWitchBabyAndTheLittleSisterOfTheSun": Prince Ivan's mount is a magnificent black horse.
130-->You see, he had never been outside the palace grounds. And he had only ridden a little Finnish pony. And now he sat high up, perched on the back of the great black horse, who galloped with hoofs that thundered beneath him, and leapt over rivers and streams and hillocks, and anything else that came in his way.
131[[/folder]]
132
133[[folder:Fan Works]]
134* ''Fanfic/HopeForTheHeartless'' has Mitternacht, the main heroine Avalina's [[UndyingLoyalty faithful]] black Friesian. Originally a knight's steed, he became furious with grief due to his rider's death until [[FriendToAllLivingThings Avalina]] tamed him, making him loyal to her only. He follows her to her imprisonment in the castle of [[WalkingWasteland the Horned King]], becomes the first horse to remain sane after spending months close to the lich and can project {{Death Glare}}s that keep even the lich at bay. He even drives away [[TheDreaded Arawn]] -- the freaking Death Lord of Annuvin -- from [[DreamWeaver messing with Avalina's dreams]]!
135* [[https://archiveofourown.org/series/32535 voksen]] wrote a series of ''Tangled'' vignettes with the premise that Max (see below) was secretly a Companion (see below) of the ''Heralds of Valdemar''.
136* ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'': After rescuing the sphinx from the mithral mines, Kay'la (a sea elf paladin) learned how to summon Lugnut, a magical fey spirit in the guise of an aquatic kelpie-styled horse.
137[[/folder]]
138
139[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
140* Spirit from ''WesternAnimation/SpiritStallionOfTheCimarron''. You should see what he puts his enemies through.
141* Several other Disney horses include:
142** The pegasi and unicorns from ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}''.
143** Widowmaker (so called because no one else can tame her) from ''WesternAnimation/MelodyTime''.
144** Both Cyril Proudbottom ([[Literature/TheWindInTheWillows J. Thaddeus Toad's]] horse) and Gunpowder ([[Literature/TheLegendOfSleepyHollow the Headless Horseman's]] horse) from ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfIchabodAndMrToad''.
145** Both Major and the mice-turned horses from ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}''.
146** Samson from ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty''.
147** Captain from ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians''.
148** Frou-Frou from ''WesternAnimation/TheAristocats''.
149** Philippe from ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast''.
150** Before finally deciding on an elephant, Genie from ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'' for a split second actually turns Abu the monkey into a horse.
151** ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'' has two. Phoebus' horse Achilles is trained to sit down when Phoebus says [[{{Pun}} "Heel"]], a trick Phoebus often uses to subdue anyone bothering him. Frollo rides an intimidating black stallion which WordOfGod says is called [[IronicName "Snowball"]]. When Phoebus steals Frollo's horse to escape Frollo orders his archers to shoot at him but warns them ''not'' to hit the horse.
152** [[SublimeRhyme Khan]] from ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}''.
153** Buck from ''WesternAnimation/HomeOnTheRange'', who easily punches his rider unconscious when he realizes the latter is not worthy of his loyalty.
154** Maximus, the horse of the Captain of the Guard in ''WesternAnimation/{{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. He knows how to use it in the movie.
155** Pegasus from ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'', whom Zeus himself shaped out of clouds.
156** The Nokk from ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'', which is a water spirit in the form of a stallion, attacked Elsa when she tried to cross the ocean, but after a struggle she conjured reins out of ice and climbed on its back. After some extensive rodeo-style antics, it gave up on throwing her and [[DefeatMeansFriendship resigned itself to being her obedient steed]].
157* Altivo from ''WesternAnimation/TheRoadToElDorado''.
158* ''Franchise/ToyStory'' has Bullseye.
159* Ashitaka's red elk mount Yakkul from ''Anime/PrincessMononoke''. [[HorseOfADifferentColor Not a horse, per-se]], but close enough.
160[[/folder]]
161
162[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
163* A Cool Horse was de rigueur for the B-Western hero. [[Film/TheLoneRanger Silver]] is the most famous, but equally famous in their day were Gene Autry's steed Champion, Tom Mix's Tony "the Wonder Horse" and, of course, Roy Rogers' companion Trigger. To give an idea of how important these noble equines were, posters for several of Rogers' movies gave Trigger more prominent billing than Dale Evans, ''even after she and Rogers were married.'' Website/ThatOtherWiki has a full article [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Horses here]].
164** Before Trigger's multiple appearances for Creator/RoyRogers both in Film and TV, he was reported to be [[Creator/OliviaDeHavilland Maid Marian's]] steed in Creator/ErrolFlynn's 1938 ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRobinHood''.
165* Artax from ''Film/TheNeverendingStory''. 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 [[Literature/TheNeverendingStory the original novel]], he [[TalkingAnimal spoke]]. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, he didn't get resurrected in the book.]])
166* Baron Munchhausen in ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen'' rides a horse called Bucephalus.
167* Navarre in ''Film/{{Ladyhawke}}'' rides a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friesian_horse Friesian]] (called Goliath in the movie and named Othello in real life). The Count of Anjou has a gray [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andalusian_horse Andalusian.]]
168* Cactus Jack Slade, the protagonist of the western comedy film ''Film/TheVillain'', has a horse named Whiskey who is at least five times smarter and more capable than he is. [[labelnote:Fun Fact]]Whiskey is really ''8'' different real horses, since there were so many things he had to do, and no single horse could do all of them.[[/labelnote]]
169* The western parody ''Film/RustlersRhapsody'' features Rex O'Herlihan the Singing Cowboy and his ultra-smart wonder-horse Wildfire.
170* The horse that was ridden by John Rambo in ''Film/RamboIII'', and also by Franchise/IndianaJones in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' -- the one where said horse charges a tank and wins.
171* Carter Slade's horse when he goes into Ghost Rider mode in, well, ''Film/GhostRider2007'' is damned impressive-looking, as is...
172* Daredevil, the horse of ''Film/SleepyHollow1999'''s Headless Horseman.
173* ''Film/HistoryOfTheWorldPartI'' has Miracle, a horse can [[spoiler:time-travel ...sort of.]]
174* ''Film/{{Hidalgo}}'', from the movie of the same name.
175* The Fire Mares of ''Film/{{Krull}}'', which can travel really fast, and can fly over cliffs. They run so fast it causes the ground to catch fire where their hooves hit it.
176* Khartoum, Jack Woltz's magnificent stallion from ''Film/TheGodfather'', 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.[[note]]Of course, given that Woltz was also molesting a child actress (in the book, at least; this detail was cut from the film), it was also a case of EvenEvilHasStandards and ShameIfSomethingHappened (since there were other ways the Corleones could have put pressure on the studio that were less brutal).[[/note]]
177* The plot of ''Film/TheElectricHorseman'' involves the title character's journey to set a champion racehorse free. At one point he rides the horse and outruns ''police vehicles''.
178* ''Film/JumanjiTheNextLevel'' introduces a new avatar: Cyclone the [[spoiler:winged]] horse.
179* As mentioned in the comic section, Odin's eight-legged horse is briefly shown in ''Film/{{Thor}}''. This version is black, however.
180* The special relationship between the Lone Ranger and Silver was one of the things that ''Film/TheLoneRanger2013'' got basically right, if exaggerated.
181* In ''Film/BeautyAndTheBeast1946'', the Beast sends Belle's father home and has her come to the castle in his place by means of a magical white horse, Le Magnifique, which can take its rider anywhere they wish to go.
182* What ''Film/{{Tumbleweed}}'' turns out to be, despite looking like TheAllegedSteed; performing such feats as getting Jim away from the posse by climbing a cliff trail no other horse can follow, and by finding water when the two of them are dying of thirst.
183* In ''Film/DeadAgainInTombstone'', Guerrero rides a massive black stallion with silver tack that is killed by Craven. The stallion gets even cooler when he is resurrected by Dr. Goldsworthy as he is now seemingly bulletproof.
184[[/folder]]
185
186[[folder:Literature]]
187* Creator/PiersAnthony:
188** Mortis, Death's steed in ''Literature/OnAPaleHorse'', who turns into a CoolCar. Seriously.
189** Not to mention Sequiro from the ''Mode'' series (who comes from a whole Mode of the beasts), the unicorns from ''Apprentice Adept'', and many other equine creatures...definitely AuthorAppeal.
190** The [[MeaningfulName Night Mares]] of the ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' series. It seems as punny as other things in the setting, but their job of bringing bad dreams is considered SeriousBusiness. So much so, their leader is the Night Stallion (aka Trojan, the Horse of a Different Color). There is also their more benevolent counterpart the Day Mares, bringers of wistful daydreams.
191* Max Brand westerns feature a number of these. The most "superequine" is probably Dan Barry's horse Satan (from ''The Untamed'' and ''Dan Barry's Daughter''), whose ability to perform an athletic leap while exhausted after days of hard riding is so impressive that [[spoiler: a poor farmer, a dead shot, who's hoping to collect a massive reward on him, instead leaps to his feet, waves his hat, and yells "Gawd bless ye!"]]. His loyalty is doglike and his intelligence and thought processes are almost human. Diablo from ''Bull Hunter'' and Sky Blue from ''Lucky Larribee'' are others.
192* From ChivalricRomance, Beves of Hampton had a horse not only very fast but capable of recognizing him.
193* Conrad Starsgard (hero of the GivingRadioToTheRomans series by Creator/LeoFrankowski) finds that his mare Anna is as intelligent as a human, can outrun any normal horse, can kill if necessary and can even understand Polish! She's actually a genetically engineered gift from a time-traveling relative, trying to covertly aid Conrad after he was accidentally sent back to 13th Century Poland.
194* Being stories about adventures in WildWest era, Creator/KarlMay's stories featured quite a lot of Cool Horses, including in them Hatatitla, Ilstchii, and purebreed Arabian horse, who Literature/{{Winnetou}} claimed [[BlasphemousPraise "Even Manitou couldn't ride a better horse than this"]]. Hatatitla and Ilstchii are black stallions of Apache breed that are all of extraordinary quality, and they have the finest specimen. The antagonists in the movie adaptations tend to covet them and try to steal them from our noble heroes.
195* Creator/JRRTolkien's [[Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium Middle-Earth]] (''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', etc) has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Middle-earth_horses a lot of the beasts]], both of the slightly super-horsian as well as the BadassNormal variety: First, there is Nahar, ridden by the [[PhysicalGod 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. Even Bill the pony is [[TeamPet the unofficial tenth member of the Fellowship]] until he is [[ShooTheDog sent away]] at the gates of Moria. [[spoiler:[[BadassNormal Even then he finds his way back to Bree on his own]], and is later taken back by Sam]]. Tolkien just loved horses too much to write about one that was not, in some way, awesome.
196* Jack Aubrey's fine Arabian mare, Lalla, from the ''Literature/AubreyMaturin'' novels.
197* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' features a species of insane carnivorous horses with claws instead of hooves. One of the characters is disappointed at being unable to ride one, until it's pointed out that carnivorous horses might not be a great idea for a culture built entirely around herding cows.
198** The SequelSeries ''The Malloreon'' has Chretienne, who's given to Belgarion by 'Zakath after they become friends.
199** Horse is also pretty much a Cool Horse, given that he's TouchedByVorlons and can apparently travel through SubspaceOrHyperspace or something, and is the mount/BFF of Eriond, [[spoiler:future God.]] In case you're wondering, Eriond named Horse himself; at the time, he had a simple but strange way of thinking.
200* ''Literature/BlackBeauty''. 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 has an in-book 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.
201* ''Literature/TheBlackStallion'': The titular horse's backstory (chronicled in ''The Young Black Stallion'') reveals that he escaped into the wild after a band of horse traders tried to steal him from his humans. Small wonder, then, that he's so temperamental in the original book.
202* 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 TheAllegedSteed—but they're both written as being rather smart and tough.
203%%* Thaouka in Creator/JulesVerne's ''Literature/TheChildrenOfCaptainGrant''.
204* Morgenstern, Julian's horse from ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber''. Specially crafted out of Shadow to be made of awesome.
205* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': Bree and Hwin in ''Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy'' are Talking Horses in a country where most horses don't, although whether that makes them cool or just irritating is up for debate. (Bree may indeed be a Cool Horse, though nowhere as cool as he ''thinks'' he is).
206* Melynlas, Taran's horse in Creator/LloydAlexander's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'', 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.
207* The rathorns in P.C. Hodgell's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath'' are a combination of {{Hellish Horse}}s and {{unicorn}}s.
208* There is an entire race of {{cool horse}}s in the ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant'', known as the Ranyhyn. They can anticipate when they're going to be called, so they're always just cresting the horizon just as they're needed.
209* In Creator/RobertEHoward's ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' novel ''Literature/TheHourOfTheDragon'', 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.
210* The Hunnuli, in Mary Herbert's ''Dark Horse'' series: Big, powerful, distinctive in appearance [[spoiler:unless magically disguised]], fast as hell, resistant to magic, and [[SapientSteed telepathic]].
211* Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''.
212** Death's horse [[AC:Binky]] as well as his other horses. He used to have a skeletal steed, and another made of fire, but they were somewhat [[AwesomeButImpractical impractical]] due to their tendency to fall apart and ignite their bedding, respectively. Binky by comparison is a [[WhiteStallion white (not grey)]] flesh-and-blood horse, but none the less ethereal and impressive.
213** In ''Literature/GoingPostal'', we also see Boris -- a HellishHorse 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, as Boris won't stop... Also, [[spoiler:the Golem Horses.]]
214* ''Literature/DoctorSynTheScarecrow'' has a great black stallion named "Gehenna" which he bought from local Romani people. One might almost accuse him of trying too hard to qualify for the trope.
215* Parodied with Rocinante, ''Literature/DonQuixote''[='s=] horse. Let's just say [[MeaningfulName Rocin = horse in bad shape]].
216* Faran, the roan from from ''Literature/TheElenium'' and ''Literature/TheTamuli'' also by Creator/DavidEddings, is the incredibly intelligent and capable war horse of Sparhawk the Pandion 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, and Sparhawk approaches him more as a partner than anything, always treating Faran with respect. One of his tendencies is to bite strangers, such that Sparhawk frequently has to warn handlers. Faran acts like he has a bad temper exclusively because Sparhawk actually likes him to act that way because it's expected of a war horse; the two are fearsome in tandem.[[note]]When ridden by Child-Goddess Aphrael in a quiet moment, he shows his BruiserWithASoftCenter side.[[/note]]
217* Epona in the ''Literature/{{Emberverse}}''. A toned-down example, but she's a top-notch destrier, she ages much more slowly than a normal horse, and only the character mantled in Prophetic Significance can ride her without getting horribly maimed.
218* In ''Literature/FireAndHemlock'', the main character's sidekick acquires one of those via a very strange coincidence. He exchanges it for a car later, though, as a horse is a bit impractical in modern times. (The car is just as bad-tempered, though.)
219* The unicorns from ''Literature/TheFirebringerTrilogy'' 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.
220* Cerulean, Shal's inherited horse familiar in the TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms novel ''Literature/PoolOfRadiance'', is intelligent, telepathic, and something of a DeadpanSnarker. He also somewhat obviously puts the lie to the notion that familiars should by all rights be small creatures that their ''masters'' carry around with them rather than vice versa, although she can still put him into her (suitably enchanted) pocket if need be.
221* Jimmy Hedgecock's Black taught chickens to dance in ''Literature/GunfightersRide''.
222* The ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'':
223** The Shin'a'in battlesteeds: as smart as a really good working 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.
224** While the aforementioned Companions look the part, they are [[BondCreatures guardian spirits]] in [[SapientSteed equine form]] and [[InsistentTerminology are annoyed or insulted to various degrees when referred to or treated as horses]].
225* ''Literature/AHeroOfOurTime'' has Karagyoz, 'Black-Eye', Kazbich's mount that's achingly beautiful, faster and more endurable than any other horse, able to jump over impossible distances, and follows Kazbich around like a dog. Everyone wants to own it; Azamat offers Kazbich first a thousand mares, then his sister for Karagyoz, and Kazbich considers neither offer to be good enough.
226* ''Literature/{{Hurog}}'': ''Literature/DragonBones'' and its sequel feature a few {{cool horse}}s, the coolest being Stygian, a battle steed ridden by the main character who is vicious (the horse, not the main character), 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 [[EmbarrassingFirstName Pansy]]. Other characters are not amused.
227* In ''Literature/JohannesCabalAndTheFearInstitute'' in the Dreamlands there are no horses to be found-there ''are'', however, zebras, which prove to be smarter than their real-world counterparts and fine mounts as well. Cabal dislikes them for some reason without realizing that in his own black and white outfit, to the zebra he looks equally ridiculous.
228* In ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'', 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.
229* In ''Literature/TheLegendOfSleepyHollow'', town hero Brom Bones rides around on a magnificent stallion named Daredevil. The HeadlessHorseman rides an unnamed HellishHorse, although since the Horseman is heavily implied to be a ScoobyDooHoax pulled off ''by Brom'', it's likely the two horses are one and the same. In order to attend Van Tassel's party, Ichabod Crane is able to borrow a tired old plough horse named Gunpowder, who despite being [[TheAllegedSteed initially very unimpressive]], performs surprisingly well in the climactic chase with the Headless Horseman.
230* Rex -- from ''Lovely Assistant'' by Geoph Essex -- is both a CoolHorse ''and'' a [[SilentSnarker cool horse]]. While he [[TheSpeechless doesn't actually speak]] to Jenny, he makes his every sarcastic opinion perfectly clear (especially whenever [[UnskilledButStrong she attempts]] a [[IncompletelyTrained dismount]]). Plus he's, you know, [[CompleteImmortality indestructible]] and [[SuperSpeed really fast]]. (Presumably, [[spoiler: the other [[TheGrimReaper Grim Reapers']] horses]] are the same way.
231* Kelpies from ''Literature/LoyalEnemies'' are extremely durable, fast and capable of lifting heavy weights. The best thing about them, though, is that they walk ''on'' snow, sinking in only slightly no matter how much weight is put on them, which is absolutely useful as the action of the book takes place in winter and involves copious amounts of traveling. Their secret is that they aren't actually horses, but river currents that take the form of horses on land and remain such as long as they are kept bridled.
232%%* Mad Amos's horse was a bad tempered [[spoiler:unicorn with the horn filed down.]]
233* ''Literature/MartinFierro'': When he is conscripted, Martin Fierro takes his best clothes and his best horse to the Frontier: The [[http://www.pelajescriollos.com/pelajes/moro/ "Moro" (a horse with gray hair)]] that is a beautiful horse that had won a lot of races and had made a lot of money for Fierro. The "Moro" is so cool that The Commander steals it from [[ButtMonkey Martin Fierro]].
234* ''Literature/TheMessengerSeries'': Centuries ago, Favour was instrumental in defeating a terrible evil, becoming a symbol of courage, beauty and strength to the village he saved. Now he is an immortal time-traveller, appearing whenever a new hero is needed. He therefore has the appearance to match: as the most beautiful of all horses, his dappled coat has a pearlescent glow, like ice on fire, and his tail streams like the silver froth of a waterfall.
235* ''Orlando Innamorato'' and ''Literature/OrlandoFurioso'' feature Bayard, a SapientSteed who can stretch to fit four riders, Rabican, a flying horse born of wind and fire, and the original hippogriff.
236* Blackjack from ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians''. 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 ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'', we have Tempest (a storm spirit who happens to look and act like a horse) and Arion, immortal son of Poseidon and Demeter conceived while they were both in the form of horses, capable of breaking the sound barrier across land and [[WalkOnWater and sea]]. The fact that the latter is Percy's half-brother is a bit of a shock to say the least.
237* In ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'' there are an number of cool horses: the [[TheFairFolk Fae]] ride murderous, carnivorous unicorns (the Winter Court) or white pegasi (the Summer Court). The Black Knight, Amadeus, and the Squire, Catherine, ride undead warhorses they reanimated themselves and which can be filled with explosives and blown up when the need arises. Catherine later upgrades to an undead pegasus which - despite beeing dead - retains a level of sentinence, viciousness, and loyality.
238* There's a number of Cool Horses in ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' the most well known being Red Hare, who was capable of running a thousand leagues in a day, and wouldn't let anyone ride him until Lu Bu and then Guan Yu proved themselves worthy.
239** He and others also appear in the ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' series and is the fastest of them all, and once unlocked anyone can ride him. Even [[BrattyHalfPint Xiao Qiao]].
240%%* Thunder in ''Literature/SeptimusHeap''.
241* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''
242** Stranger, Sandor Clegane's warhorse. Huge, black, powerful, and viciously savage, he's gentle as a lamb with Sandor but will lash out at 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. He's named after the much-feared god of death and outcasts, which has particular relevance to the misanthropic Sandor.
243** Dany's silver is a beautiful mount of exceptional quality, bred by a warlike equestrian culture who never name their mounts.
244* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': Ryshadium are bigger, stronger, faster, and smarter then normal horses, and they are also pseudo-BondCreatures, they choose their own riders and are apparently picky about it: there are only a dozen men in all the Alethi warcamps that have one. Ryshadium are so grand that Dalinar compare upgrading to one of these horses as being similar to a knight going from plate to magical PoweredArmor. The in universe explaination for their size and intelligence is that each one has it's own bond with [[ElementalEmbodiment Spren]], strangely Music Spren to be specific. An in-universe researcher even speculates that Ryshadium are sapient.
245%%* Her ''Literature/TalesOfTheFiveHundredKingdoms'' series has the Sons of the East Wind, who are intensely magical.
246* ''Literature/TortallUniverse'':
247** All the post-''[[Literature/TheImmortals Immortals]]'' horses. Since they have heightened intelligence thanks to Daine, it makes them all the more badass. Peachblossom, Kel's battered warhorse in the ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'' 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.
248** Two centuries earlier, in the ''Literature/BekaCooper'' books, 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. [[spoiler:So it's not that surprising when Pounce confirms Lady Sabine's family has magic similar to Daine's that specifically works with horses.]]
249* Twilight Dancer, ''Literature/TheWardedMan''[='s=] warhorse. His horseshoes and the horns on his barding are warded, enabling him to fight corelings.
250* ''Literature/TheWarGods'':
251** The Sothōii coursers are the result of [[AWizardDidIt magical]] [[BioAugmentation genetic engineering]]. As such they are bigger, stronger, faster and tougher than normal horses, as intelligent as humans, have the ability to magically bond with humans, and are able to talk telepathically to each other as well as their human companions and some mages.
252** "Normal" Sothōii horses also qualify, since while they are not as cool as the coursers, they are descended from the less successful results of the same experiments that produced the coursers. As such they are quite a bit faster and with more endurance than a normal horse, and are more intelligent that normal horses although not to the same levels as the coursers.
253* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'':
254** Lan rides an impressive warhorse called Mandarb, which means "blade".
255** Bela, the old cart horse, is the only character aside from [[TheChosenOne Rand al'Thor]] to appear in all the books and has become an Ensemble Dark Horse.
256* Athansor, from Mark Helprin's ''Winter's Tale''. [[spoiler:He's an angel in horse form trying to leave Earth.]]
257%%* Literature/{{Zorro}}'s horse, Tornado (or Toronado in some versions).
258* In ''Literature/GulliversTravels'', the Houyhnhnms are a species of sapient horses who are [[UnreliableNarrator supposedly]] highly [[StrawVulcan civilized and rational]], even as they commit genocide against the filthy barbarian humans who also live on their island. Gulliver easily accepts that he is inferior to the Houyhnhnms.
259* In ''Literature/WoofWoofStory'', a lich planning to conquer the world pieced together the perfect warsteed out of dead Cool Horses' corpses. Fortunately for the world, [[ADogNamedDog Mare]] (as the heroes call her) is a gentle soul who wants none of that. When she awoke in a graveyard a bit earlier than scheduled, she walked off to steal carrots from a nearby farm, and the lich was killed in his attempt to get her back. Now she lives a very happy life on that farm, doing the work of two ordinary carthorses with ease.
260* The ''Literature/EnchantedPonyAcademy'' trains young Glitter Ponies to serve as royal advisers and mounts. All Glitter Ponies can do ordinary magic like telekinesis or weather control, and on top of that they also have unique gifts like healing, turning invisible, and SuperStrength. When Princess Alana's father expresses relief that his daughter has found a suitable "pet", she corrects him: her beloved Electra is far, far too cool to be considered a mere pet.
261* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'', Thestrals are carnivorous bat-winged horses who obligingly bear the (completely new to riding) heroes through the sky to the Ministry of Magic.
262%%* ''Literature/AvalonWebOfMagic''
263%%* ''Literature/UnicornsOfBalinor''
264%%* Kathleen Duey's ''The Unicorn's Secret''
265%%* Linda Chapman's ''My Secret Unicorn''
266* In ''The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek'' by Kim Michele Richardson, the mule, Junia, saves the main character's life on multiple occasions, twice beating off a man attacking her, and rescuing her from animals more than once.
267* ''Literature/TheAdventuresOfStrongVanya'': Waron, Vanya's black horse, is "faster than the wild Steppe wind, the best and most loyal horse under God's Sun". Waron proves its worth when a Grand Duke Dimitri's minion sets the Steppe on fire to kill Vanya, and Waron manages to outspeed battlefield.
268* ''Literature/UnderHeaven'': Shen Tai spent most of two years burying soldiers left on a battlefield. A princess that hears about it gifts him Sardian horses, a.k.a. 'dragon horses'. "Legends said they sweated blood."
269-->You gave a man one of the Sardian horses to reward him greatly. You gave him four or five of those glories to exalt him above his fellows, propel him towards rank — and earn him the jealousy, possibly mortal, of those who rode the smaller horses of the steppes.\
270The Princess Cheng-wan, [[ArrangedMarriage a royal consort of Tagur now through twenty years of peace]], had just bestowed upon him, with permission [[spoiler:[[WhamLine two hundred and fifty]]]] of the dragon horses.\
271That was the number.
272* King Arthur's horse from ''Literature/TheFaerieQueene'', Spumador, is said to be "born of heavenly seed" and as it barrels through an angry HalfHumanHybrid army, it is compared to horses who drew Apollo's sun-chariot.
273[[/folder]]
274
275[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
276* In ''Series/TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr'', Brisco's horse Comet has an almost human level of intelligence. He even manages to unlock a combination lock!
277* "Series/{{Blackadder}}, ''Blackadder, he rides a pitch-black steed...''" In ''The Black Adder'' it goes by the name of Black Satin.
278* The ''Series/FrontierCircus'' episode "Lippizan" centres around Ben's quest to find a replacement cool horse for the circus's blind equestrian after he accidentally causes the death of her horse. At the the end of the episode, the horse - King - single-handedly fights off a wolf pack.
279* In ''Series/{{Garo}}'', a Makai Knight that defeats 100 Horrors and passes a test earns the ability to summon a powerful horse made out of metal, called Madouba.
280* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'':
281** Isildur has Berek, his faithful stallion. Berek can feel his owner's own emotions and reflect them in his own behaviour.
282** Galadriel has a white horse that she presumably receives from Elendil.
283* ''Series/Merlin1998'': The titular wizard uses a horse called Sir Rupert as his mount for most of the series. There's clearly something mystical about Sir Rupert, as he can talk and is still alive by the DistantEpilogue, although no explanation is offered [[AllThereInTheManual outside of the novelisation]].
284* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'': The most beloved resident of Pawnee is Li'l Sebastian, a miniature horse. Even the most cynical residents melt with joy when he's around. Outsiders can't understand the appeal.
285%%* Chico from ''Series/QueenOfSwords''.
286%%* Roy Roger's Trigger.
287* ''Series/SesameStreet'' has two SapientSteed examples:
288** Buster, who helps his ditzy rider, ForgetfulJones, remember things. He can even [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9dbd_dIDy8 drive a car]]!
289** Fred the Wonder Horse, who helps Marshall Grover solve any problems that he might have.
290* ''Franchise/SuperSentai''/''Franchise/PowerRangers'':
291** In ''Series/SeijuuSentaiGingaman'':
292*** Each Ranger had their own horse, except the SixthRanger who had a giant biomechanical bull. The horses showed up in ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'' but only for one episode.
293** ''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce'' has the most badass. An untameable horse that had a habit of running rampant through town breaking stuff was snatched to the Underworld to serve [[TheDragon Koragg]], and now ''turns into a zord'' that he can summon and combine with when he goes giant.
294** The Series/PowerRangersSamurai can use Symbol Power to summon up horses to ride on.
295* Argo, Xena's steed in the ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' series was pretty fantastic.
296[[/folder]]
297
298[[folder:Manhwa]]
299* The BountyHunter's horse in the manhwa "Yongbi" is like if [[WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}} Maximus]] was born in historical Korea. He constantly speaks his mind and has many arguments with his rider. He's also able to determine the worth of a sacred gold medallion just by licking it, forced the staff and other horses to serve him hand and hoof in the palace horse stable, immediately sensed his master was in danger when the the evil emperor sends assassins to kill him in his sleep (it doesn't work), and destroyed part of the palace while holding the sacred medallion before swallowing it to keep it out of the Emperor's hands.
300[[/folder]]
301
302[[folder:Music]]
303In the album "Under the Grey Banner", from Music/{{Dragonland}}, at the end of the song "At the Inn of Eamon Bayle" we're introduced to a mare black as the night and swift as the wind, that in the next song ("The Black Mare") will carry both the protagonist and his elf companion to the Elven lands.
304[[/folder]]
305
306[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
307* In Myth/NorseMythology, Odin's horse Sleipnir [[VertebrateWithExtraLimbs has eight legs]] and can fly. Loki is his ''mother''. [[{{Squick}} Try not to think about that too much]].
308* OlderThanFeudalism Cool Horses in Myth/ClassicalMythology:
309** Poseidon's hippocampi and Helios' fire steeds.
310** Xanthos and Balios, the immortal horses owned by Achilles in ''Literature/TheIliad''.
311** Pegasus, the winged horse of Bellerophon.
312** Bucephalus, the steed of UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat,; the raging black stallion that only he could tame. Alexander even named a town after him.
313** Areion, belonging to and possibly sired by Posseidon, was immortal and could also talk.
314* Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms: Lu Bu's personal steed, Red Hare, was said to be capable of running 1,000 ''li'' (roughly 500 km / 310 miles) in a single day, and crossing running water and mountains as easily as flat plains. It increased Lu Bu's already badass legend, and then [[spoiler:Guan Yu's when he inherited it.]] Red Hare was such a Cool Horse that Lu Bu [[spoiler:[[MoralEventHorizon murdered his step-father]]]] to get it. A saying of the time was "Among men, Lu Bu. Among horses, Red Hare.", referencing that both were considered the be the most badass of man and horse of the day.
315* Myth/CelticMythology:
316** Morvarc'h, the coal-black steed of the legendary Breton king Gradlon, could gallop across the tops of ocean waves as if he was running on dry land.
317** Grey of Macha and Black of Saingliu, twin steeds of Cú Chulainn. Born at exactly the same time as their master.
318** Enbarr of the Flowing Mane was another water-walking horse, owned by (fittingly) the ocean god Manannan Mac Lir.
319* Myth/ArthurianLegend: Sir Gawain had a part-supernatural-being horse, Gringolet. (Also called Kincaled depending on who you ask.)
320* 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.
321* The ''Literature/TheShahnameh'' has Rakhsh, tamed by the Persian hero Rostam because he's the only horse in the world strong enough to bear his weight.
322* Burāq, the steed of the prophets according to Arabic(not Qur'an) tradition which is able to travel through the seven heavens and back to Earth in two days. Normally just getting to the first heaven takes seventy three years.
323* Middle Eastern mythology is full of legends about the prized Arabian horses. Many involve races across great distance in the desert where the horse turns up to a destination, right as rain... with a rider dead from exhaustion/starvation/thirst.
324** Stranger still, some of these stories may be true. There's a reason Arabians dominate endurance races and that riders fail health checkpoints as often if not more often than their horses do.
325** The Al Khamsa, the five mothers of the Arabian breed, the story goes Muhammad took 500 mares out into the desert. After about a day he allowed them to drink at a oasis, but when they were half way there he recalled them all, only five went to him.
326* The North Caucasian Myth/NartSagas have Zhaqa, a giant horse fit for a ''actual'' giant, and whose name literally means [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "grave mound"]]. His speed and strength is only matched by the mare who bore him.
327[[/folder]]
328
329[[folder:Pinballs]]
330* The horses featured on ''Pinball/BlackKnight'' and its sequel, ''Pinball/BlackKnight2000''
331* Pie-O-My, Tony Soprano's horse from ''Pinball/TheSopranos''.
332[[/folder]]
333
334[[folder:Radio]]
335* ''Radio/TheLoneRanger'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.
336** To a less extent, Tonto's own horse, Scout, qualifies too.
337** 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 Franchise/{{Lassie}} or Rin-Tin-Tin to top that!
338[[/folder]]
339
340[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
341* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover as usual]].
342** Paladins have a special ability to summon a "special mount." This grew until they can get an epic mount from the outer planes that is attuned only to them. It doesn't have to be a horse per se, but it usually is. 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. Of course, with Paladins often being cast as LawfulStupid, that shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.
343** Nightmares in ''Dungeons & Dragons'' are a fiery option for the EvilCounterpart of paladins, the Blackguard.
344** Unicorns and Celestial Chargers (Half-Celestial Unicorns) are also out there.
345** There's also the pegasi, the hippocampus, griffons, hippogriffs, riding dogs, dinosaurs, worgs, dragons... Asperi and [[TabletopGame/{{Spelljammer}} comet steed]]. There's no shortage of creatures to ride around on.
346** ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' has magebred horses, and the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Valenar]] have horses descended from [[ShapeshifterModeLock ancient druids]].
347* ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'' also has a couple of these, such as the Psi-Pony and Megahorse, plus several [[HorseOfADifferentColor Horses Of A Different Color]], and even {{Mechanical Horse}}s.
348* Archaon the Everchosen from ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' had Dorghar, Steed of the Apocalypse. A daemon that can take the form of any steed its rider desires, Archaon forced it to be a facsimile of Oberon-his original horse who had recently been killed-only with a mouthful of jagged fangs. In addition to having the highest Movement score possible, it's physically powerful enough to kick an Ogre to death and during the End Times ripped out Deathclaw-a griffon the size of an elephant and veteran of many battles-'s throat.
349** Prince Tyrion rides Malhandir, the Father of Horses. It has a move of 10" which means it can March 20''... The same range as an arrow from a bow. He's also over three hundred years old, with no explanation given for his longevity.
350** Daemonic steeds are an option for some Chaos units.
351** Bretonnian units naturally get lots of cavalry, some of which are mounted on pegasi.
352** Elven steeds in general, especially those from the Princedom of Ellyria (Of whom the aforementioned Malhandir is considered to be the greatest their herds have produced in millennia), are considered to be the best in the world, with it being implied that Bretonnian horses owe their exceptional qualities to being descended from Elven horses stolen from Athel Loren.
353** Phoenix King [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Caledor II]] rode a huge white stallion named Torment into the final battle of the War of Vengeance, with it stated that he was [[LastOfHisKind one of the last members of the royal equestrian bloodline of Tiranoc]] and the only horse that the King considered worthy of him. Torment was sent away by Caledor before his final duel with [[TheHighKing High King]] [[TheAce Gotrek]] [[TheGoodKing Starbreaker]] and unlike his master survived the battle.
354* Imperial Guard roughriders in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' ride into battle with lances tipped with high explosives, against all kinds of aliens, demons, giant robots, and so on. While the horses themselves don't get much love, they must be pretty cool to deal with that.
355** Mogul Kamir has an AutomatonHorse given to him by the Mechanicus as thanks.
356* The ''TabletopGame/IronKingdoms'' have some of their own -- namely the Karpathan destriers bred in the harsh north of Khador, quite possibly the biggest, strongest and meanest breed of horse in Western Immoren. These things can [[http://privateerpress.com/warmachine/gallery/khador/solos/man-o-war-drakhun ride into battle with full heavy barding while carrying a large man wearing a suit of extremely-heavy, steam-driven Man-O-War armour]].
357* Since you play a knight in ''TabletopGame/{{Pendragon}}'', having one of these is essential. The charger that every player character starts with is plenty cool already, and as the game's timeline moves on, even cooler ones become available.
358* In ''TabletopGame/AnimaBeyondFantasy'' one can find the ''Illona'', a race of super horses "a la" the Rohirrim ''Mearas'' said to have been [[OurElvesAreDifferent Sylvain]] mounts. They're very expensive and hard to come-by (unless you're the [[AChildShallLeadThem Empress]], that is) as well as said to maintain a strong bonding with their riders.
359* ''TabletopGame/UnstableUnicorns'' runs on this trope, with cards like Majestic Flying Unicorn and the like.
360* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' has demigod horses fathered by Hiparkes, the god of horses. Rihanna convincing one to let her on its back was the act that showed her to be worthy of a Solar Exaltation. %%Marukani, Prism races%%
361* ''TabletopGame/TheOneRing'': [[BornInTheSaddle Riders of Rohan]] start play with a palfrey and can learn to train horses to perform tricks or gain special abilities.
362[[/folder]]
363
364[[folder:Toys]]
365* Franchise/{{Barbie}} has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH0pbVw2Bg0 High Stepper]], a motorized toy horse she can ride.
366* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' 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.
367** And once [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic G4 Rainbow Dash]] came around, they weren't really limited to [[PeripheryDemographic girls]] ''[[PeripheryDemographic or]]'' [[PeripheryDemographic preteens]].
368* Also from ''Creator/{{Hasbro}}'' are the ''[=FurReal=]'' line of animatronic ponies. You get a four-feet tall robot horse made of plush fur, plastic and iron, runs on six D-cell batteries, and actually moves and neighs like the real thing. Yes, you can actually sit on their back and they will react accordingly. However, for cost reasons, they can’t walk about.
369[[/folder]]
370
371[[folder:Video Games]]
372* Epona, Link's steed in multiple ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' games beginning with ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'', is much beloved by fans. She's so cool that, in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'', if you speak to her as a wolf, her dialogue is [[YouAreNotAlone words of encouragement]]. She's not in this because she's simply been trained to do what you say - she's in this because she wants you to succeed in your quest. Not only this, but [[spoiler: during the final battle,]] she manages to keep pace with [[spoiler: Ganondorf's MaybeMagicMaybeMundane]] [[RedEyesTakeWarning red-eyed]] [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver Gerudo stallion]] while carrying [[spoiler: twice as many riders]].
373** As pictured above, Phantom Ganon in ''Ocarina of Time'' rides his own version of Ganondorf's HellishHorse during his boss fight.
374** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'' makes Epona Toys/{{amiibo}}-exclusive to emphasize the open nature of the game. Wild horses can be caught in about 80% of Hyrule, and among them are Zelda's [[GoldAndWhiteAreDivine Royal White Stallion]] [[note]] possessed of a five-star stamina stat for extended galloping[[/note]], an aptly-named [[BiggerIsBetter Giant Horse]] [[note]] boasting a five-star strength stat that can break Moblins[[/note]], monstrous [[DemBones Stalhorses]], the ethereal [[TheJuggernaut Lord of the Mountain]], [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and]] the [[ShoutOut suspiciously]] [[VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus Agro-like]] horse ridden by Link in cutscenes, the Rider amiibo, [[spoiler:and the final battle if no horses have been tamed]]. If you [[OldSaveBonus have save data from the Switch version]] of ''Breath of the Wild'' on the console you use to play ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom Tears of the Kingdom]]'', your stabled horses will be carried over, allowing you to keep your Cool Horse of choice through both games.
375* There are several equine Franchise/{{Pokemon}}, and almost every region has at least one species or evolution line.
376** Introduced in ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'', [[PlayingWithFire Ponyta and Rapidash]] are horses with flaming manes and tails, native to Kanto and [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Sinnoh]].
377** [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Unova]] has [[ShockAndAwe Blitzle and Zebstrika]]; electric zebras, [[Administrivia/TropesAreFlexible but they still fit the trope]]. There's also the [[OlympusMons Swords of Justice]], four equine Fighting-type Pokémon with a [[Literature/TheThreeMusketeers musketeer]] theme; Cobalion is part [[ExtraOreDinary Steel-type]], Terrakion is part [[DishingOutDirt Rock-type]], Virizion is part [[GreenThumb Grass-type]], and Keldeo is part [[MakingASplash Water-type]].
378** [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Alola]] has [[DishingOutDirt Mudbray and Mudsdale]], an earthen donkey that evolves into a much nobler steed.
379** [[VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield Galar]] has its own [[UndergroundMonkey regional variant]] of [[{{Unicorn}} Ponyta and Rapidash]] which trade their fiery manes and tails for [[BioluminescenceIsCool glowing hair]] in pastel tones, and their pure Fire-type for the coveted [[TheFairFolk Fairy]]/[[MindOverMatter Psychic]] combination.
380** The Crown Tundra DLC adds [[SoulPower Spectrier]] and [[AnIcePerson Glastrier]], two very strong horse Pokémon that can be ridden by the main [[OlympusMons legendary Pokémon]] in the expansion, Calyrex, changing it into one of two ''obscenely'' strong alternate forms.
381* Agro from ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus''. [[AutomatonHorses She shrugs off so much abuse]], [[WildMassGuessing she must be the 17th Colossus]].
382** Given the sheer size of that thing, it may be true. Agro is larger than some draft horses.
383** Toward the end of the game, Agro [[spoiler: falls into a huge crevasse, a fall that would most definitely kill the player. After the final battle, it is revealed that she is still alive, and she has managed to limp her way over a mile back to the temple.]]
384* VideoGame/SuperRobotWars: Elzam von Branstein of the ''Alpha'' and ''Original Generation'' series once owned a black stallion named Trombe and generally calls his personal mechs by that name. This culminates in the Ausenseiter, which transforms into a horse for his partner Sanger's Dyzenger to ride. HASHIRE, TROMBE!
385* In ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia2: 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.
386* Paladins in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' 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.
387** 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.
388** 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.
389** Death Knights will get a spectral horse with flaming blue hooves.
390** 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).
391*** The Headless Horseman's horse, a spectral mount with flaming green hooves, who can ''run on air''.
392** You can buy (with real money) a Cool Winged Horse from Blizzard online store.
393*** More than merely Cool, it's a living constellation, translucent so you can see the stars glowing within.
394** [[OurZombiesAreDifferent The Forsaken]] have Cool Horses as their default racial mount: they're skeletal, ghoulish steeds decked out in tattered gear and sporting the GlowingEyelightsOfUndeath. The level 40 variations include tarnished armor and twisting horns.
395** There are also several in-story Cool Horses. Most notably, Invincible the steed of Arthas Menethil aka the Lich King. Invincible died while saving Arthas' life from... well nobody really knows exactly what as poor little ten year old Arthas was unable to say (but an [[EldritchAbomination Old God]] would be a good bet). Years later, Arthas raised him in undeath. You can obtain Invincible's Reins (which allows you to summon Invincible) after defeating the Lich King, but the drop rate is one of the lowest in the game.
396* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'' gives the PlayerCharacter a spectral steed named Torrent, enabling them to more easily traverse the open world and DoubleJump around enemy attacks.
397* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
398** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderSCrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'', the Iliac Bay [[WarGod god of war]], Ebonarm, is said to ride into battle upon his "golden stallion", War Master. Ebonarm himself is a BlackKnight, [[TwentyFourHourArmor never seen without]] his dark ebony armor, and has an [[BladeBelowTheShoulder ebony sword permanently fused to his right arm]].
399** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' introduces 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. You could also knock her out and store an infinite amount of items in her, effectively making weight limits on what you can carry pointless. Shadowmere then returns in ''Skyrim'', as something...''more''...than a normal horse.
400** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' adds Arvak in its ''Dawnguard'' DLC. Arvak is a skeletal horse glowing with purple flames, and is a summoned creature, making him functionally immortal.
401** In the series' backstory, the Redguards of Hammerfell have a cool horse breed known as the Yokudan Charger. It came over with their ancestors during the migration from [[{{Atlantis}} Yokuda]], is well adapted to Hammerfell's desert climate, and is said to make for one of the best war steeds in Tamriel.
402* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater''. 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... [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejzNm8nDXN4 do stuff to it]].
403* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'':
404** Helios's fiery steeds are all lesser gods.
405** Poseidon's Leviathans are a part of his god form.
406** Chrono's steeds. THEY'RE A HUNDRED FEET TALL AND MADE OF LIVING STONE!!!
407* Each of the Four Horsemen from ''VideoGame/{{Darksiders}}'' has one:
408** Ruin from is the horse of War. It's a black horse with hooves and fetlocks of fire.
409** ''VideoGame/DarksidersII'' gives us Despair, the mount of choice for Death. Instead of Ruin's red motif, Despair has a greenish-blue colour scheme.
410** Rampage is Fury's horse in ''VideoGame/DarksidersIII''. He is a black horse with a white-blue mane and tail.
411** Mayhem is Strife's horse. He is a WhiteStallion.
412* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' has its share:
413** Recurring summon Odin always has a horse in '''some''' way. In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'', he was mounted on a normal-looking horse. ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' upgraded it to [[Myth/NorseMythology a six-legged beast]], occasionally named Sleipnir, which has persisted through most appearances in the series. ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' has him turn '''into''' a horse to go with the game's transformation gimmick.
414** [[HorseOfADifferentColor Boko]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' who carries three people at once while jumping over pits during an earthquake.
415** Ixion from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' is a damn awesome unicorn, once you get past that [[HellishHorse 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.]]
416* The player gets a magnificient horse in ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption''. If you're in a foul mood you can even shoot and skin it! In the Undead Nightmare expansion pack, Not only are there four [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse "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 [[EverythingsBetterWithRainbows leaves a rainbow behind it as it runs]].
417* The second stage of ''VideoGame/{{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.
418* ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsOnline'' 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.
419* In ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'', Handsome Jack, resident insanely rich BigBad, taunts you over the ECHO network that he has recently bought a horse made of diamonds, because he's ''rich''. It's an actual, living horse made of diamond, which he names Butt Stallion, in honor of you.
420** In ''Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep'', [[spoiler:Butt Stallion is the queen that you're trying to save.]]
421** In ''VideoGame/TalesFromTheBorderlands'', Fiona can find a statue of Butt Stallion as part of the museum tour of Handsome Jack's old office on the Helios space station. As part of a way to distract the guards, she can shoot the statue. [[spoiler: It bleeds]]. Depending on if Rhys sided with [[spoiler:the Handsome Jack AI]], a later scannable item can reveal that [[spoiler:after Jack's death, Butt Stallion because depressed and eventually went completely inert, turning into the statue in the office tour]].
422* The carriages in ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' are pulled by robotic Steampunk horses.
423* Cool Horses are the entire basis of pet game VideoGame/ValleyOfUnicorns.
424* The Good Queen of ''VideoGame/{{Tsioque}}'' rides one on her way to battle the Phoenix, the horse equipped with a unicorn-style mask.
425* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' gives the Inquisitor a vast array of mounts, including several kinds of horses (and a number of non-horse creatures, like dracoliches and ''giant nugs''). The "Flames of the Inquisition" DLC specifically includes a magnificent barded charger, which comes with its own awesome armor.
426* ''VideoGame/{{Paladins}}'' puts its champions on horseback whenever they start the match and respawn so they can get to the battle faster. The horses come in many different varieties, such as the standard brown, the black-coated Onyx Stallion, the [[HellishHorse Infenal Warhorse]], the [[{{Unicorn}} Candy Unicorn]], the red-armored Scarlet Charger, and the icy Frostmare.
427* In ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'':
428** [[ExtraOreDinary Rell, the Iron Maiden]], rides a "horse" that's actually just [[AnimatedArmor a set of bulky chunks of armor that she animates to serve as a mount]]. Her gameplay shifts between disassembling it into a metal suit for herself and reassembling it into a ride for mobility.
429** [[YinYangBomb Senna, the Redeemer]], usually carries a large magical railgun, and in her [[AlternateUniverse alternate-canon]] [[WeirdWest High Noon]] skin, it was redesigned to be [[EquippableAlly the alternate form]] of a half-demonic, half-angelic steed named Sentinel.
430--->'''Senna''': My horse shoots things. Good horse.
431* ''Sands of Salzaar'' from Han Squirrel Games has the ghostly steed Thunderbolt. You get Thunderbolt if you defeat the spirit of a legendary general. When you win, you can choose either his horse or his armor. Besides being faster than a cheetah, Thunderbolt gives you a free Level 2 skill in Equestrian which boosts the hitting power of your mounted troops. More commonplace but still fairly cool are Armoured Horses, riding these gives a 5% damage reduction on top of whatever a hero already has. Outside of horses, cool mounts also include cheetahs and giant eagles (these birds are only available in one location unfortunately). There's also a quest that nets you an unique Brown Horse which gets called Reliable Horse - nothing fancy looking but gives a hero a big boost to their health when you or they ride it.
432[[/folder]]
433
434[[folder:Visual Novels]]
435* Stormseeker, the grey stallion in ''VisualNovel/SwordDaughter'', clearly owes some inspiration to Tolkien's Shadowfax and is described as a "prince of horses." He's as intelligent as a human, helps the protagonists by request rather than by command, and has supernatural powers, including the ability to cover much more distance than the length of his strides should account for and to help anyone running alongside him do the same.
436-->'''Gavin:''' How else can you catch up with a storm?
437[[/folder]]
438
439[[folder:Web Animation]]
440* [[WebAnimation/WeeblAndBob Jonti "Weebl" Picking]]:
441** [[http://www.weebls-stuff.com/songs/Amazing+Horse/ "Look at my horse, my horse is amazing..."]]
442** "Look at [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic my pony]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyvA9NUD8wk my pony's amazing..."]]
443* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'' gives us Bombproof, Striker's horse, which not only appears to have fangs and horns, but also flames as a part of his body.
444[[/folder]]
445
446[[folder:Webcomics]]
447* Windstriker, Miko's horse, in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''. See above about paladins and D&D.
448** By the same token, Lloyd's horse Sandstorm in the ''[[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick Order of the Stick]]''-inspired ''Webcomic/MurphysLaw''.
449* Shiratz (actually an AI) and the G.E.M.'s in ''Webcomic/UNAFrontiers''.
450* Takan'dor, Arid's huge, jet-black war horse in ''Webcomic/PlanesOfEldlor''.
451* ''Webcomic/MadameOutlaw'': Faust, the gang's stallion, is finicky and bad-tempered, but strong enough to do the work of multiple horses.
452* Vane's mount Diamonds in ''Webcomic/NextTownOver'', who is already a hardy horse before becoming a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot zombie cyborg horse]].
453* ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup'' has the Bunny, which served as a mount for Richard when he was transformed into a baby (a "Little Dick," if you will).
454* In ''Webcomic/TheWallachianLibrary'', Death is implied to not only be the WhiteMare of the Riders of the Apocalypse, but that she's also the supernatural entity described in the Apocalyose, not her Rider.
455* Suzie's loyal steed [[http://www.zombieranchcomic.com/episode/its-a-living/ Popcorn]] in ''Webcomic/ZombieRanch'' may not have the most badass name, but despite his [[TheAllegedSteed rickety appearance]] he's survived shotgun blasts, tramplings, and who knows what else. It probably helps that he's been [[RaisingTheSteaks undead]] the whole time.
456* In ''Webcomic/PrincessPrincess'', Amira has a steed that charges through solid walls if Amira claims that there's a cookie on the other side.
457[[/folder]]
458
459[[folder:Web Original]]
460* In ''Podcast/TheAdventureZone'', Taako can summon a glorious talking, spectral, possibly unkillable unicorn named Garyl.
461* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', Ax's horse Widowmaker aka Dubya.
462* Bad Horse from ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog''. Just don't try to ride him... or he'll [[BlackComedyRape make you his mare]]!
463* ''Blog/HowToHero'' features a horse that is on fire and also a ghost. The guide posits that its offspring would make excellent racehorses.
464* ''LetsPlay/{{Mahu}}'': In "Frozen Flame" all heroes in the army of prince Arius, including the prince himself, ride to battle in large, armored steeds.
465[[/folder]]
466
467[[folder:Western Animation]]
468* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'':
469** Lady Rainicorn, and Lord Monochromicorn.
470** Sir Slicer's horse in 'Blood Under the Skin'.
471* WesternAnimation/RainbowBrite 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.
472** 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.
473** There’s also Krys' horse ON-X. Unlike the other two, he was a robotic black steed who could speak.
474* Parodied with Twinkle the Marvel Horse on ''WesternAnimation/DaveTheBarbarian'', who has the technicolor hair and flowery tack of your average girly fantasy pony, but talks like Creator/ChristopherWalken and speaks endlessly of his morbid dreams about screaming maggots of death and doing unmentionable things to penguins.
475* Arguably Appa, from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. Not a horse, but a huge, 10-ton, six-legged flying bison. With an arrow on his head. How is that not awesome?!
476* ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake'':
477** 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.
478** 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'').
479* ''WesternAnimation/PrincessGwenevereAndTheJewelRiders'' (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).
480* The "cybersteeds" in ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers''.
481* ''WesternAnimation/GaltarAndTheGoldenLance'': Galtar rides a horned, blue horse-like creature named Thork, who was brave and strong and intelligent.
482* ''WesternAnimation/{{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.
483* WesternAnimation/{{Wildfire}}, from the series of the same name
484* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower'': 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.
485* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
486** Played with in the 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 [[Radio/TheLoneRanger "Hi-ho, Twilight! Away!"]]). Twilight is not amused. Of course, this does not prevent her from indulging him anyway.
487** Spike also once tried this with the horses pulling the carriage taking the gang to the Grand Galloping Gala. [[AllThereInTheScript Caramel and Lucky Clover]] weren't very amused.
488** Spike indulges in this once again, more successfully, in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E13DoPrincessesDreamOfMagicSheep Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?]]" In the shared dream, after turning into a DragonKnight, he picks a giant-sized Derpy Hooves as his flying mount, who enthusiastically play along.
489* ''WesternAnimation/ZorroTheChronicles'': Tornado is not only fast and strong, he's perfectly capable of fighting off criminals all by himself.
490* ''WesternAnimation/{{Centaurworld}}'':
491** The simply-named Horse, a grey warhorse fierce enough to crush the skulls of her enemies, brave enough to jump stakes, and loyal enough to die for her rider. [[spoiler:Over the course of her quest, she also develops a super-tough cartoony physique that, while it makes her look like "two beach balls had a weird kid", also makes her immune to falls and grants her magic that lets her dive into people's memories.]]
492** Becky Apples can be best described as a psychopath on hooves, fully willing and able to storm a castle of minotaurs all by herself. She has her own (large) killcount scratched on her bridle, defied her rider's control to jump a chasm that said rider thought was impassible, [[spoiler:and bucks the BigBad's human half down a fatal drop]] in the finale, clearing the way for someone else to deliver his deathblow. If not for her complete disregard for humans, she would be a perfect horse; as it is, the army only gets her to cooperate by bribing her with apples. To top ''all this'' off: in a setting where a horse's choice of rider says a lot about who they are, the only rider Becky has ever stuck with is [[spoiler:a literal princess]].
493* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': While not a literal horse, the Horse Miraculous gives its wielder the power to teleport, along with a horseshoe weapon that can be used like a boomerang and the typical Miraculous-wielder powers of super strength and agility. The Miraculous even manifests itself as a pair of CoolShades.
494* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'': The Horse Talisman grants the wielder healing and regeneration abilities. In Season 2, when the talismans' powers are transferred to real animals, the healing powers are given to a talented British race horse called Royal Medicine.
495[[/folder]]
496
497[[folder:Real Life]]
498* [[UsefulNotes/HorseRacing Race Horses]]:
499** Phar Lap, probably one of New Zealand's (or Australia's) most famous celebrities. There are unsupported allegations that he was so fast that when he was brought to the US, he was poisoned by the mob.
500** Makybe Diva. Don't laugh at the name, she won the [[UsefulNotes/SportInAustralia Melbourne Cup]] three times in a row.
501** Surpassed by Black Caviar, the Australian filly who has now retired with a 25-race winning record.
502** 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.
503** 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.
504** 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''.)
505*** For that matter, any horse that wins the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Crown_of_Thoroughbred_Racing_(United_States)Triple Crown]] (Winning the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.) qualifies. From the creation of the youngest of the three races (Kentucky Derby, 1875) only 13 horses (including Secretariat) have won all three races, the first such achievement occurring 1919. Naturally, this leads to impressively long "Drought" periods, the most recent of which lasted for 37 years (1978-2014). It was widely thought in the 2010s that there would never be another triple crown winner. The reasons for this are that horse owners would frequently change out horses for the Belmont Stakes, which is last of the three races run and the longest (1 1/2 miles vs. 1 1/4 mile and 1 3/16ths mile at the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes) is difficult for horses that are more suited for the first two races and many of the horses in Belmont are fresh for the race, while Triple Crown Challengers may still be recovering from the first two runs. It's still a very impressive feat as winning any one of these three races would give a horse a good claim to Cool Horse status. Winning the Triple Crown means your a Cool Horse's Cool Horse.
506** 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), is awesome. After lagging 18 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, he pulled slightly ahead, then she 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.
507** 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.
508** Cigar. 33 starts, 19 wins, 4 places, 5 shows. He earned more than eight million dollars, and had a sixteen-race winning streak that included the Breeder's Cup Classic.
509** Red Rum is the only horse ever to have won the Grand National ''three times'' (and on both of the other occasions when he entered it, he finished second). Over a decade after his death, a polling company found that he's still the best-known horse in Britain.
510** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kincsem 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. 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 Romani people -- 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.
511** Many Japanese racehorse examples were carefully collected and... [[MoeAnthropomorphism turned into anime girls]] for the Anime/UmaMusumePrettyDerby franchise. Listing all 60 here would be overkill, but some key horses are:
512*** Silence Suzuka, who was so strikingly fast that he kept winning races in 1998 by immense distances, starting out in the lead with no other horse being able to overtake. Unfortunately, this did not end well; in one of those races, while in that kind of lead, the horse broke down on flat ground. A bone in a front leg shattered in several pieces, possibly "tired out" by Suzuka running far too fast far too much. For a racehorse, there was [[MercyKill only one option after that]]. But first, the horse, in an act of apparent equine heroism, did not fall over; he slowed down gradually, having to use the broken leg in a lot of pain, in order to save his jockey, Yutaka Take. After this, Take drank to the point of passing out, which was not normal for him.
513---> The jockey for Suzuka, Yutaka Take said in a interview once that usually it would not be unlikely for a horse to fall down after breaking its leg while running, but Suzuka did not because he did not want Take to get hurt. Suzuka was known for being a gentle and friendly horse. He also seemed to know what the jockey riding him wanted and would follow orders well.
514*** El Condor Pasa, who was actually American-born, but Japanese-owned and racing first in Japan. He started with an unbeaten record of five races, before losing one (Mainichi Okan 1998) to Silence Suzuka. A rematch was highly anticipated but never happened, because Suzuka was critically injured in a race before that (note that unlike the anime, El Condor Pasa was ''not'' in Suzuka's last race). El Condor Pasa went on to win the prestigious Japan Cup before being sent to France, where he won a couple more races and came a very narrow second in L'Arc de Triomphe.
515*** Haru Urara, a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] of sorts. She never won a race, but she kept fighting on, eventually attracting a very significant fandom for her [[PluckyGirl pure pluck]]. Eventually, a [[https://vimeo.com/176459945 documentary]] about her was created, which includes some animated sequences. So now she has the distinction of being animated ''twice''.
516* Personal steeds and warhorses:
517** Bucephalus was the horse of UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat, and supposedly a huge black stallion that [[FluffyTamer could not be tamed by anyone but the 13-year-old prince]]. Because of his unusually big head, he got the rather unglamorous name "Ox-head".
518** UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington had his trusty steed, Nelson.
519** Toes, the horse(s) of UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar. 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.
520** Babieca, famous warhorse of the Spanish hero Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (a.k.a. El Cid). Legends have it that when the Cid died, [[ElCidPloy 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.
521** Trigger, Roy Roger's horse. According to Website/TheOtherWiki, 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 ''Film/TheAdventuresOfRobinHood'' prior to being cast as Trigger. Now ''that'' is a Cool Horse!
522** Although [[HorseOfADifferentColor 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.
523** Matsukaze, the legendary horse of the legendary samurai Maeda Toshimasu, better known as Maeda Keiji. Matsukaze was said to be bred from the finest bloodlines, but was so wild that no one could ride him. Through unknown means, perhaps because he was rather wild himself, Maeda Keiji managed to tame Matsukaze and they were inseparable from then on. Matsukaze was said to be incredibly strong compared to other horses and could carry his master's large frame for days. It is also said that when Maeda Keiji died Matsukaze ran away and was never seen again.
524** Traveller, the main horse of [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Robert E. Lee]], known for his courage, strength and stamina in combat and admired by just about everyone who came in contact with him. He also outlived Lee by several months.
525** Cincinnati was the most famous horse of UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant, himself a noted and skilled equestrian, who quickly decided this horse was his favorite. Grant kept several horses during the war, though (as cavalry officers did) - Cincinnati being only one, and his usual battle mount was actually a horse named Jeff Davis. However, since Grant rode Cincinnati on the way to the Appomattox Court House to accept the Confederate surrender from Lee he's usually the horse Grant is depicted riding in paintings and statues.
526** While Napoleon wasn't great a horseman as much of the owners of the above examples, his favourite mount, Marengo - is worth mentioning. He famously carried Napoleon for half a day during the Battle of Marengo, one of Napoleon's closet victories. The horse lived a charmed life, getting wounded eight times, made 80-mile runs in Spain in less than five hours, and survived the infamous retreat from Moscow (which many of his fellow steers didn't).
527** Coperhagen, the Duke of Wellington's own mount ably carried his master to ultimate victory at Waterloo after seventeen hours and almost kicked him to death when he was patted on the flank by accident.
528** Chetak, the noble steed of Maharana Pratap of Mewar. When his master was wounded at the Battle of Haldighati, barely clinging to life and almost unconscious in the saddle, Chetak, acting of his own accord, carried Pratap away from the battlefield and into the hills, saving his life.
529* Proving you don't have to be ridden to be a CoolHorse, Cuddles the miniature horse was the first trained "guide horse" to take up duty as an escort and companion for a blind man. Like other guide animals, Cuddles assists his person in navigating both indoor and outdoor surroundings, warns him of steps or poor footing, and follows some 23 verbal commands.
530* Napoleon Bonaparte's cavalry arm had one special unit called the ''Grenadiers á cheval'' - literally "Horse Grenadiers" - whose 5'11 foot tall riders (far taller than the average man at the time) rode on giant black horses.
531* Marine Staff Sergeant Reckless. She was a pack horse for the US 1st Marine Regiment during the Korean War who carried recoilless rifle ammunition to the troops at the front line and evacuated wounded to the rear, all while under fire. She eventually became adept enough at her task that she memorized the supply routes and could work solo without a handler. For her service she was given official rank and was awarded several decorations, including two purple hearts and a good conduct medal.
532* Bill The Bastard, who was a horse in the Australian Light Horse in the First World War and served at Gallipoli and the Battle of Beersheba. A very apt and Australian name, Bill was unrideable by anyone except one man, Major Michael Shanahan. Bill proved his worth though, when he and Shanahan rescued four soldiers who were trapped by enemy gunfire, and Bill carried the four riders and Shanahan out - at the same time. When Shanahan was severely wounded by a bullet while mounted, Bill very carefully walked to the nearest medical station - a veterinary unit.
533* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clever_Hans Clever Hans]]: a cool horse, and an interesting lesson in human-animal interaction. Clever Hans was a popular sideshow attraction in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century, apparently able to perform arithmetic by answering questions (both oral and written) from his handler, Wilhelm von Osten. What Hans was actually doing was reading the body language of von Osten and others around him; for example, if asked "what is seven plus eight?" Hans would tap his hoof until he saw, right after his fourteenth tap, that everyone flinched, almost imperceptibly and completely involuntarily. This told Hans that his next tap was the correct answer. This "flinching" is almost impossible for humans to detect, but among domesticated animals with limited vocal capacity, it's a primary means of communication.
534[[/folder]]
535----
536[-Look at my horse, my horse is amazing!-]

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