History Main / TheAllegedSteed

* In the Creator/Sky1 adaptation of ''Film/GoingPostal'', Moist begins his long career as a con artist by selling off his family's worthless old nag -- after cleaning it up so that it actually looks capable of being ridden.

* The title horse in the [[UsefulNotes/NewberyMedal Newbery]]-winning novel ''Literature/KingOfTheWind'', Sham, is treated as an Alleged Steed for much of the book. After he's sent from the Caliph's stables (where he's prized as one of the finest horses) to the King of England as a gift, the English stablemaster considers him a long-necked, undersized, weedy runt and an insult to the stables, and sends him to the horse auction. Even his final owner considers him an Alleged Steed until the colt that he sired (on a mare he was never supposed to be allowed near) outraces all of the man's other, carefully-bred, racehorses, and realizes what he has in Sham. The epilogue explains that Sham is the horse known as the Godolphin Arabian, one of [[http://tiny.cc/nuwqv the three foundation sires]] of modern thoroughbred horses.

* Myth/RussianMythologyAndTales: Russian hero of TheFool archetype is the youngest of three brothers who inherits The Horsie-Hunchie and was laughed at and dismissed for one more reason. It turns out not only Horsie [[SapientSteed can give a good advice]], but having him compete with normal steeds in running jumps is like [[GameBreaker bringing a grasshopper to cockroach racing]]. Whether he and/or the hero will [[TheMakeover look better]] later or whether he gets wings varies in different versions.

* PlayedForDrama at ''Literature/MartinFierro'': When Martin Fierro was recruited to fight at the Frontier, he came in a CoolHorse so cool that the Commander stole it from him. Fierro and the other recruits are forced to use very old and slow horses, and they are fighting {{BadassNative}}s with cool horses.

If the animal's appearance [[WhatAPieceOfJunk turns out to be deceptive and it's unusually strong or fast]], or has TookALevelInBadass through training, then it may be a stealth or an outright CoolHorse.

* Myth/CelticMythology: The hero Conn-Eda recieves a 'shaggy pony' from an old druid to bring him to fairy-land. The horse not only successfully does so, once they reach the outskirts of the fairies' city, [[SapientSteed it tells him]] that the only way for him to get in safely is for him to kill the pony, skin it, and wear its skin over his head until he gets inside the city. [[TearJerker He does so.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/PinkPanther'': In "Pinto Pink", the horse is not only rather shabby, but also very gleeful. (Pink Panthers idea to pimp it by nailing roller skates under its hooves only increases the load of AmusingInjuries.)

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}''

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'': {{Lampshaded}} with Donkey. [[spoiler:Until he becomes a stallion in ''Shrek 2''.]]

* In ''[[Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar Magic's Promise]]'' by Creator/MercedesLackey, there is a vile-tempered horse that's alleged to be a Shina'in stallion. All he's got is the colour.

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* It is believed that in Chaturanga, the original form of TabletopGame/{{Chess}}, each King could move like the Horse (=Knight) exactly once -- after that the horse was apparently exhausted.

* One ''WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck'' comic set in the Wild West had Sheriff Donald repeatedly mocked by his nephews for his feeble horse, which snorted in tired protest whenever required to do anything at all. Donald, for his part, insisted that the horse wasn't feeble, it just had hay fever.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'': The Grand Chawhee, which only won the race because it was his birthday and the other horses wanted to do him a favor.
* As depicted atop this page, during "Literature/TheLegendOfSleepyHollow" segment of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfIchabodAndMrToad'', Ichabod Crane borrows a skin-and-bones, broken down plow horse to ride to Von Tassel's Halloween ball, traveling at a plodding pace. When faced with the Headless Horseman on the way home however, he panics and [[RunOrDie takes off like a champion racehorse,]] outrunning the Horseman's [[HellishHorse black steed.]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Creator/BusterKeaton worked with a few:
** The deaf, denture-wearing horse in "Film/{{Cops|1922}}".
** The mismatched team that draws his chariot in the Roman Empire segments of ''Film/ThreeAges''.

* [[Film/TheThreeStooges Moe, Larry, and Curly]] ended up with one of these plugs [[RunningGag more than once]].

* Kid Shelleen's horse in ''Film/CatBallou'' is apparently just as drunk as he is.

* ''Film/LeanOnPete'': The titular horse is described as an aging and mediocre racehorse bound for the slaughterhouse (something main character Charley avoids by stealing him).

* ''Literature/DonQuixote'': Rocinante, the noble steed of Don Quixote, has achieved TropeNamer status in the Spanish language.
* In ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'', d'Artagnan is introduced riding a yellow horse (later named Buttercup) so old and funny-looking that it is mocked by Rochefort, thus establishing the enmity between the characters. The resemblance of d'Artganan and Buttercup to Don Quixote and Rocinante is {{Lampshaded}} by the author.
* ''Literature/TheLegendOfSleepyHollow'': Ichabod Crane's borrowed mount, Gunpowder, in Washington Irving's story.
-->"The animal he bestrode was a broken-down plow-horse, that had outlived almost everything but its viciousness."

* ''The Brogue'': In the short story by Creator/{{Saki}}, the eponymous gelding is known throughout the neighborhood for violently startling at little to no provocation, recklessly endangering its rider. At the beginning of the story, its owner has finally managed to sell it... to his daughter's wealthy fiancé.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'' has Lieutenant Blouse's horse Thalecephalus, a skinny, bad-tempered brown ''mare'' named after a legendary stallion. (Blouse is ridiculously shortsighted.)
** ''Literature/GoingPostal'' has Moist von Lipwig's talent to make Alleged Steeds look much better than they actually are, "for about ten minutes, or until it rains."
* In Douglas Hill's ''Blade of the Poisoner'' and ''Master of Fiends'', Scythe's horse Hob is a subversion, as he's a stealth CoolHorse.

* In ''Literature/{{Cerberon}}'', Thedrik's old mule is half blind, unreliable, and cranky. He still chooses her over a good horse when given the chance.

* Talat from ''Literature/TheHeroAndTheCrown'' becomes this after a severe injury. Aerin helps to restore him to CoolHorse status.
* The parson Yorick in ''[[Literature/TristramShandy The Life And Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman]]'', owned one, explicitly compared to Rocinante. Despite a love of fine horses, he keeps this one to avoid the expense of constantly replacing them when worn out from being loaned out to fetch a doctor over several miles of bad road.
* In ''Literature/BelisariusSeries'', lord Venandakatra presents the Axumites with his largest, unruliest war elephants. The Axumites, being used to African elephants, soundly dissect the allegation that these runts are real elephants.

* PlayedForDrama at ''Literature/MartinFierro'': When Martin Fierro was recruited to fight at the Frontier, he came in a CoolHorse so cool that the Commander stole it from him. Fierro and the other recruits are forced to use very old and slow horses, and they are fighting {{BadassNative}}s with cool horses.

* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': In "Geraldine", Benny Romero talks Miss Brooks into buying a sixteen-year-old swayback mare for the Miss Nestor's school's riding academy. "Geraldine" does prove to be a horse of unique value: it turns out she's expecting and by episode's end gives birth to triplets. In RealLife, the chances of a mare giving birth to live triplets is 1 in 300,000.

* The nag the crew from ''Series/{{Hustle}}'' attempt to pass off as a race horse in "Signing Up to Wealth".
* In the Creator/Sky1 adaptation of ''Film/GoingPostal'', Moist begins his long career as a con artist by selling off his family's worthless old nag -- after cleaning it up so that it actually looks capable of being ridden.

* ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors 3'' has the horse the random soldiers use from time to time. Anyone can use em, and they move faster than walking, but they're scared of EVERYTHING!!! Wanna move across the battlefield? Better hope there are no troops in the way whatsoever. Yes, even your own. Otherwise, you're better off walking.
* Subverted in ''VideoGame/ClockworkKnight'' with Pepper's horse, Barobaro. He may be a bit nearsighted and unreliable ([[GameplayAndStorySegregation in the story at least]]), but he manages to help Pepper on his journey regardless.
* Can be [[InvokedTrope invoked]] in the Nintendo Switch version of ''VideoGame/{{Miitopia}}'', since the horse can be customized, and appears as this customization as soon as it first appears on screen being attacked by [[TheGoomba goblins]]. In fact, it is the only customizable major character in the game to not have a Mii head.

* Played with in ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'': Gabe plays Bella Sara and accidentally creates [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/5/26/ The Unhorse]], which is this trope [[ExaggeratedTrope and then some]].
* ''Webcomic/{{Gaia}}'': Viviana's horse [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/gaia/2014/11/25/breaking-all-barriers-023/ Casper]]. Vivi, who is not a bold or skilled rider, values him for his gentleness.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheReplacements'': Prince Cinnamon Boots.

* On the WesternAnimation/{{Classic Disney Short|s}} "They're Off!", Goofy bets on Snapshot III, the even money candidate, while someone else bets on the 100 to 1 shot Old Moe. Snapshot easily takes the lead and even trips up the other racers... except Old Moe, who through sheer perseverance closes up the gap, leading to a photo finish. The winner is [[spoiler:Old Moe, because Snapshot couldn't resist posing for the camera.]]
* ''Westernanimation/HereComesTheGrump'': Grump's klutzy dragon. [[RuleOfFunny Only when it's funny]], though--when the Grump needs to catch up with Dawn and Terry to keep the plot moving, Dragon has no difficulty overtaking their CoolAirship.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'', Pete wins a horse like this in a card game. He manages to turn it to his advantage by included shares of the horse's winnings with the used cars he sells, not worried about paying many times its winnings because it would never win anything. Unfortunately said horse is one of said stealth {{cool horse}}s once its broken shoe is fixed, and Pete ends up with a SpringtimeForHitler on his hands.
* [[WesternAnimation/DogtanianAndTheThreeMuskehounds Dogtanian]], like [[Literature/TheThreeMusketeers d'Artagnan]], has an elderly yellow horse, this one called Sandy. (Although Sandy is a far better horse than he looks.)
* When [[WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst Sofia]] decides to tryout for her school's flying derby team, the only pegasus left is Minimus, who resembles a donkey with wings, and flat out tells her that he's no good. Despite his disadvantages, with practice he and Sofia are able to make the team.
* ''WesternAnimation/GravedaleHigh'': In "Frankenjockey", a race horse named Hoover, who has never won a single race, escapes and befriends Frankentyke, who is annoyed at first, but warms up to him. However, when Max calls a hotline and reports Hoover's escape, [[EvilBrit Liverpool]], Hoover's trainer's, [[SmugSnake true colors are shown]], and the bet is that if Hoover wins the race, he's set free. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, Hoover and Frankentyke lose by mugging in the photo finish, but Sid points out that the rival horse switched jockeys, which means Hoover wins in the end]].

* Tyrone's tiny and very slow donkey Molasses in ''WesternAnimation/TheBackyardigans'' episode "Horsing Around". When he wins the race at the end of the episode, it's only because the other jockeys were {{LastSecondShowoff}}s.
* One episode of ''Westernanimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' had a feline companion of Cactus Jake (who, of course, resembled Garfield) being riddled with what he described as "the only horse in the world that's allergic to cats", hence the horse sneezing all the time and not being very useful.

* The horse Petruchio rides to his wedding in ''Theatre/TheTamingOfTheShrew'' takes this trope UpToEleven, apparently. Unfortunately, this being a stage show, [[TakeOurWordForIt we never actually get to see it]].

If the animal's appearance [[WhatAPieceOfJunk turns out to be deceptive and it's unusually strong or fast]], or TookALevelInBadass, then it may be a stealth CoolHorse.

May overlap with MoodyMount. See HorsingAround for healthy horses with attitude problems. Compare with TheAllegedCar, TheAllegedComputer, and TheAllegedHouse for other items of dubious quality.

** The deaf, denture-wearing horse in ''Film/{{Cops}}''.

-->'''Dickinson:''' Last night, my youngest son, Charlie was gunned down in cold blood right here in our own hotel. The gutless murderer... also shot to death Miss Thel Russel, the fiancee of my beloved son. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Not only that, but he stole a very spirited and valuable horse, a beautiful young Pinto that belonged to my personal family stable.]]
-->'''Conway Twill:''' Hell, only, a Pinto ain't rightly a horse to fret much about, if the truth be told --
-->'''Dickinson: Shut up!''' My boy Charlie is ''dead!'' Oh, I ain't askin' this time. I'm tellin'. And if somebody don't like it, I'm prepared to do a little killin' of my own. ''(later)'' I want this out over the wires. Post a $5000 reward from here to hell and back. Bring everybody in. I want that bastard's head. And make sure you include a full description of my Pinto. I want that horse back.
-->'''Twill:''' ''(cut to)'' ...goddamn Pinto is a stupid damn animal. Stupid as the day is long. Got his heart so set on one. Buy yourself a sorrel horse, and paint some white spots on him as far as I'm concerned. Course, ya can't put much stock in a man who spends the most part of a conversation... [[ItMakesSenseInContext talking to a bear... talking to a goddamn bear]].