5 Movies That Strike Fear Into Horse Lovers

With the Kentucky Derby coming up this weekend, it got us thinking about how horses have been portrayed in movies. Sure, we all love Francis (who’s technically a mule) and Flicka, but what about the darker side? Here’s a list of scenes that featured equine characters a much rougher time:

The Godfather (1972)

Poor Khartoum. The championship racehorse’s only crime was being owned by Jack Woltz, the bombastic Hollywood exec who just wouldn’t budge on giving Frank Sinat — er, Johnny Fontane that part. The Corleones changed Woltz’s mind by serving him the most horrible breakfast in bed imaginable — the thoroughbred’s head.

Equus (1977)

Horse lovers must consider this the ultimate horror film. Sidney Lumet’s adaptation of the award-winning play centers around a troubled young man who has a psychosexual fixation with horses, and is moved to blind six of them horrifically with a large blade. Makes a nice double-bill with Hot to Trot.

Dances With Wolves (1990)

From the moment Lt. Dunbar takes his brave steed Cisco on a daring run through a Confederate firing line, the horse is a fully formed, lovable character. That makes the agonizingly long scene where Cisco is shot down by sadistic Union soldiers all the more unbearable. We still haven’t forgiven you, Kevin Costner.

The Horse Whisperer (1998)

Most of Robert Redford’s frontier drama is filled with beautiful scenery and mushy romance, but the sequence that sets it all up is genuinely harrowing. Involving a snowy embankment, a semi-truck and a very young Scarlett Johansson, your heart breaks at the loss of life and innocence.

The Ring (2002)

This horror flick has many disturbing moments, but one of the most memorable involves Naomi Watts innocently approaching a horse aboard a ferry, only to drive it into a suicidal frenzy. We had the same reaction to The Ring Two.

Here are some other equine horrorshows:

Bite the Bullet (1975)

The Cell (2000)

In Pursuit of Honor (1995)

Lonesome Dove (1989)