Horses run through country, rock and folk as a stand-in for freedom, loss and the open road. Some of these songs are about a real animal with a name; others use the horse to say something about the rider.
Updated 2026
Wildfire by Michael Martin Murphey 1975
A ghost story about a lost pony that still haunts soft-rock radio.
A Horse with No Name by America 1971
A desert ride where the horse matters less than the empty space around it.
Wild Horses by The Rolling Stones 1971
Wild horses couldn't drag me away, one of the band's tenderest ballads.
Old Town Road by Lil Nas X 2019
Horse in the back, riding till he can't no more, in a record-breaking crossover.
Tennessee Stud by Eddy Arnold 1959
A man and his horse outrun trouble across the frontier in this country standard.
Run for the Roses by Dan Fogelberg 1980
A newborn foal raised for the day it lines up at the Kentucky Derby.
Stewball by Peter, Paul and Mary 1963
A folk ballad about a racehorse and the bet riding on him.
The Horses by Daryl Braithwaite 1991
An anthem of escape that turned into a singalong staple down under.
Chestnut Mare by The Byrds 1970
A long, cinematic chase to catch and keep one wild mare.
Back in the Saddle Again by Gene Autry 1939
The singing cowboy's signature, back where a friend is a friend.
(Ghost) Riders in the Sky by Johnny Cash 1979
Doomed cowboys chasing ghostly cattle across the night sky.
The Strawberry Roan by Marty Robbins 1960
A cowboy bets he can break a horse no one else has, and meets his match.