In 2004, when the Senate agreed to designate December 13 as the National Day of the Horse, the resolution acknowledged that “horses continue to permeate the society of the United States, as witnessed on movie screens, on open land, and in our own backyards” and are “a vital part of the collective experience of the United States.”
Nowhere is that vital role clearer than in the archive of LIFE Magazine’s great 20th century photography, which features these majestic creatures in all of their many roles. They’re athletes (Seabiscuit), movie stars (National Velvet), military troops, farm workers, even gamblers — not to mention beloved companions. In one 1952 gimmick, a horse that supposedly possessed clairvoyant powers even composed a headline for a LIFE story about herself. (She was clairvoyant, not creative: the headline was “Talking Horse.”)
To mark the celebration of horses now and then, here’s a look back at 25 of the most memorable horses in LIFE’s pages.
Polo ponies standing in corral at the Peachtree Ranch in Texas, 1939.Carl Mydans—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesChampionship horse Seabiscuit standing in stall after winning Santa Anita Handicap, 1940.Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesDoctor listening to horse's heart beats with stethoscope and recording them on Stetho-Cardiette at University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine, 1940.Alfred Eisenstaedt—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesMoroccan soldier of the French expeditionary force, holding the General's Arabian horse, at garrison in the great citadel, 1940.Margaret Bourke-White—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesStallion trying to make friends with a barn cat, 1943.Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesMan watching his work horse drink from a water trough, 1944.Fritz Goro—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesElizabeth Taylor posing with saddle horse after her smash movie debut in "National Velvet," 1945.Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesBoys riding a horse to schools, 1946.Bernard Hoffman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesLucky horse playing roulette in Las Vegas, 1947.Jon Brenneis—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesGene Autry astride his horse Champion surveying his Ranch, 1948.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesForeman of the JA Ranch Clarence Hailey Long sitting in shade of his horse on prairie, 1949.Leonard McCombe—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesMrs. Mary Breckenridge who runs Frontier Nursing Service, petting her horse.
Leslie Country, Kentucky, 1949.Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images"Lady Wonder," a clairvoyant 27 year old talking horse, can count and spell its name by tipping over lettered panels, 1952.Hank Walker—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesChild standing beside a miniature horse, showing size comparison, 1952.Ed Clark—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesBaby horses scampering down the stretch at Los Alamitos track, 1952.George Silk—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesIn mid air the horse sails gracefully toward the tank, 1953.Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesMidget thoroughbred filly, Big Bertha, and her mother on Woodland farm, 1954.Lisa Larsen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images6 year old cowboy learning how to shoe a horse, 1954.Allan Grant—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesYoung girl riding her pony as colt follows, 1956.Robert W. Kelley—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images"Misty of Chincoteague" wild horse at farewell party before returning home to Chincoteague Island, 1957.Grey Villet—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesHarness racing at All-Russia horse show at the Hippodrome, 1958.Howard Sochurek—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesTrader Horn nuzzling young friend in stall at Roosevelt Raceway, 1959.Donald Uhrbrock—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesIsraeli children of Habad sect, frolic with horse and cart at farm village, 1960.Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesTroika race at Hippodrome, 1963.Stan Wayman—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesJimmy the horse rollerskating down road in front of its farm, 1963.Joseph Scherschel—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
