Last week’s post about the phenomenal ‘Horse Outside‘ (naturally the world’s media followed our lead a couple of days later) got me to thinking – what other great songs have been written about horses?

Horses play an important role in  western cultural mythology – think everything from the cowboys to Black Beauty – and it’s no less pronounced in music. Horses are hugely symbolic creatures: strong, graceful and difficult to tame. In other words, the very qualities that most (male) musicians would like to see in themselves.

I’ve decided to limit the countdown to actual horse-related songs, which unfortunately means no euphemisms. That means no ‘Horse it Into Ya, Cynthia‘ and no Band of Horses. It also excludes every song ever written about heroin, which rules out 90% of rock songs written between 1968 and 1995.

#5: Metallica – ‘Four Horsemen’ (from Kill ‘Em All)

#4: Aerosmith – – ‘Back in the Saddle’ (from Rocks)

#3: Rolling Stones – ‘Wild Horses’ (from Sticky Fingers)

#2: Iron Maiden – ‘The Trooper’ (from Piece of Mind)

#1: Father Ted – ‘My Lovely Horse’ (from Song for Europe)