Horse Documentaries, Of Course!
As the saying goes, you can take a horse to water, but you can't make it watch a documentary about its own awesomeness. For the record, know how it really goes: you can take a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. It's a way of saying you can lead someone to an opportunity but you can't force them take it if they don't want to. The phrase dates back centuries, with an appearance in a 16th century book of English proverbs. Phrases involving horses are many and maybe it's a sign of how much we love horses. We as humans are so bonded with horses that they are central in cultural stories around the world, sometimes are intertwined with our identities. Horses are amazing animals that have been integral to many events and eras in our history.
We've compiled some of the best documentaries about equus: the history of the horse, the mythology that surrounds them, and some notable names and tales (tails?) in the horse world.
Native Horses
Let's start this journey with a Colorado Experience documentary that tells the story of the horse in the U.S. that centers Native American and archaeological history. From Rocky Mountain PBS:
The history of our country has always been told from the colonizers’ perspective. One mythology is that horses integrated into Native American cultures after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, but the truth was found hiding in plain sight – in both oral histories and the bones of Native horses. Archaeologists and Native Americans come together to retell the story of the horse.
The Horse Relative
From Pioneer PBS:
Artists James Star Comes Out and Keith Braveheart of the Oglala Lakota tribe of South Dakota and Dakota Wicohan collaborated with Pioneer PBS to create this documentary. Follow the difficult path Native people and their horse relatives traversed, as foreigners settled the surrounding lands and learn how the Dakota people of Minnesota are working to keep their cultural identity thriving.
American Horses
From NATURE: American horses are icons. Mustang. Appaloosa. Morgan. Quarter Horse. Follow the history of the uniquely American horse breeds that helped shape our nation and meet the people who are continuing in the long tradition of caring for them.
NATURE released a comprehensive documentary on all the horses we know and love here in the United States. Learn about wild stallions' behaviors, the different strengths and qualities of the unique breeds, and how communities honor traditions with the help of their horses. For example, you can learn how the Appaloosa horses are part of Nez Perce ceremonies and heritage.
You can stream the full documentary with Passport
Scary Horse Stories
Calling all horror fans! Why are there so many scary stories about horses, though? Why??? Monstrum has three frightful stories from around the world that bring us to the dark side of equine lore.
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How Horses Read Our Expressions
Yes, horses have a deep connection with humans. One reason we feel so close to them is because the emote and express themselves just as we do. And studies show that horses can read human expressions. Their keen emotional awareness is yet another reason we revere these incredible animals.
From the Horse's Mouth
This idiomatic phrase is used to refer to a time when you might want the truth directly from the source. Why would you want to take a look into a horse’s mouth in the first place? Hint: It has nothing to do with dental hygiene and everything to do with the eternal quest for truth. WTVP, Peoria, Illinois' PBS station, has the story.
The Pack Horse Librarians of Appalachia
From KET (Kentucky Educational Television):
This documentary tells the story of pack horse librarians - women hired by the Franklin Roosevelt's Work Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression to travel on horseback to deliver library books and magazines to people in Eastern Kentucky, braving creeks, mountains and inclement weather along the way.
Angels on Horseback: Midwives in the Mountains
In 1925, Mrs. Mary Carson Breckinridge led a team of spirited women to Leslie County, Kentucky and established a demonstration of providing unprecedented healthcare to rural Appalachia. Together, they improved the maternal and infant mortality rates, losing just two maternal patients over a span of 12 years.
You can stream the full documentary with Passport
Star Horses
Horses with main character energy abound. A horse named Steamboat was so iconic that the entire state of Wyoming is now known by its image. And meet one of the most famous horse divers in history, a woman named Sonora Webster Carver. Daredevils they were, Carver and the horses she rode!
