Some Songs About Horses

My sweet ol' Dad always had the dusty a.m. radio in his workshop tuned to the local country station, KNIX. In the house, he'd often have Johnny Cash or Marty Robbins on the record player. As his faithful sidekick, I loved listening to the ballads he favored - and as a horse-crazy kid, I particularly loved the ones featuring horses. I still do. Here are some songs featuring horses, starting with those early favorites. Most of them, of course, have been covered by a plethora of different artists over the years, but I'm defaulting to the artist I most closely associate with the song.  I've attached Amazon links to some of the albums, so you, too, can keep playing your favorites on loop while hauling your horses. (Please note that I may make a commission on purchases through these links, which is greatly appreciated and helps keep my own horses, mules, and donkeys in hay, and me in music!) 

Yes, I do sing to my horses. Call PETA!

The Strawberry Roan, Marty Robbins. Off Marty's Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs album, the one with the hot pink cover and Marty in gunfighter garb ready to clear leather and beat you to the draw, this is one of my earliest favorites (along with every other song on that album). The strawberry roan is an ugly ol' pig-eyed bronc who can toss the cockiest of cowboys. Some cowboys just need to be throwed. Buy it here on CD: Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs

The Tennessee Stud, by Eddy Arnold. The beautiful, flawless voice of the artist who performed Cattle Call to perfection captivated me as a child with a song I never tired of singing along to - and perhaps one of the reasons I always had an affinity for dun horses. "The Tennessee Stud was long and lean, the color of the sun but his eyes were green ... He had the color and he had the blood, and there never was a horse like the Tennessee Stud!" I can't hear the words without smelling the sawdust of Dad's woodshop.  Johnny Cash also covered the song admirably. Eddy Arnold Boxed Set

Comanche (the Brave Horse), Johnny Horton. The man who gave us the epic battle ballads, like The Battle of New Orleans and The Sinking of the Bismarck, also gave us a tribute to Comanche, the surviving horse of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Comanche was quite the equine celebrity at the time. Fun fact: Comanche was stuffed after his death at age 29, and remains intact at the University of Kansas even today. Johnny Horton Greatest Hits

Wildfire, Michael Martin Murphey. I'm going to throw some shade here. I have a love-hate relationship with this schmaltzy sentimental ear worm song about the girl who runs calling "Wildfire." The Best of Michael Martin Murphey

Goodbye Old Paint, Michael Martin Murphey. Tex Ritter and Roy Rogers both contributed to the modern-day popularization of this song, but even back in the 1880s it was a trail song crooned by cattle herders on the American frontier. I choose Murphey's version, though, for quality: Michael Martin Murphey, Cowboy Songs

Cowgirl's Prayer, Emmylou Harris. What's NOT to love about this spectacular, poignant song about a cowgirl whose horse ran away? Oh, Emmylou, you killed it here! And I am going to admit I get a knot in my throat when I listen to this song, which is another one I hit the "back / play" on the truck CD player every darned time it comes back around. Emmylou Harris, Cowgirl's Prayer

Black Horse and the Cherry Tree, K. T. Tunstall. Okay, I love this song. It's one of the songs I can, and do, listen to again and again. Catchy tune, a bit of mystery, and that magical vocal loop she uses - and a horse, of course! K. T. Tunstall, Eye to the Telescope

Horse with No Name, America. Name the damned horse, people. Name the horse! America, A Horse with No Name

Don't Forget the Asses!

Two of our donkeys-in-residence, well-deserving of their own songs.

Dominick the Donkey, Lou Monte. It's just not Christmas here at Rancho Chupacabra without rousing renditions of Dominick, the Italian Christmas Donkey. Here's a link to the video with lyrics:  Dominick the Donkey Video. Admit it: It's adorable. 

One of my first records as a child was a "singalong with Burl Ives," and I have to give an honorable mention to his Mairzy Doats  (mares eat oats) even though that's pretty much the extent of the horse reference in the lyrics. My best friend and riding buddy when I was eleven had a horse named Mairzy Doats in honor of the song. Burl also performed a song called "There's a Mule Up in Tombstone Arizona" which I want to love, having mules and living in Tombstone as I do, but I'll spare you. Five-year-old singalong me would've loved it, though! 

There isn't nearly enough mule music out there, and the best one is so sad I don't recommend listening to it if you have mules and love them as I do mine. It's by the amazing singer Ken Curtis, best known to most of us as mule-riding Festus on Gunsmoke. The husband-person called me to his computer one day to play this for me. I may never forgive him. I don't read dog books where the dog dies because they make me cry my eyes out, and my objection to this song is for the same reason! Here's a link to the Youtube video: Ode to a Mule, Ken Curtis

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