Sport Question

Finding an interesting horse movie for horse lovers is always easy. Movies about horses are based on their adventures, training, and how they are utilized. Some of these movies usually fall under the “classics,” big-budget action movies,” and/or epic genres. Treating the horses in these movies with respect seems to be what they all have in common.

 

Watching movies about one’s cherished horses in one’s free time is the next best thing for someone riding and adoring their horse. With that in mind, here’s a list of the top horse movies ever made, in the likes of documentaries, dramas, new classics, and family films.

 

Seabiscuit – 

 

Starting off with Seabiscuit is a horse movie from the year 2003 which was based on a thoroughbred horse racing champion that dominated as a money-winning racehorse until the 40s. However, there was a lot more in this movie than horse racing.

 

This 2003 movie on Seabiscuit was not the first movie portraying the life of the horse. In 1949, there was a Shirley Temple film before the adaptation of the book Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand. The movie, however, was then directed by Gary Ross featuring prominent stars in the likes of Tobey Maguire and Jeff Bridge. The movie rose to stardom and bagged seven Oscar nominations.

 

The Black Stallion –

 

The Black Stallion book by Walter Farley remains yet one of the best children’s books of all time about horses. Five years after its publishing, the novel was turned into a movie in 1979. The story behind the book is about a boy shipwrecked on an island with an Arabian stallion. The duo developed a strong friendship bond which grows not to be just a horse and boy.

 

When the duo are saved by a fisherman’s boat, each return to their various home but remain in contact. Soon, the Black Stallion went under training to be a racehorse and turns out to be a sprinter. His friend Alec, on the other hand, was also training to be a jockey. It was such an emotional movie despite being a kid’s favorite story. The movie won Mickey Rooney an Oscar nomination and another for the film’s editing.

 

Warhorse –

 

The War Horse movie was based on the 1982 novel by Michael Morpurgo. Indiana Jones’s franchise and the Jurassic World director, Steven Spielberg directed this one in 2011 about a thoroughbred colt named Joey. The War Horse story starts off with the colt’s birth and then his training to be a racing horse by a boy named Albert. However, due to financial difficulties, Joey was sold to the army by Albert’s father following a heavy downpour destroying their crops. Albert, having nothing to do, watches as his horse is sent off to serve in the war.

 

Albert not ready to let go of Joey enlisted in the army when he reaches the legal age. As expected, he got reunited with his old friend. Tom Hiddleston, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Eddie Marsan were all lead cast in this movie with Jeremy Irvine as Albert. War Hose earned six Oscar nominations.

 

​​Elsewhere, The Kentucky Derby “The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports” is now around the corner. With this year’s Derby making it the 149th historic racing season, it is sure to be the talk of the town throughout the month of May, and for many horse racing fans anywhere you might be in the world, this historic event will be a must-see televised event.

 

The Kentucky Derby will also be a serious opportunity for Kentucky Derby Betting enthusiasts, racing fans and prospective bettors looking to place bets on horses scheduled for racing, no matter where they are. However, this should be done with enormous research on any horses anyone is wagering on. Horse racing betting is an entirely different sports betting that requires some real-life strategy behind your picks and when the fun stops, you should stop!

 

Secretariat –

 

While the Seabiscuit, as a racehorse, went down as a racehorse that won over the hearts of many Americans during the Great Depression, Secretariat on the other hand, remains known as one of the most successful thoroughbred racehorses of all time. Secretariat bagged five Eclipse Awards and tails only Man ‘O’ War as the second horse in the listing of racehorses of the 20th Century by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

 

The movie about this horse was brought to the big screen by Disney in 2010. Diane Lane stars in this movie as the human and owner of the horse. John Malkovich also stars as the horse’s trainer. The movie, however, was not as successful as every other horse movie, but it does garner high praise from Roger Ebert, who labeled the movie to be “authentic.”

 

National Velvet – 

 

National Velvet told the story of a girl named Velvet. Velvet trained and rode her horse, Pie, in the Grand National Steeplechase. Despite being a fictional story, the book was about ordinary people, and in this case, a woman in her 20s was already on a path to a greater height. The movie based on the novel was later released in 1944.

 

Critically, the movie did absolutely well despite Elizabeth Taylor as a 12-year-old girl portraying Velvet Brown and Mickey Rooney as a drifter who helps her. The movie earned five Oscar nominations. Two were won, and the movie’s great exploits continued as it got added to the National Registry in 2003 owing to its strong cultural significance.

 

Hidalgo –

 

Joe Johnston, Captain America: The First Avenger director, was brought to the big screen by Hidalgo in 2004. Hidalgo was a biographical Western movie about Frank Hopkins and his horse named after the movie title. Hopkins, in real life himself, was a professional horseman who was a long-distance rider that supposedly won 400 races. Although most of this claim has been considered too fictional, as he was also a circus performer.

 

Hidalgo upon its release, made a name for itself seriously. The movie strongly focused on a horse in Arabia in 1891. Lord of Rings star Viggo Mortensen starred in this movie as Hopkins and, while the movie is said to be “based on a true story,” many of the stories by Hopkins – including the race in the Hidalgo movie 0 were considered to be tall tales.

 

Dreamer –

 

Dreamer was another released in the early 21st century directed by John Gatins as a family horse movie. The story of Dreamer is about a horse trainer and his daughter, and how their relationship changes as they work with their horses. The movie stars Kurt Russell who plays the role of Ben,, a father who neglected his young daughter as he works hard to care for his horses. 11-year-old Dakota Fanning was his daughter in this movie.

 

“Soñador” was the horse that bonded the two together and strengthened their relationship after years of the father neglecting his daughter and hardships. This movie was nominated for a number of awards amongst which won “Best Sports Movie” at the ESPY Awards and “Best Family Film” at the Critics Choice Awards.