Songs about Horses

Subject: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Beer
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 08:48 PM

A friend recently connected me with a beautiful song called: The Last Trip Home by The Battlefield Band. This got me to thinking that I also know a few others that can bring a lump to your throat such as Garnet Rogers "Small Victory" and Brendan Nolan's "Old Ned". Any other you can think of? Stewball was a good one as well.
Beer (adrien)

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: frogprince
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 09:04 PM

I think the first song I fell in love with as a little kid was Gene Autry singing "Strawberry Roan"; he used to do it on radio, but I've never been able to find it recorded except for one verse on a three record set of Gene. Much further along, I discovered "The Zebra Dun", on Cisco Houston's last recording. Eventually those two horses got together HERE.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Beer
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 09:54 PM

Thank you frogprince for those two. I know Strawberry Roam but the other stumped me.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Effsee
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 10:05 PM

How about Eric Bogle's song, "As If He Knows".

Subject: Lyr Add: OLD RED (Marty Robbins)
From: Arkie
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 10:16 PM

The x-rated version of Strawberry Roan is popular among some groups.

Two other songs about horses is Patonia and Old Red. I think Patonia is traditional. Old Red was written by Marty Robbins.

Old Red

Old Red was one of the orneriest yet
I've seen at the big rodeo
He'd bite you and kick you and stomp out your life
Old Red had never been rode

Meaner than sin, wild as the wind
That blew on the Montana plain
Old Red was one of the last of his breed
And wasn't about to be tamed

From Idaho a young cowboy came
To ride in the big rodeo
The young cowboy's name was Billy McClain
And Billy had never been thrown

The greatest desire filling young Billy's heart
To ride this old outlaw called Red
He drew him one day and I heard Billy say
"I'll ride him or drop over dead"

Old Red was wicked down there in the chute
He was kicking and stomping about
Billy climbed in to the saddle with ease
Then yelled "Turn him loose, let us out"

Old Red came out with his head on the ground
His back hooves were touching his nose
Tryin' to get rid of the man on his back
But the man went wherever he'd go

Billy was rakin' Old Red with his spurs
From his tail to the tip of his chin
He was doin' right well, but Billy could tell
This outlaw would never give in

Old Red was runnin' straight for the fence
Suddenly stoppin' and then
He reared on his hind legs and fell on his back
Takin' poor Billy with him

There was a hush in the crowd and they knew
This would be Billy's last ride
The saddle horn crushed Billy's chest when they fell
And under Old Red Billy died

Old Red lay still, no more would he move
The cowboys that seen it could tell
In tryin' to throw Billy off of his back
Old Red broke his neck when he fell

Out in the West is the place where they rest
This cowboy that never was thrown
And one foot away restin' there 'neath the clay
Is the outlaw that never was rode

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Beer
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 10:25 PM

Arkie, I had forgotten about that one. Mary Robbins was a great story teller and Old Red was one of them.

Effsee,
I should have known there would be one out there by Eric. Don't know how the melody goes but the lyrics in reading then are very moving.
Thank you both.
Adrien

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 11:40 PM

Lots of songs with horses in them, but none particularly about horses.

I remember one about the life of a ploughboy that talked of currying horses, but I suspect that was grooming rather than a recipe.

LTS

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Joy Bringer
Date: 30 Jul 08 - 11:50 PM

I think when anyone thinks of music associated with horses the theme from the early seventies television show "Black Beauty" comes to mind.

Can't think of any songs associated with horses. In commercial music I always liked the one by America "A horse with no name".

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Marymac90
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 01:20 AM

"Tennessee Stud" is one that's been frequently recorded.

What's that Neil Young song with the talking part in the
middle? One where he sings about catching and taming a wild
mare, and how she'll be "just like a wife"! [Chestnut Mare]

Garnet's late brother Stan did one with a horse in the title.
It wasn't about the horse, but it was such a great story-
song, I hafta mention it here--"Harris and the Mare".

I'll probably think of more later...

Happy Trails...

Marymac

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 02:59 AM

Jerry Garcia and David Grisman's 'A Horse Named Bill'

eric

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Terry McDonald
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 03:24 AM

Creeping Jane.

Subject: Lyr Add: CHESTNUT MARE (The Byrds)
From: GUEST,McGee
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 03:55 AM

Chestnut Mare by The Byrds

Always alone never with a herd
Prettiest mare I've ever seen
You'll have to take my word

I'm gonna' catch that horse if I can
And when I do I'll give her my brand

Well I was up on stony ridge after this chestnut mare
I'd been chasin' her for weeks
Oh, I'd catch a glimpse of her every once in a while
Takin' her meal, or bathin
A fine lady

This one day I happened to be real close to her
I saw her standin' over there
So I snuck up to her nice and easy
And I got my rope out
And I flung it in the air

I'm gonna' catch that horse if I can
And when I do I'll give her my brand
And we'll be friends for life
She'll be just like a wife
I'm gonna' catch that horse if I can

Well I got her, and I'm pullin' on her, she's pullin' back
Like a mule goin' up a ladder
I take this chance and I jump up on her
Damned if I don't land right on top of her
Well she takes off, runnin' up on to that ridge
Higher than I've ever been before
She's runnin' along just fine, till she stops
Something spooked her
It's a sidewinder, all coiled and ready to strike
She doesn't know what to do for a second
But then she jumps off the edge
Me holding on

Above the clouds
Higher than eagles were gliding
Suspended in the sky

Over the moon
Straight for the sun we were riding
My eyes were filled with light

Behind us black walls
Below us a bottomless canyon
Floating with no sound

Gulls far below
Seemed to be suddenly rising
Exploding all around

I'm gonna' catch that horse if I can
And when I do I'll give her my brand
And we'll be friends for life
She'll be just like a wife
I'm gonna' catch that horse if I can

And we were falling down this crevice, about a mile down
I'd say! I look down and I see this red thing below us
It's our reflection in a little pool of water
About six feet wide, and one foot deep
And we're comin' up real fast
Crawling down right through it
We hit and we splashed it dry
That's when I lost my hold and she got away
But I'm gonna' try to get her again some day

I'm gonna' catch that horse if I can
And when I do I'll give her my brand
And we'll be friends for life
She'll be just like a wife
I'm gonna' catch that horse
I'm gonna' catch that horse
I'm gonna' catch that horse if I can
I'm gonna' catch that horse if I can

Subject: Lyr Add: WILDFIRE (Michael Martin Murphey)
From: GUEST,McGee
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 04:01 AM

WILDFIRE by Michael Murphy

She comes down from Yellow Mountain
On a dark, flat land she rides
On a pony she named Wildfire
With a whirlwind by her side
On a cold Nebraska night

Oh, they say she died one winter
When there came a killing frost
And the pony she named Wildfire
Busted down its stall
In a blizzard he was lost

Chorus
She ran calling Wildfire
She ran calling Wildfire
She ran calling Wildfire

By the dark of the moon I planted
But there came an early snow
There's been a hoot-owl howling by my window now
For six nights in a row
She's coming for me I know
And on Wildfire we're both gonna go

We'll be riding Wildfire
We'll be riding Wildfire
We'll be riding Wildfire

On Wildfire we're gonna ride
Gonna leave sodbustin' behind
Get these hard times right on out of our minds
Riding Wildfire

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,keith A o' Hertford
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 06:46 AM

Homeward (Home lads, home.)

Subject: Lyr Add: POOR OLD HORSE
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 06:48 AM

Poor Old Horse - though not the shanty, which isn't about horses as such. As such it exists in various traditional versions - see Here.

A fine version was collected by Jim Eldon at the Appleby Horse Fair, here it is with extra verses from Grieg & Duncan

Poor Old Horse (The Old Grye Song).

Once he was a young horse, he was a young horse in his prime;
and his master used to ride him, and he thought he was very fine.

Chorus:
But he's still my own, bonny sweet, who rode so many the mile;
over hedges, ditches, brooks and bridges, gates and cleared many the stile.
Poor old horse, poor old horse, oh cherry old grey.

And his legs and his irons have all goe to decay;
likewise he poor old body, it's all withered away.

Once he wore the clothing of the lindsay oh so fine;
and his eyes they sparkle, and his mane it did shine.

Out from the warm stable to the fields he has to go;
let it rain, hail, or sun shines, or the winds blow high and low.

Oh, he's stealing all my hay, spoiling all my corn,
He's eating up the long grass that grows against the wall.

They'll beat him, whip him, cut him,
Til the huntsmen let him go.
Poor old horse, poor old horse, oh cherry old grey.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,keith again
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 06:50 AM

Discussion of above song here.

Subject: Lyr Add: ALL THE PRETTY LITTLE HORSES
From: Azizi
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 06:59 AM

ALL THE PRETTY LITTLE HORSES
(Hush-a-bye)

Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby.
When you wake, you'll have cake,
And all the pretty little horses.

Black and bay, dapple and grey,
Coach and six little horses,
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby.
Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby,
When you wake, you'll have cake,
And all the pretty little horses.

Way down yonder, down in the meadow,
There's a poor wee little lamby.
The bees and the butterflies pickin' at its eyes,
The poor wee thing cried for her mammy.

Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleepy little baby.
When you wake, you'll have cake,
And all the pretty little horses.

"American Folk Traditional: According to Living Documents in American History from Earliest Colonial Times to the Civil War, edited by John A Scott, (Trident Press 1963), the song was collected by Alan Lomax, who learned it from his mother, who took it from North Carolina to Texas after the Civil War".

http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/lyrics/prettyhorses.htm


A sound clip of this song is included on this page.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Cats
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 07:00 AM

Jon Heslop has written a beautiful song called Horse Days about the horses that would race to be the first in the harness when the lifeboat maroon went up. The men had to run over the headland from Cadgwith and when they got to the farm the farmer had the horses ready in the cart to take them down to the lifeboat shed. When the internal combustion engine arrived in Cornwall, they were no longer needed but every time the maroon went up the horses would still run to the yard and stand ready. The song is written from the horses point of view and, even though I am biased when it comes to his songwriting, this is a stunner!

Subject: Lyr Add: THE HIGH METTLED RACER (Graham Pratt)
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 07:15 AM

Graham Pratt put the poem "The High Mettled Racer" (origin unknown to me) to a tune of his own I believe.

THE HIGH METTLED RACER.

See the course throng with gazers, the sports are begun.
Amid the confusion the betting is done.
Ten thousand strange rumours resound far and near,
As Lords, hawkers and jockeys assail that idea.
While with neck like a rainbow, erecting his crest,
Pampered and prancing, his head on his breast,
Scarce sniffing the air, he's so proud and elate,
The high mettled racer first starts for the plate.

Now Reynard's put up and o'er hedge and bush rushed,
Hounds, horses and huntsmen all hard at his brush.
Through marsh, fen and briar, led by their snide prey,
By scent and by view chase their long tedious way.
While alike bred for sports of the field and the course,
So sure to come through, such a staunch and fleet horse,
When fairly run down the fox yields up his breath.
The high mettled racer is in at the death.

Grown aged, used up, and turned out of the stud,
Lame, spavined and wind gone, yet still with some blood,
While knowing postilions his pedigree trace,
With "His dam won that sweep." and "His sire won that race."
And what matches he won too, the ostlers count o'er,
Loitering their time at some alehouse door.
Whole the harness sores gall and the spurs his side goad,
The high mettled racer is a hack on the road.

'Til at last having laboured, dragged early and late,
Bowed down by degrees, he bends unto his fate.
Blind, old, weak, and feeble he trots round a mill
Or draws sand, 'til the sand in his hourglass stands still.
Now at last cold and lifeless, exposed to the view,
In the very same cart that he yesterday drew,
While a pitying crowd his sad relic surrounds,
The high mettled racer is sold for the hounds.

Subject: Lyr Add: GRAY AND BLACK HORSES
From: Azizi
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 07:20 AM

GRAY AND BLACK HORSES

I went to down to the woods an' I couldn' go 'cross
So I paid five follars fer an ole gray hoss.
De horse wouldn' pull, so I sol' im fer a bull.
De bull wouldn' holler, so I sol' im fer a dollar.
De dollar wouldn' pass, so I throwed it in de grass.
Den de grass wouldn' grow. Heigho! Heigho!

Through dat huckleberry woods I couldn' git far,
So I paid a good dollar fre an old black mar.'
W'en I got down dar, de trees wouldn' bar;
So I had to gallop back on dat ole black mar'.
"Bookitie-bar'! Dat ole black mar'; "Bookitie-bar!' Dat ole black mar'.
Yes she trabble so hard dar she kolt off my h'ar.

from Thomas W. Talley's Negro Folk Rhymes-Wise And Otherwise {Port Wshington, N.Y, Kennikat Press Edition, 1968; 45; originally published in 1922}

-snip-

The beginning two lines are a floating verse that's usually given as "I went to the river and I couldn't get across/so I paid five dollars for an old gray horse."

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: quokka
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 08:19 AM

There is a song about a horse - 'my shiny black Bess', otherwise known as:

the Woody Guthrie song 'The Unwelcome Guest', music by Billy Bragg. It's in the DT, search for "unwelcome Guest' and threads will appear.
Cheers,
Quokka

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 08:50 AM

Molly and Tenbrooks? from Big Mon

eric

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Beer
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 08:52 AM

Thank you all. There are some great horse songs appearing. Insane Beard thanks for that link. Very interesting. Keith A., Homeward (Home lads Home)is a great tune. Never heard it before. Cats. Been looking but can't seem to find the lyrics but what you have written makes for a great story. Black Belt. Powerful sad song. Thank you so much. Good one quokka. A new one to me as well.
Thank you all once more.
Adrien

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Marymac90
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 08:55 AM

Thanks McGee, for providing the name "Chestnut Mare"
and the name of the proper artists, The Byrds.

Marymac

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Beer
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 08:56 AM

eric, thanks. That's another one I forgot about.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: topical tom
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 09:13 AM

Several versions of the song "Stewball" can be found here

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: topical tom
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 09:24 AM

Another nice song is
My Pony Knows The Way by Tom Paxton

Subject: Lyr Add: HORSE DAYS (Jon Heslop)
From: Cats
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 09:25 AM

Beer, lyrics below. What is even better is that it is a true story. I heard it on Radio Cornwall when the son of the past coxswain of the Lizard lifeboat was on. As soon as I got to a phone I called them and they played the interview done the phone for me. When I arrived home I told Jon and within days he had written the song.

HORSE DAYS


My father used to tell me of his father's father's days
When men would come from Cadgwith up the steep and rocky way.
How that peril on the sea would send a fire into the sky
And they would stand behind the gate to watch the men run by.

Now no fire disturbs our ease, there's no longer need to run.
Willing men defy the seas but the horses' day is done.

When the signal called the farmer then the cart was brought in haste,
The boy would fetch the horses, not a minute would they waste.
The crew could catch their breath and ride, thankful for a faster speed
For every second saved on land could save a soul in need.

In time we learned the meaning of the fire in the sky
We knew we would be needed when we saw that star on high.
Over field and over meadow, 'twixt the hedges, down the lanes
We would run to be the first one to the bridle and the reins.

We each knew our duty, each to their appointed task.
Like the men who knew the danger we would never have to ask.
There was pride and there was honour in the job we had to do,
No reward except the knowing that the lifeboat had come through.

Came the day we were not needed 'neath the dark and stormy sky,
Horse and cart were superseded, we just watched the men drive by.
Now the fire is extinguished and the men go past unseen
But our story is remembered, like the fields forever green.

© Jon Heslop, March 2006

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Beer
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 09:42 AM

Thanks tom. Learned Stewball long ago when I first picked up the guitar. Mr. Paxton's song is also a great one.

Cats, that is a wonderful story and thank you for the lyrics. Very well written indeed. Does Jon have this song on c/d?
Adrien

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 09:50 AM

Here's one of the best My Lovely Horse

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Susan of DT
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 09:53 AM

Tickle Cove Pond

Red-Headed Stranger

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 11:09 AM

"Pony Man," by Gordon Lightfoot - my grandson's favorite.

"The Old Gray Mare" came to mind during my group's annual 30-mile high Sierra trail ride this past week. All but two of nine are over 60.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Volgadon
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 11:15 AM

Jez Lowe wrote one about Galloway ponies who went blind because of working in the mines.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Beer
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 11:15 AM

Insane Beard that was a great laugh. Susan, Tickle Cove Pond is a favorite. Forgot about it. Love Ron Hynes singing it. Great Lightfoot song. Your grandson has good taste.
Adrien

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Beer
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 11:29 AM

Guest Volgadon, could the title be Beaumont's Light Horse?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,greycap
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 11:31 AM

How about EmmyLou Harris's 'Say a prayer for the cowgirl' and Waylon Jennings's 'The Union Mare and the Confederate Grey'?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Cats
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 11:37 AM

Beer, not yet. In think he intends putting it on the next one but if you want a copy pm me and I will sing it onto a tape or CD for you when we get back from Sidmouth and Bideford Festivals.. unless you are at either where you will find Jon in the New Tavern and me in the Middle Bar and both of us in the Middle Bar on Lifeboat night [Tuesday] when it will get sung.

Subject: Lyr Add: DROVING WOMAN (Kev Carmody)
From: quokka
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 11:40 AM

I've found another one that most of you won't have heard of by indigenous Australian singer-songwriter Kev Carmody, called 'Droving Woman' from the album CANNOT BUY MY SOUL. This is a very powerful song about the death of a much-loved man while trying to break in a horse. (The horse bit is near the end,sends a chill down my spine when I hear it)

DROVING WOMAN

She buried him down on the edge of the town
Where the brigalow suckers on the cemetery creep
She stood with them children in a heavy brown gown
What you want you just can't always keep

"I'm sorry", I says, "I knew him so well,
Though your body is young you just never can tell
When the hand of fate rings the final death knell"
She just turned with the slightest of smiles

She says, "At the start well we knew it so hard
We were always dealt the severest of cards
Honeymoon spent droving Jamieson's stock
Through the wildest winter you've seen

Romantic notions of horses and land
They were soon dispelled as a fantasised dream
Watching cattle at night in the mid-winter cold
Turns a person both wiry and old

The flame of the breakast fire'd be dead
As the sun rose up he'd be miles up ahead
I'd be breaking the camp there and rolling the beds
While he fanned the stock wider for feed

When the weather turned sour with the onset of rain
And the truck bogged down to the axle mains
He'd move ahead with pack saddles and chains
And I'd wait in the mud by the road

With the blankets and canvas there hung out to dry
With nothing for heat 'cause you couldn't light a fire
With no stock permit for the forthcoming shire
The dog'd whimper in the winter wind rain

Cattle don't camp where they're sloshing in rain
They keep walking all night like a dog on a chain
He'd be red-eyed and weary with a pack horse gone lame
I'd sit miles behind in the mud

It was down through Charleville up to Julia Creek
Living on syrup and damper and salted corned meat
We had nothing but the 'roos and the mailman to meet
We'd move up and down with the rains

But them inland skies have the starriest of nights
With the dance of the fire throwing flickering lights
The beauty of its sunsets were a constant delight
I felt nature had let me intrude

The enormous vastness of them inland plains
Gives you a lonely contentment to which
you can't put a name
Its satisfied glow city folks seldom attain
They spend life on a right rigid rail

The kids got their schooling from the government mail
We posted their work at each cattle sale
They considered their learning a self-imposed jail
They'd rather help their father and fail

Early last month at the end of the dry
He was given a horse nobody could ride
Alert were his ears with a fire in his stride
He was young and his spirit was wild

To catch him each morning was an hour-long battle
We had to collar rope his near side to throw on the saddle
He'd bite and he'd strike, oh he made my nerves rattle
Pandemonium reigned with each ride

It was a hot summer's morning at the government bore
There was a stillness around that I'd never felt before
How could he know it was fate at his door
That was stealthily watchin' his moves

He mounted up quick taking slack from the reins
Grasped a full hand of hair from the horse's long mane
He'd just hit the saddle when the horse went insane
Churning dust in a frenzy of fear

The girth on the saddle let go at the ring
The surcingle slipped, it was impossible to cling
The horse felt it go, made a desperate fling
He was thrown to the length of the reins

I heard his spine snap like a 'roo shooter's shot
He'd busted his back on the concreted tough
Sickness and fear were the feelings I got
For the doctor was a six-hour drive

I looked at his face and his colour turned white
He turned slowly and said "I can't make it 'til night,"
My body is broken, I'm bleeding inside"
And the life slowly drained from his eyes

I'll sell up the plant and move here to town
Before the winter returns with a chill on the ground
For what I've just lost can seldom be found
I was blessed with the gentlest of men

Eventually the children will move to the East
But I couldn't stand the bustle of even a quiet city street
I'll stay in the scrub here where my heart really beats
For some dogs grow too old for change."

cheers
Quokka

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Beer
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 11:43 AM

Thanks for the invite Cats but I'm a little distance from you. Just outside Montreal Canada. I am still very interested as to how the melody goes.
Adrien

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Teribus
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 11:43 AM

"The Story of Mongrel Grey" - Banjo Paterson

"The Horses of Ameland"

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Teribus
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 11:44 AM

And how could I have forgotten:

"Pawkie Paiterson's Auld Grey Yaud"

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Arkie
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 12:25 PM

Other songs that come to mind.

Widdecombe Fair (Tam Pierce, Tam Pierce, lend me your gray mare)
Which brings to mind The Old Gray Mare Ain't what she used to be.
Old Paint (I ride an old paint and lead an old Dan)
Wild Horse (fiddle tune)
Run for the Roses (Dan Fogelberg)
Pony (Kasey Chambers)
Commanche (Johnny Horton)

Ballad of a Runaway Horse written by Leonard Cohen, sung by Jennifer Warnes & others. Would this one count? May be song alluded to earlier by Emmylou.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 12:38 PM

Here's one I learned in grade school. It originated in an eastern European country, but I don't remember which one.

John, must you lend your fine horse for the fight?
Beautiful horse, black as the night.
John, if you listen and do as I say,
you will be gay, riding away.

Hide your fine horse,
- black as the night -
Deep in the fields
Far out of sight.

Then when the fighting is over one day,
You will be gay, riding away.

=====
The idea that ordinary people would have their horses taken away to be in battle came as a shock to us.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Beer
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 01:08 PM

leeneia I hope someone come in and knows the rest. Very interesting.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Mrrzy
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 01:14 PM

Ed McCurdy did a beautiful talking one about what horses think about us, how silly we are to take our shoes off every night and why do we play on the grass and not eat it, and so on...

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Volgadon
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 01:58 PM

"Guest Volgadon, could the title be Beaumont's Light Horse?"

Oddly enough, I think the title is Galloways.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: Leadfingers
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 02:00 PM

The Jez Lowe song is called 'Galloways' ! And Jon Harvison has a song about the modernisation of farming called 'Heavy Horses'.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE WONDERFUL GREY HORSE
From: Fergie
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 03:10 PM

What about this one?

THE WONDERFUL GREY HORSE

My horse he is white, although at first he was bay,
He took great delight in travelling by night and by day;
His travels were great, if I could the half of them tell,
He was rode in the garden by Adam the day that he fell.

When banished from Eden, my horse was losing his way,
From all his fatigues, no wonder that now he is gray;
At the time of the flood he was rode by mony a spark,
And his courage was good when Noah took him into the ark.

On Babylon plains he ran with speed for the plate-
He was hunted next day, it is said, by Nimrod the great;
After that he was hunted again in the chase of a fox,
When Nebuchadnezzar eat grass in the shape of an ox.

He conducted him home straightway into Babylon Town'
Where the king was restored once more and solemnly crown'd
He was with King Saul, and all his troubles went through,
And was with King David the day that Goliah he slew.

When he saw King David hunted about by King Saul,
My horse took his leave and bid farewell to them all,
He was with King Pharoah in Egypt when fortune did smile
He rode him very stately along the banks of the Nile.

He followed Moses who rode him through the Red Sea,
He then led him out, and he sensibly galloped away ;
He was with King Cyrus, whose name is in history found
And he rode on my horse at the taking of Babylon Town'

When the Jews remained in chains and mercy implored,
King Cyrus proclaimed again to have them restored ;
He was in Judea when Judas Maccebus the great,
Had rode on my horse, as ancient historians relate.

The poor captive Jews received these news with great joy,
My horse got new shoes and pursued his journey to Troy.
When the news reached Troy, with my horse he was found,
He crossed over the wall, and entered the city I'm told.

The city being in flames, by means of Hector's sad fate,
My horse took his leave, and there no longer would wait;
I saw him again in Spain, and he in full bloom,
With Hannibal the great, and he crossing the Alps into Rome

My horse being tall, and the top of the Alps very high,
His rider did fall, and Hannibal the great lost an eye;
My horse got no ease although his rider did fall,
He was mounted again by young Scipio who did him extol

On African's Plains he conquered that part of the globe.
My horse's fatigues would try the patience of Job ;
He was with Brian the Brave when the Munster men he
did command,
Who in thirty-six battles drove the vile Danes from our land

At the battle of Clontars he fought on Good Friday all day,
And all that remained my horse drove them into-the sea;
He was with King James when he reached the Irish shore.
But, alas! he got lame, when Boyne's bloody battle was o'er-

To tell the truth, for the truth I always like to tell.
He was rode by St Ruth the day that in Aughrim he fell ,
And Sarsfield the brave, at the siege of Limerick town,
Rode on my horse and crossed o'er the Shannon I'm told.

He was rode by the greatest of men at the famed Waterloo,
And Daniel O'Connell long sat on his back it is true,
To shake off the yoke which Erin long patiently bore-
My horse being /ill / he means to travel no more.

He is landed in Erin, in Kerry he now does remain,
The smith is at work to fit him with new shoes again;   
Place a good man on his back he is ready once more far the field.
And he never will stop till the Tories, he'll make them to yield.

From Here

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Murray on Saltspring
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 03:14 PM

There was a pleasant sentimental song in a Roy Rogers film starting "Old Faithful, we've roamed the range together". Not folk, but gentle and quite memorable. About fifty years ago I suppose.

Subject: Lyr Add: MOTHER COUNTRY (John Stewart)
From: GUEST,Joseph de Culver City
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 03:53 PM

This one is not exactly all about a horse, but what a good one.




Title: MOTHER COUNTRY
Songwriter: John Stewart

There was a story in the San Francisco Chronicle that of course I forgot to save
But it was about a lady who lived in the 'good old days'
When a century was born and a century had died
And about these 'good old days' the old lady replied
"Why they were just a lot of people doing the best they could"
"Just a lot of people doing the best they could"
And then the lady said that they did it, "pretty up and walking good"

What ever happened to those faces in the old photographs
I mean, the little boys…….
Boys? . . . . . Hell they were men
Who stood knee deep in the Johnstown mud
In the time of that terrible flood
And they listened to the water, that awful noise
And then they put away the dreams that belonged to little boys

And the sun is going down for Mister Bouie
As he's singing with his class of nineteen-two
Oh, mother country, I do love you
Oh, mother country, I do love you

I knew a man named E.A. Stuart, spelled S.T.U.A.R.T.
And he owned some of the finest horses that I think I've ever seen
And he had one favorite, a champion, the old Campaigner
And he called her "Sweetheart On Parade"
And she was easily the finest horse that the good Lord ever made
But old E.A.Stuart, he was going blind
And he said "Before I go, I gotta drive her one more time"
So people came from miles around, and they stood around the ring
No one said a word
You know, no one said a thing
Then here they come, E.A. Stuart in the wagon right behind
Sitting straight and proud and he's driving her stone blind
And would you look at her
Oh, she never looked finer or went better than today
It's E.A. Stuart and the old Campaigner, "Sweetheart On Parade"
And the people cheered
Why I even saw a grown man break right down and cry
And you know it was just a little while later that old E.A. Stuart died

And the sun it is going down for Mister Bouie
As he's singing with his class of nineteen-two
Oh mother country, I do love you
Oh mother country, I do love you

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 04:57 PM

A four legged friend, a four legged friend
He'll never let you down
He's honest and faithful right up to the end
That wonderful one two three four legged friend

From the film "Son Of Paleface" (1952)
Written by Jack Brooks, sung by Roy Rogers

I know an old lady who swallowed a fly,
She's dead, of course

Sung by Burl Ives

Subject: RE: Looking For old beautiful song
From: GUEST,Dutch
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 06:32 PM

Back in the early '80s when I was in Kodiak, Alaska, I heard a very nice song about riding my horse or riding with my friend or how my horse was my best friend. It was a beautiful medium slow song sung by a man with a very mellow voice and at one point in the song, he went up to a nice mellow high note. I called the station but they could not give me the name of song or singer and as half a joke he said maybe it was Cowboy Copas. The recording sounded newer than to be from Copas or that era. I wish I could find it. I hope someone can help.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Beer
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 07:20 PM

I can't keep up to all these great responses so I'll just keep reading and you keep'em coming. Wish I could help Dutch. Maybe something by John Denver hitting that high note and all.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Big Mick
Date: 31 Jul 08 - 08:12 PM

Dutch, are you referring to Michael Martin Murphey's "Wildfire"? Or was that later?

Mick

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Marymac90
Date: 01 Aug 08 - 01:50 AM

A couple more have come to my mind. One by Fred Small,
"The Heart of the Appaloosa" was about the Nez Perce people,
the horses that enabled them to travel through the
mountains, and the Cavalry Troops that cut them both down.

Another is by Lyle Lovett: "If I Had a Boat"

cho: If I had a boat, I'd go out on the ocean,
And if I had a pony, I'd ride him on my boat.
We could all .................................
Me upon my pony on my boat.

I'd better quit while I'm ahead, remembering 3 lines out of 4.

Happy trails.....

Marymac

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: quokka
Date: 01 Aug 08 - 01:52 AM

One from schooldays:

Here comes Brumby Jack
Bringing the horses down the track
Hear them come as he swings them around
Keeps them together safe and sound

-This is the chorus, sorry can't remember the verses. Maybe some other Aussies could shed some light...

Cheers,
Quokka

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: open mike
Date: 01 Aug 08 - 05:40 AM

some very choice songs here. I love Garnet Rogers' "Small Victories". There is also a song (or poem) about a woman in australia who is working hard to keep the ranch.."ON A LONELY SELECTION." In the song, she milks cows and tends to horses.

many cowboy songs contain horses..

I RIDE AN OLD PAINT,
I LEAD AN OLD DAN
I'M GOING TO MONTANA
FOR TO THROW THE HOOLIHAN..

Also Mike Beck, who is a musician and horse-trainer, has a song about PATRICK, a horse that belonged to Bill Dorrance, the original horse whisperer.

and of course there is the song (rolling stones)

wild horses couldn't drag me away...

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Beer
Date: 01 Aug 08 - 07:53 AM

If you like Garnet's "Small Victories" than you just gotta hear Brendan Nolan's "Old Ned".

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: cptsnapper
Date: 01 Aug 08 - 08:43 AM

"Heavy Horses" by Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Marymac90
Date: 01 Aug 08 - 09:36 AM

Another song that features a horse named Dan is "Cool Water". The break goes as follows:

Keep a-movin' Dan. Don'cha listen to him, Dan.
He's a devil not a man, and he spreads the burning sands
with Water, cool, clear, water.

Happy trails...

Marymac

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Beer
Date: 01 Aug 08 - 10:19 AM

Yes, and here is another on with Dan in it. Title escapes me at the moment. [THE BLIZZARD]

There's a blizzard coming on,
How I wish I was home.
My pony's lame and he can hardly stand.
Dan just think about that barn,
With it's hay so soft and warm..........and so on.


I think Jim Reeves sang it.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 01 Aug 08 - 11:00 AM

Beer, with respect to 'John, must you lend your fine horse for the fight?' - that's the entire song. The matter is not resolved.

Joseph de Culver City - I liked the poem 'Mother Country.'

Thanks to everybody who's posted. Such a variety of songs.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Arkie
Date: 01 Aug 08 - 11:17 AM

Beer, the song you mentioned is "The Blizzard" and I think Harlan Howard is the writer.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: topical tom
Date: 01 Aug 08 - 12:16 PM

Another one is The Silver Stallion as sung by The Highwaymen

[Lyrics]

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: kendall
Date: 01 Aug 08 - 01:18 PM

Plantonio the pride of the plains.
Billy Venero

These are quite long so I won't post the lyrics unless someone requests them.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: bankley
Date: 01 Aug 08 - 01:53 PM

"Beer for my Horses".... Willie Nelson

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,John from Elsie`s Band
Date: 01 Aug 08 - 03:16 PM

"I Love to See Those Horses Race" ........ John Hills
"Races at the Depot" .......W.Miller/John Hills
"Following the Old 'Oss"............Tony Deane

Subject: Lyr Add: THE CARTER
From: GUEST,JeffB
Date: 01 Aug 08 - 06:14 PM

And there's Creeping Jane of course, and I would also like to put in a vote for The Carter, which I first heard on Bonnet and Shawl. I've since come across another verse, the 3rd in the version below, which is the way I sing it :-

1    When I was a young man I followed the team,
      and my only delight was in keeping them clean.
    With brushes and curries I showed their bright colour
      and the name that they gave me was Hearty Good Fellow.

2    As ever in the evening when I go to my bed
      the thoughts of my horses run into my head -
    and I rise in the morning for something to eat
      just as soon as I do get my boots on my feet.

3    The first was a white horse as white as the milk,
      and the next was a grey horse as soft as the silk,
    and the next was a brown horse as sleek as a mole,
      and the next was a black horse like diamonds did show.

4    When we goes a-driving out on the highway
      if the load it be light then I feeds 'em on hay,
    and I gives 'em some water when we come to a pond,
      and then after we've drunk boys move steadily on.

5    My feet they grow weary a-walking by their side
      so I says to myself - you must get up and ride.
    And as I was riding I made this new song,
      so now you must learn it and sing it along.

6    Repeat 1

Can the usual suspects know or find out anything on this, I wonder? I think it's a fine song to sing, partly because of the lovely flowing melody, but also because of the words - the simple love of a simple man for his horses. So I suppose someone will now prove it was a stage song from late Vic music hall.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,DWR
Date: 01 Aug 08 - 11:42 PM

I suppose it is a bit like cheating with a copy of Glenn Ohrlin's The Hell-Bound Train in hand, but here are a few from that treasure of cowboy lore.

I am going to include just those songs where the horse is the main character or has at least a top supporting role - horses with names or at least great stories to tell! I don't think I have listed any that have already been mentioned.

Windy Bill
Bonny Black Bess
Walking John
He Rode The Strawberry Roan (Yes, I think it might owe something to a song already mentioned)
Tipperary
Outlaw Dunny
Midnight
Starlight
The Bronco Buster
My Old Pinto Pal

Subject: Lyr Add: ONE-TRICK PONY (Paul Simon)
From: Sorcha
Date: 01 Aug 08 - 11:49 PM

ONE-TRICK PONY
Paul Simon

He's a one-trick pony
One trick is all that horse can do
He does one trick only
It's the principal source of his revenue
And when he steps into the spotlight
You can feel the heat of his heart
Come rising through

See how he dances
See how he loops from side to side
See how he prances
The way his hooves just seem to glide
He's just a one-trick pony (that's all he is)
But he turns that trick with pride

He makes it look so easy
He looks so clean
He moves like God's
Immaculate machine
He makes me think about
All of these extra moves I make
And all of this herky-jerky motion
And the bag of tricks it takes
To get me through my working day
One-trick pony

Hes a one-trick pony
He either fails or he succeeds
He gives his testimony
Then he relaxes in the weeds
He's got one trick to last a lifetime
But that's all a pony needs
(That's all he needs)

He looks so easy
He looks so clean
He moves like God's
Immaculate machine
He makes me think about
All of these extra movements I make
And all of this herky-jerky motion
And the bag of tricks it takes
To get me through my working day

One-trick pony, one-trick pony
One-trick pony, one-trick pony
One-trick pony (take me for a ride)
One-trick pony

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: topical tom
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 12:18 AM

audio clip here

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: topical tom
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 12:20 AM

Sorry, Adrien! The title of the song is "Colorado Horses".

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: topical tom
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 12:36 AM

The complete lyrics to "Colorado Horses":

http://www.lyricstime.com/ledoux-chris-them-bareback-horses-lyrics.html

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: topical tom
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 12:38 AM

Too late at night, I guess!The actual title is "Them Bareback Riders".Sorry for screwing these posts up!

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Gray D
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 08:26 AM

Hugh Lupton and Chris Wood collaborated on a CD called The Horses and the song that Chris Wood sings is really something to hear. Saw them perform it live at St Donats Storytelling Festival a few years ago and I have to admit there was a tear in the eye by the end.

Can't find an online version to give you a sample, though.

Gray D

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 12:08 PM

JeffB, you have intrigued me with your reference to 'the lovely flowing melody' of the Carter. Is there anyway you could post that melody or a link to it? I agree with you that it is an unusual and pleasing song.

(you mean nobody dies of love it it? or leaves the old sod?)

Needless to say, when I googled 'The Carter' MIDI, all I got was a jillion references to the Carter Family.

Subject: Lyr Add: I LEARNED ABOUT HORSES FROM HIM
From: Arkie
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 07:14 PM

There are a couple of parodies of Kipling's poem "The Ladies" that have not made this list yet.

Here is the first:

I LEARNED ABOUT HORSES FROM HIM
by George B. German (modeled on Kipling's The Ladies)

'Twas on the Horse Shoe in old Arizona
That I rode my first bucking outlaw.
He could throw any man on the rancho,
And how that caballo could paw.
Well, I lays down my Spanish guitaro,
It was money I needed, by jim.
I hoists myself into the saddle,
And I learned about horses from him.

Then I trails to a ranch in the rimrock,
Where broncos are thicker than men.
There was one needed tamin' right badly.
I needed a job there and then.
So I curls up my maguey so neatly,
And I hangs my old pack on a limb.
Then I slips through the bars quite discreetly,
And I learned about horses from him.

Next I wanders down into Sonora,
Where horses are horses, you bet.
There was good ones, had ones, and tough ones,
And some of them darned hard to get.
A senorita wanted one for a plaything,
A black filled with hall to the brim.
She begs me with a sweet little smile-o,
And I learned about horses from him.

Then I drifts on up into Texas,
Where horses are wild, rough, and game,
And I says to the pinto I'm ridin',
"I'll get me a good one to tame."
So I takes to the hills and the canyons,
And I waits till I'm haggard and grim.
Then my loop settles down on a picture,
And I learned about horses from him.

Well, I rides up into Wyoming,
For I'd heard of a bad one called Bear,
And I heard they were offering money
To the guy that got on and stayed there.
Well, I found him, a bleary-eyed loco,
With ears that were pointed and thin.
And from the time I stepped in his middle
I learned about horses from him.

Then I stopped in Cheyenne for the rodeo.
To win me some money I tried.
A horse you all know, name was Steamboat,
That's the bugger I drew for to ride.
Now, something says, "Mister, you're crazy!"
But my bankroll says, "Don't you give in!"
Three jumps from the time the gates opened
I'd learned about horses from him.

Now, I've heard a lot about horses,
And I've rode 'em both large and small.
Sometimes I got on and I stayed there,
Sometimes what a hell of a fall!
But they's one horse I never have ridden,
It's Conscience they call it, by grim.
But I reckon when we have the last roundup
I'll learn about that horse from Him.

Subject: Lyr Add: I'VE TAKEN THE NAGS AS I'VE FOUND THEM
From: Arkie
Date: 02 Aug 08 - 07:15 PM

And here is the second:

I'VE TAKEN THE NAGS AS I'VE FOUND THEM

I've taken the nags as I've found them,
I've 'eeled and I've peeled in my time;
I've had my pickin of remounts,
An' four o' the lot was prime.
One wa a 'arf caste devil,
One was a 'orse but in name,
One I 'arf 'sited in Ogdan, Utah,
One fell in a ditch and went lame.

When I was a young one at Riley,
Tender as 'ell to begin,
Annie Austin they gave me,
And Annie was clever as sin.
Jumper they classed her at Riley,
Said she could go six feet nine;
She went up to a jump and came down on her rump,
Nurses are not in my line.

Then I was given a draft horse,
Schooled in the West Riding Hall;
Splendid four-gaiter they called him…
A walk, trot, stumble, and fall.
He wasn't so agile and supple,
But yet he could manage somehow
To turn at a trot in a four-acre lot,
So now he is hitched to a plow.

I've applied tannic acid diluted
To places not mentioned in print,
I've tumbled and fallen as you have,
I've worn all my limbs in a splint.
But now I've a nice new remount,
And wonderful things he can do;
So because you're my friend and have something to spend
I'd like to sell him to you.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Mike B.
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 12:45 AM

These may be a reach, but they do make reference to horses -

"Love Minus Zero" (Bob Dylan)
"That Song About The Midway" (Joni Mitchell)
"Bonny Light Horseman" (Eliza Carthy & Nancy Kerr)

There's also the famous Stephen Foster song "Camptown Races" - and a little tune from the early 60s that starts out "A horse is a horse, of course, of course ...".

Subject: Lyr Add: BLOSSOM, THE MINING HORSE (John Warner)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 10:34 AM

I don't think anyone has mentioned the horse songs composed by John Warner of Australia. Here's one of my favorites:

BLOSSOM, THE MINING HORSE
words: © John Warner 9/3/93; recorded on PITHEAD IN THE FERN
tune: Margaret Walters/Kim Poole 9/3/93

Now Blossom was a mining horse,
    Among the coal and slack,
Who hauled the skips with all her force,
    Get out of that, gee up you beggar,
    Come here, gee off, whoa back.

Wonthaggi miners all did know ...
What happened when Bloss refused to go ...

Now Bloss came out of the bord one day ...
Pulled to a stand and blocked the way ...

She had a full and heavy load ...
Of skips which blocked the wheeling road ...

Now Harry the wheeler cursed and cried ...
But Bloss dug in whatever he tried ...

With ears laid back our Bloss stood fast ...
No man behind in the bord got past ...

So Mac, who fired the shots, did say ...
"Let's eat, we could be here all day" ...

But, as the lads got out their lunch ...
The roof caved in with a deadly crunch ...

Our Blossom saved the miners all ...
She stood between them and the fall ...

And when the rescue team dug through ...
The lads were alive and Blossom too ...

Which goes to show, now and again ...
The mining heroes weren't all men ...

Unfortunately Warner's CD THE SEA AND THE SOIL is long out of print and it contains the beautiful "Horses of the World" and the related song "Farrier's Trade." Maybe some of our friends in Oz have already transcribed these two songs and will post the lyrics.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Helen
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 02:41 PM

'The Carter' has been recorded by Dave Goulder on 'Stone, Steam and Starlings', amongst others.
There are some nice songs about working horses, including 'Heavy Horses' by Robin Laing, and 'Clydesdale's Dream' by Ian Tupling.

Subject: Lyr Add: LIFEBOAT HORSES (Andrew McKay)
From: Crane Driver
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 06:42 PM

Here's my Lifeboat Horses song, called ... er, 'Lifeboat Horses'

It's a traditional story from Mumbles, the fishing village at the west of Swansea bay, from the days when lifeboats were launched from horse-drawn waggons. I really want this to be a true story

LIFEBOAT HORSES
© Andrew McKay, 2004

In the village of Mumbles, at the end of the bay,
They keep two fine horses, a brown and a grey,
When the signals ring out they are harnessed away,
To go down to the sea for the lifeboat.
And the lifeboat crew's coxswain he mentions with pride,
How the brown and the grey, they would work side by side,
By day or by night, at high or low tide,
To go down to the sea for the lifeboat.
To go down to the sea for the lifeboat
To go down to the sea for the lifeboat
By day or by night, at high or low tide,
To go down to the sea for the lifeboat

And also in Mumbles there lives a proud man,
With mutton-chop whiskers and gloves on his hands,
Who makes a fine living from the dead of the land,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat.
And he's got two horses, they're regal and black,
They stand in the traces, with plumes on their backs,
He takes many folks forward, brings none of them back,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat,
He takes many folks forward, brings none of them back,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat

But the black horses sickened, they lay on the floor,
The horse-doctor came round, with his potions galore,
He said "No more hearse driving for a fortnight or more,
In your sombre black hat and your frock-coat"
"But the squire's just died, oh it couldn't be worse,
I haven't a horse for to handle the hearse!"
Then he scratched at his head, and he muttered a curse,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat,
Then he scratched at his head, and he muttered a curse,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat

Then he said "These two horses, the grey and the brown,
They were bought and maintained for the good of the town,
They do nothing all day but just wander around,
And go down to the sea for the lifeboat!"
Well, the brown and the grey didn't quite look the part,
In the nodding black plumes of the old dead-man's cart,
But they started off strongly, and the proud man took heart,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat,
But they started off strongly, and the proud man took heart,
In his sombre black hat and his frock-coat

'Twas a stormy old day but they pulled with a will,
On squire's last trip to the top of the hill,
Till the signal rang out from the coastguard so shrill,
"Come down to the sea for the lifeboat!"
Well, the horses they faltered, and then they stood still,
And then they turned round and walked back down the hill,
Though the proud man he hollered and hauled with a will,
They went down to the sea for the lifeboat
They went down to the sea for the lifeboat,
They went down to the sea for the lifeboat,
Though the proud man he hollered and hauled with a will,
They went down to the sea for the lifeboat

They pulled that old hearse right out into the bay,
The mourners stood watching in shock and dismay,
As the squire's remains drifted out and away,
Going right out to sea like a lifeboat.
And from that day to this, the brown and the grey,
Have had nothing to do but to eat grass all day,
Till the signal rings out from the coastguard to say,
"Come down to the sea for the lifeboat!"
"Come down to the sea for the lifeboat!"
"Come down to the sea for the lifeboat!"
Till the signal rings out from the coastguard to say,
"Come down to the sea for the lifeboat!"

Horses aren't as stupid as some people think.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 Aug 08 - 08:39 PM

Andrew-

And another fine song about horse sense!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Briagha
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 09:44 AM

The CD "Gentle Giants" is a compilation of songs about Clydesdale horses, including Robin Laing's "Heavy Horses," the Davy Steele song "Last Trip Home" mentioned above, and Christine Kydd singing "Gone are the Strong Ones." Great album.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,JeffB
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 09:47 AM

Leeneia, I would be delighted to send you the tune of The Carter. At present I am waiting for Mr Offer to bake me a cookie, after which I will send you a PM.

Oven's hot and ready to bake. Just send me an e-mail if you have trouble with registration, or if you are already registered and need to know how to reset your cookie.
-Joe Offer-
[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Black Hawk on Works PC
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 11:08 AM

Colorado Horses by Will Dudley

Mandrake by Tex Morton
Gunda???? Grey by Tex Morton

Running Shadow by Michael Martin Murphey
Ponies by Michael Martin Murphey

Champion the Wonder Horse by Frankie Laine
Mr Ed from TV series :-)

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: DonMeixner
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 11:13 AM

The Last Trip Home, By Davey Steele.

Subject: Lyr Add: HEAVY HORSES (Ian Anderson)
From: Mr Fox
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 11:44 AM

Little Johhny England do a nice song called 'Early to Bed' about plough horses:

"Early in the morning
In the pitch black and the cold
I lead the team across the Yard
And wait as I've been told........"

And, though it's not strictly folk, this is a classic:

HEAVY HORSES (Ian Anderson)

Iron-clad feather-feet pounding the dust,
An October's day, towards evening,
Sweat embossed veins standing proud to the plough,
Salt on a deep chest seasoning.

Last of the line at an honest day's toil,
Turning the deep sod under,
Flint at the fetlock, chasing the bone,
Flies at the nostrils plunder.

The Suffolk, the Clydesdale, the Percheron Vie
with the Shire on his feathers floating.
Hauling soft timber into the dusk
to bed on a warm straw coating.

Heavy Horses, move the land under me.
Behind the plough gliding slipping and sliding free.
Now you're down to the few
And there's no work to do:
The tractor's on its way.

Let me find you a filly for your proud stallion seed
to keep the old line going.
And we'll stand you abreast at the back of the wood
behind the young trees growing.
To hide you from eyes that mock at your girth,
and your eighteen hands at the shoulder.
And one day when the oil barons have all dripped dry
and the nights are seen to draw colder
they'll beg for your strength, your gentle power
your noble grace and your bearing.
And you'll strain once again to the sound of the gulls
in the wake of the deep plough, sharing.

Standing like tanks on the brow of the hill
Up into the cold wind facing
In stiff battle harness, chained to the world
Against the low sun racing
Bring me a wheel of oaken wood
A rein of polished leather
A Heavy Horse and a tumbling sky
Brewing heavy weather.

Bring a song for the evening
Clean brass to flash the dawn
across these acres glistening
like dew on a carpet lawn
In these dark towns folk lie sleeping
as the heavy horses thunder by
to wake the dying city
with the living horseman's cry

At once the old hands quicken
bring pick and wisp and curry comb
thrill to the sound of all
the heavy horses coming home.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE ANGELS TOOK MY RACEHORSE AWAY
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 12:42 PM

THE ANGELS TOOK MY RACEHORSE AWAY
starring Richard Thompson as Henry the Human Fly

Well the angels came to see me today
Said "We've taken your racehorse away"
And I believe it was that bookmaker from Crail
I believe that he put one in her pail

All the finest in the field
Only measure to her shoulders, they only ever see her heels
And I believe every sporting man will cry
I believe they'll see everything come passing by

She won the Lanark Silver Bell and she stole every heart away
She stood her stand at sixteen hands and I'd ride her easy
But they've taken, they've taken my racehorse away

There's a racecourse in the sky
And that's where all the racing horses must go by and by
And I believe every steward, lord and groom,
I believe that they're calling her home

She would look at me in the eyes and that was all she had to say
She stood her stand at sixteen hands and I'd ride her easy
But they've taken, they've taken my racehorse away

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: kendall
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 01:16 PM

She was only a cowboy's daughter, but, all the horsemen knew'er.

I'm not a horse person, but those Budweiser Clydesdales are some of the most beautiful beasties I've seen.

Subject: Lyr Add: IN THE DROVING DAYS (Banjo Paterson)
From: GUEST,DWR
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 07:45 PM

Andrew Barton Patterson's book, The Man From Snowy River, was published in 1917. One of the many wonderful poems in the book was In The Droving Days. I first heard this on a PBS special about his poetry many years ago. Sadly, my VHS copy of that show has long since disappeared, but I still remembered the poem when I started reading this thread.

So here's Banjo's original followed by what I think is a loose but respectful adaptation by Troy Cassar-Daley from his 1999 album Big River.


IN THE DROVING DAYS
By Andrew Barton 'Banjo' Paterson
From The Man From Snowy River And Other Verses 1917

Only a pound,' said the auctioneer,
'Only a pound; and I'm standing here
Selling this animal, gain or loss.
Only a pound for the drover's horse;
One of the sort that was never afraid,
One of the boys of the Old Brigade;
Thoroughly honest and game, I'll swear,
Only a little the worse for wear;
Plenty as bad to be seen in town,
Give me a bid and I'll knock him down;
Sold as he stands, and without recourse,
Give me a bid for the drover's horse.'

Loitering there in an aimless way
Somehow I noticed the poor old grey,
Weary and battered and screwed, of course,
Yet when I noticed the old grey horse,
The rough bush saddle, and single rein
Of the bridle laid on his tangled mane,
Straightway the crowd and the auctioneer
Seemed on a sudden to disappear,
Melted away in a kind of haze,
For my heart went back to the droving days.

Back to the road, and I crossed again
Over the miles of the saltbush plain --
The shining plain that is said to be
The dried-up bed of an inland sea,
Where the air so dry and so clear and bright
Refracts the sun with a wondrous light,
And out in the dim horizon makes
The deep blue gleam of the phantom lakes.

At dawn of day we would feel the breeze
That stirred the boughs of the sleeping trees,
And brought a breath of the fragrance rare
That comes and goes in that scented air;
For the trees and grass and the shrubs contain
A dry sweet scent on the saltbush plain.
For those that love it and understand,
The saltbush plain is a wonderland.
A wondrous country, where Nature's ways
Were revealed to me in the droving days.

We saw the fleet wild horses pass,
And the kangaroos through the Mitchell grass,
The emu ran with her frightened brood
All unmolested and unpursued.
But there rose a shout and a wild hubbub
When the dingo raced for his native scrub,
And he paid right dear for his stolen meals
With the drover's dogs at his wretched heels.
For we ran him down at a rattling pace,
While the packhorse joined in the stirring chase.
And a wild halloo at the kill we'd raise --
We were light of heart in the droving days.

'Twas a drover's horse, and my hand again
Made a move to close on a fancied rein.
For I felt the swing and the easy stride
Of the grand old horse that I used to ride
In drought or plenty, in good or ill,
That same old steed was my comrade still;
The old grey horse with his honest ways
Was a mate to me in the droving days.

When we kept our watch in the cold and damp,
If the cattle broke from the sleeping camp,
Over the flats and across the plain,
With my head bent down on his waving mane,
Through the boughs above and the stumps below
On the darkest night I could let him go
At a racing speed; he would choose his course,
And my life was safe with the old grey horse.
But man and horse had a favourite job,
When an outlaw broke from a station mob,
With a right good will was the stockwhip plied,
As the old horse raced at the straggler's side,
And the greenhide whip such a weal would raise,
We could use the whip in the droving days.

'Only a pound!' and was this the end --
Only a pound for the drover's friend.
The drover's friend that had seen his day,
And now was worthless, and cast away
With a broken knee and a broken heart
To be flogged and starved in a hawker's cart.
Well, I made a bid for a sense of shame
And the memories dear of the good old game.

'Thank you? Guinea! and cheap at that!
Against you there in the curly hat!
Only a guinea, and one more chance,
Down he goes if there's no advance,

Third, and the last time, one! two! three!'
And the old grey horse was knocked down to me.
And now he's wandering, fat and sleek,
On the lucerne flats by the Homestead Creek;
I dare not ride him for fear he'd fall,
But he does a journey to beat them all,
For though he scarcely a trot can raise,
He can take me back to the droving days.


The place name in the first sentence of Cassar-Daley's song is a complete mystery to me. I tried various C and K variants of what sounded like Kanambo to me, but I got no results. Closest I could come with the choices I made was Koniambo which is in New Caledonia, off to the east of Australia and that's a bit of a stretch, geographically. After conferring with Arkie on other possible names, we came up with Colamba, Columba, Calambo ~~ well, you get the picture. Perhaps one of our Australian friends can set us right on this. Arkie also helped decipher some of the more difficult passages in Cassar-Daley's text.

By the way, lucerne flats refer to fields of fine quality hay.

The Droving Days
Troy Cassar-Daley
From Big River 1999

I was out at Colamba on a business trip
Tired, hungry and dry in the lip
I went past a sale yard and spotted a mate
I pulled in to see him just for old time's sake

Well, he was after a yearling that he hoped could run
In all the bush races for money and fun
Well, I was only there for a yarn, of course
But I found myself staring at an old drover's horse

He had a rough bush saddle and a single rein
Laid across his tangled mane
He brought up the memories that no-one could raise
As he took me back to the droving days

Well, my mind wandered off for most of the day
And I finally heard the auctioneer say
"Well, give me ten dollars and he's in the bag
Only ten dollars for this worthless nag"

Well, I put in my bid for a sense of shame
But God only knows why I felt his pain
He had a busted knee and a broken pride
So I'll take him home for his final ride

In a rough bush saddle and a single rein
Laid across his tangled mane
He brought up the memories that no-one could raise
As he took me back to the droving days

Well, now he's wondering, fast asleep wandering, fat and sleek
Of On a lucerne flat at Half Way Creek
And though he scarcely a trot can raise
He still takes me back to the droving days.

In a rough bush saddle and a single rein
Laid across his tangled mane
He brought up the memories that no-one could raise
As he takes me back to the droving days

As he takes me back to the droving days

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Charley Noble
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 07:59 PM

DWR-

Very nice choices.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Arkie
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 08:24 PM

Hopefully DWR's post will open the door to more suggestions from Down Under. There must be a number of other good "horse" poems and songs from the great writers and singers from Australia.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Beer
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 08:36 PM

John Williamson from down under comes to mind. Don't know all his material but a heck of a singer and writer. He does a great job at "Diamantina Drover" by Hugh McDonald. A tune that referees to in a way to horses.

DWR, thanks for all that info. and everyone else who has been posting. Been away for a bit.
Beer (adrien)

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,DWR
Date: 04 Aug 08 - 09:14 PM

I did just now see an error in my transcription of Troy Cassar-Daley's song -- wondering, fast asleep should be wandering, fat and sleek. Should have paid closer attention to Paterson's original!

Another Australian song I thought of was Saddle Boy, originally by Slim Dusty and later recorded to good advantage by the Dead Ringer Band. You can find Kasey and Bill Chambers version on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfiZThR9e_I That is one in which the horse has secondary billing, but still worth listing.

Corrections made. -Joe-

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Black Hawk on Works PC
Date: 05 Aug 08 - 03:03 AM

Water for My Horses by Hoyt Axton

The Horse Trader by Jimmy Driftwood

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,JeffB
Date: 05 Aug 08 - 06:18 PM

DWR,

I'd love to hear those songs sung some time.

Could the name of that town be Canowindra? It's a country in mid-NSW a couple of hundred miles inland from Sydney, near or on the Lachlan River.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,DWR
Date: 05 Aug 08 - 10:28 PM

Jeff, that doesn't sound like it, but I've been fooled by lyrics before. Send me an email and I'll send you the song. dale8r AT hotmail.

Dale

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 04:57 AM

One of my favourites is Enniscorthy Fair, a.k.a.Galtee Farmer.
Man takes his old horse to the fair to sell it; dealer buys it, takes it away, cleans it up, clips and grooms it and sells it back to him at a higher price.
Man's little daughter is the only one who recognises it when he takes it back home.
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Mick Tems
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 05:07 AM

All over South Wales, and spreading northwards, the horse ritual called the Mari Lwyd is flourishing. Y Fari Lwyd (translated, the Grey Mare or the Holy Mary) is a midwinter custom in which a horses' skull, clad in a white sheet, is carried by by a man from door to door, the party demanding in verse (pwnco) to be let in. The people in the house, again in verse, take up the challenge to keep the horse out. Eventually, the people in the house relent and let the Mari Lwyd party in - the party sing a wassail (Y Washael) and costumed characters called the The Leader, Merryman, Pwnsh and Siwan (Punch and Judy) dance around the room.

We'll be going out with the Llantrisant Mari Lwyd this Christmas; the Mari Lwyd tradition is 28 years old. On New Year's Day, I shall drive to the village of Llangynwyd to see the oldest tradition going, the Llangynwyd Mari Lwyd, kept alive by Cwmni Caerdydd, the Cardiff dancers. An estimated guess shows 20 Mari Lwyds all going strong.

The Llantrisant Mari Lwyd song version goes:

Wel dyma ni diwad
Gyfeillion diniwed
I ofyn cawn gennad
I ofyn cawn gennad
I ofyn cawn gennad i ganu.

(Well, here we are, gentle friends, asking your permission to sing)

Mae Mari Lwyd yma
A sêr a ribanau
Yn werth i rhoi goleu
Yn werth i rhoi goleu
Yn werth i rhoi goleu nos heno.

(The Mari Lwyd is here, with stars and ribbons, it's worth it to give light tonight)

Mae Mari Lwyd lawen
Yn dod yn y dafarn
I ofyn am arian
I ofyn am arian
I ofyn am arian a chwrw.

(The happy Mari Lwyd comes to the pub, asking for money and beer)

Wel, tapwch y faril
Gyllongwch yn rhugl
A rhenwch e'n gynil
A rhenwch e'n gynil
A rhenwch e'n gynil Y Gwyliau.

(Well, tap the barrel, let it flow freely, it's Christmas!)

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Bobert
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 07:56 AM

I haven't read thru all of these but there are a couple John Stewert songs that come to mind:

"How Will We Ride" I belive is the name of one ("Shoot all the wild horses, how will we ride"

"Mother Country" also has a very movibng part abot E.A. Stuart driving "Old Campaigner stone blind... And will you look at her and he driving her stone blind... A little while later old E.A. Stuart died"

B~

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 06 Aug 08 - 01:53 PM

Marymac90:

The song you refer to, "Cool Water," was written by Bob Nolan, of the Sons of the Pioneers. That song, along with "Tumbling Tumbleweeds," another composition by Nolan, were two early favorites of mine and both were heard frequently in the 1940's and '50's. Of course, Jack Palance gave a whole new sound to "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" in "City Slickers."

Subject: Lyr Add: SKY BALL PAINT (Bob Nolan)
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 10 Dec 09 - 08:03 PM

Don't forget another Sons of the Pioneers classic by Bob Nolan:

SKY BALL PAINT

Old Sky Ball Paint was a devil's saint, his eyes were a fiery red.
Good men have tried this horse to ride and all of them are dead.
Now I won't brag but I rode this nag till his blood began to boil.
Then I hit the ground and I ate three pound of good old western soil.

[Chorus]
Singin' hi ho, whoopee ti yo,
Ride him high and down you go,
Sons of the western soil.

So I swore, by heck, I'd break his neck for the jolt he gave my pride.
I threw my noose on that old cayuse and once more took a ride.
He turned around and soon I found his head where his tail should be
So I sez, sez I, perhaps he's shy or he just don't care for me.

[Chorus]

In town one day I chanced to stray upon old Cross-Eyed Jim.
For a whoop and a holler and a counterfeit dollar I sold the nag to him.
But when he plants the seat of his pants in Sky Ball's leather chair,
I'll bet four bits when Sky Ball quits that Jim will not be there.

[Chorus]

I've also heard it done with Sheriff Jim in the last verse.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Artful Codger
Date: 11 Dec 09 - 05:47 AM

"Chopo", by N. Howard "Jack" Thorp

Ahem, no horse turns up explicitly in "Bonny Light Horseman"; the closest is in the line "When mounted on horseback he so gay did appear".

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Amber
Date: 11 Dec 09 - 06:12 AM

Copper and May is a really beautiful song and someone at my club sings it, but I can not remember who wrote it.

Amber

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Genie
Date: 11 Dec 09 - 02:24 PM

"Run, Molly, Run" is about racehorses.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Genie
Date: 11 Dec 09 - 02:29 PM

"The Surrey With The Fringe On Top" has a verse about the two white horses that would pull the surrey.

(Then there's the poem - by Oliver Wendell Holmes, IIRC - about "The Wonderful One-Horse Shay.")

Also, there's song called "Government On Horseback" (which is really political satire, not so much about real horses).

Subject: Lyr Add: OLD FAITHFUL (Michael Carr/Jimmy Kennedy)
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 12 Dec 09 - 12:04 AM

This is the song somebody mentioned as being in a Roy Rogers movie - the movie was My Pal Trigger. Gene Autry also sang it ten years earlier in The Big Show, which featured a very young Roy Rogers in a bit part as a member of the Sons of the Pioneers.

OLD FAITHFUL
(Michael Carr/Jimmy Kennedy)

Old faithful, we rode the range together
Old faithful in every kind of weather
When your round up days are over
There'll be pastures white with clover
For you, old faithful pal of mine.

Hurry, up old fellow,
'Cause the moon is yellow tonight
Hurry, up old fellow
'Cause the moon is mellow and bright.

There's a coyote howlin' to the moon above
So carry me back to the one I love
Hurry up, old fellow
'Cause we gotta get home tonight.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Genie
Date: 12 Dec 09 - 01:28 AM

Ian Tyson recorded a song about a horse named Barney.   It tells of Barney's owner, broken-hearted, having to "put old Barney down" so as to be able to "bury him deep 'fore the ground got too hard."    The beloved horse was very old and feeble and would not have made it through the winter.
I think "Barney" may be the title of the song.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Gene
Date: 12 Dec 09 - 10:00 AM

Dean Martin's "My rifle, my pony & me"

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,An Buachaill Caol Dubh
Date: 12 Dec 09 - 11:43 AM

In addition to Father Ted and Dougal, with their "My Lovely Horse" (which I guess is the one posted by Suibne, tho' I can't see the clip), there several other Irish ones: I've heard one called "Horses and Plough", and another called "The Mowing Machine", which struck me as very pleasant and moving (I don't have the words), and then there's Percy French's "Sweet Marie", which begins:

I've a little racing mare called Sweet Marie,
And the temper of a bear has Sweet Marie;
But I've backed the mare to win,
And on her bet all my tin,
So we'll take a trial spin, Sweet Marie---

Hold yer hoult, Sweet Marie!
If ye boult, Sweet Marie,
Ye'll never win the Farmers' Cup for me;
And if ye don't pull it through,
Faith! I'm done -- and so are you,
For I'll sell ye off for glue, Sweet Marie.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Arkie
Date: 12 Dec 09 - 12:41 PM

Here are several more that I don't think have not been mentioned:
    Pinto the Wonder Horse Is Dead - Tom T. Hall
    Comanche - recorded by Johnny Horton and likely by others
    Your Horse is out of the Stable - Thom Bresh (about a different kind of horse).

Subject: Lyr Add: THE HIGH-METTLED RACER (Charles Dibdin)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 31 Mar 11 - 12:39 AM

Here's the original text, with correct attribution, of the song posted above by Black Belt Caterpillar Wrestler:


THE HIGH-METTLED RACER.
Charles Dibdin

See, the course throng'd with gazers, the sports are begun
The confusion but hear!--I'll bet you, sir!--Done, done!
Ten thousand strange murmurs resound far and near,
Lords, hawkers, and jockeys assail the tired ear.
While with neck like a rainbow, erecting his crest,
Pamper'd, prancing, and pleas'd, his head touching his breast,
Scarcely snuffing the air, he's so proud and elate,
The high-mettled racer first starts for the plate.

Now Reynard's turn'd out, and o'er hedge and ditch rush
Hounds, horses, and huntsmen, all hard at his brush:
They run him at length, and they have him at bay,
And by scent and by view cheat a long tedious way;
While, alike born for sports of the field and the course,
Always sure to come thorough a stanch and fleet horse,
When fairly run down the fox yields up his breath,
The high-mettled racer is in at the death.

Grown aged, used up, and turn'd out of the stud,
Lame, spavin'd, and windgall'd, but yet with some blood,
While knowing postilions his pedigree trace,
Tell his dam won that sweepstakes, his sire gain'd that race;
And what matches he won to the ostlers count o'er,
As they loiter their time at some hedge ale-house door,
While the harness sore galls, and the spurs his sides goad.
The high-mettled racer's a hack on the road.

Till at last having labour'd, drudg'd early and late,
Bow'd down by degrees, he bends on to his fate!
Blind, old, lean, and feeble, he tugs round a mill,
Or draws sand till the sand of his hour-glass stands still.
And now cold and lifeless exposed to the view
In the very same cart which he yesterday drew;
While a pitying crowd his sad relics surrounds,
The high-mettled racer is sold for the hounds!


[The above text can be found in many old books. An old musical arrangement can be found in The Harmonicon, Volume 2, Part 2 edited by William Ayrton (London: Samuel Leigh, 1824), page 38.]

Subject: Lyr Add: THE BLIZZARD (Harlan Howard)^^
From: kendall
Date: 31 Mar 11 - 08:14 AM

THE BLIZZARD
(Harlan Howard)

There's a blizzard coming on
How I'm wishing I was home
My pony's lame and he can hardly stand
Listen to that norther sigh
If we don't get home we'll die
It's only seven miles to Mary Ann
It's only seven miles to Mary Ann.

That wind's howling and it seems mighty like a woman's screams
We'd best be moving faster if we can
Dan, just think about that barn and that hay so soft and warm
It's only 5 more miles to Mary Ann.

You can bet we're on her mind cause its nearly supper time
I'll bet there's hot biscuits in the pan
Lord, my hands feel like they're froze and there's numbness in my toes
But it's only 3 more miles to Mary Ann,
It's only three more miles to Mary Ann.

Dan get up you onery cuss or you'll be the death of us,
I'm so weary but I'll help you if I can,
Alright Dan, perhaps it's best that we stop a while and rest
It's still 100 yards to Mary Ann
It's still a hundred yards to Mary Ann.

Late that night the storm was gone and they found him there at dawn
He'd have made it but he couldn't leave old Dan,
They found him on the plain with his hands froze to the reins,
He was just a hundred yards from Mary Ann,
He was just a hundred yards from Mary Ann. ^^

---

Note from Joe Offer: Songfile.com says the songwriter was Harlan Howard. Harlan Howard recorded the song, as did Ed Ames, Jim Reeves, and Chris Ledoux.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Artful Codger
Date: 11 May 11 - 09:24 PM

In July of 2008 "Black belt caterpillar wrestler" posted the lyrics to "High-Mettled Racer". The text was written by Charles Dibdin; the Bodleian Library has a broadside dated ca. 1790. In Sporting Anecdotes (1820), Pierce Egan wrote:

"On the publication of this song, it was so much admired in the Sporting World, that it is said, the late Mr. Charles Dibdin, cleared upwards of £2000 by it."

At least one theater production was based on the song, including one in which, at the end, a magician resurrects the animal to life.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Beer
Date: 11 May 11 - 10:38 PM

Nice to see this thread refreshed.
ad.

Subject: Lyr Add: ARKLE (Dominic Behan)
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 11 May 11 - 11:30 PM

ARKLE   (Dominic Behan Essex Music)

It happened in the Springtime of the year of sixty-four,
When Englishmen were making pounds and fivers by the score;
He beat them in the hollows, he beat them o'er the jumps,
A pair of fancy fetlocks he showed them all at once.

He's English, he's English, as easy might be seen,
With a little bit of Arab stock and more from Stephen's Green;
Take a look at Millhouse, throw out your chest with pride,
He's the greatest steeplechaser on the English countryside.

But a quiet man called Dreaper living in the Emerald Isle
Says, "That horse of yours called Millhouse surely shows a bit of style,
But I've a little fella and Arkle is his name,
Put your money where you put your mouth and then we'll play the game."

Now the English racing gentry, laughing fit to burst,
Said, "You tried before Tom Dreaper, and then you came off worst;
If you think your horse could beat us, you're running short on brains,
It's Millhouse that you're speaking of, and not those beastly Danes."

Arkle now is five to two, Millhouse is money-on;
They're off, and dear I do believe the champion has it won.
There are other horses in the race to test the great chap's might;
But dearie me, it's plain to see the rest are out of sight.

With two more fences now to go, he leads by twenty lengths,
Brave Arkle's putting in a show, poor chap, he's all but spent;
Millhouse rides on majestically, great glory in each stride;
He's the greatest horse undoubtedy within the whole world wide.

But two to go, still Arkle comes, he's cutting down the lead;
He's beaten bar the shouting, he hasn't got the speed;
On the run-up to the last, my God can he hold out,
"Look behind you Willie Robinson! Man, what are you about?"

They're at the last and over, Pat Taaffe has more in hand,
He's passing England's Millhouse, the finest in the land,
My God, he has us beaten, what can we English say?
The ground was wrong, the distance long, too early in the day?

So came all ye gallant Irishmen wherever you may be,
And let the glasses toast a round to Arkle's victory.
When the English think they've bred a horse to wipe out this disgrace,
Sure we'll send another over to take great Arkle's place.

This was my party piece when I was much younger and learning to
play the guitar. Arkle tells the true story of a Guinness-drinking
racehorse – a steeplechaser – who was the Irish equivalent of
SeaBiscuit in the1960's.He beat the great English favorite Mill House
in The Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1964, a race which has been called
"one of the 10 greatest horseraces of all time."
This was the second major battle won by the Irish on English soil.
The first was when Master McGrath the legendary Irish greyhound
beat all comers including Rose, the pride of England in 1869.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: emtee
Date: 17 Nov 12 - 11:49 AM

A song about an old farmhand remembering "The Old Ways" when he used to work the fields with his horse

The Old Ways

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: r.padgett
Date: 17 Nov 12 - 02:11 PM

O a tear to my eyes you blighters!!and I don't like racehorses

Ray

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 17 Nov 12 - 02:48 PM

Ride On by Christy Moore! {lyrics}

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Anne Neilson
Date: 18 Nov 12 - 09:41 AM

And there's a fine song from Ken Campbell about the famous Clydesdale horse sire that provided the line of many champions -- I believe his skeleton is in the Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow.
But I've forgotten the title/mislaid the connection! Will try to get on to it soon...

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Anne Neilson
Date: 19 Nov 12 - 06:39 AM

"The Baron o Buchlyvie"!

(See what a wee sleep will do!)

Subject: Lyr Add: SEE THOSE HORSES RACE (J H Hills)
From: GUEST,John from Kemsing
Date: 19 Nov 12 - 09:31 AM

"SEE THOSE HORSES RACE." (J.H.HILLS)

LYRIC:-

I don`t want to own them.
I don`t want to lead them.
I don`t want to ride them.
I don`t want to feed them.
I just like to see those horses race.
I just like to see those horses race.

They run them in cross country.
Run them in steeplechase.
Run them on the flat
They can run them any place.
I just like to see those horses race.
I just like to see those horses race.

I don`t care for dressage.
Strutting back and forth.
I can take show jumping
On a tight and twisting course.
But I prefer to see those horses race.
Yes, I prefer to see those horses race.

Silky black, chestnut,
Pie-bald, skew-bald, grey.
Sorrel and all colours.
Its just the same to me.
I just like to see those horses race.
I just like to see those horses race.

Arab mares and stallions.
Thoroughbreds, maidens.
Four year olds and over.
In the sport of kings.
I just like to see those horses race.
I just like to see those horses race.

Epsom, Lingfield, Aintree.
Cheltenham and York.
Leopardstown and Longchamps.
I`ve been to them all.
Just to see those horses race.
Just to see those horses race.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 20 Nov 12 - 08:17 AM

correction re "Ride On", recorded by Christy Moore: I believe the author is Jimmy MacCarthy

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Philippa
Date: 20 Nov 12 - 08:19 AM

do songs of the Kelpie (mythical water horse) qualify?
What about The Unicorn ("sure as you're born, the loveliest of all was the unicorn"), and any songs about Pegasus, the Trojan horse, rocking horses,etc?)

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Beer
Date: 20 Nov 12 - 08:23 AM

Bring'em all in.
Adrien

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: open mike
Date: 21 Nov 12 - 04:06 AM

Tonight We Ride...by Tom Russell..
Darcy Farrow..

I like to sing a little round that i learned in girl scouts..

I like to ride a horse and buggy,
I like to ride all over town
I like to hear old Dobbin go clip clop
I like to see those wheels go 'round

horsey horsey on your way
we've been together for many a day
so let your tail go swish
and your wheels go 'round
giddy up we're homeward bound

Juni Fisher sings Horse Like You:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8emLY2qlqk

Belinda Gail .. Horse Corral Meadow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndXN0X5E74k

Joyce Woodson -- She's in Love with Her Horse...(short sample here:)
http://www.joycewoodson.com/mp3s/horsefortheweb.mp3

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: open mike
Date: 21 Nov 12 - 04:25 AM

Ragtime Cowboy Joe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y7t7ttZCXU

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Eddie1 (Still sans cookie)
Date: 21 Nov 12 - 05:50 AM

Some years ago
on this thread, Effsee referred to this song

As If He Knows
[Lyrics]
For me, this makes any other song about horses seem a sick joke. Maybe that's too melodramatic but that's me.
Warning - have some tissues nearby

Eddie

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Beer
Date: 21 Nov 12 - 08:43 AM

Eddie,
That is a tough one to listen to. Eric Bogle has a way of doing this with his songs.
Ad.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Jack Campin
Date: 21 Nov 12 - 11:03 AM

One of the great Japanese songs, the Packhorseman's Song:

Esashi Oiwake

(can't find a good vocal version at present, that one is on a flute).

Subject: Lyr Add: PONIES (Jeffrey Hawthorne Bullock)
From: Larry The Radio Guy
Date: 21 Nov 12 - 04:08 PM

One of my favorites....I heard it by Michael Johnson in 1987.

PONIES
Words and music by Jeffrey Hawthorne Bullock

Somewhere out on the prairie
Is the greatest cowboy that's ever been
And when he lays his hands upon the ponies
They shudder with an understanding skin

And he says ponies
Now ponies don't you worry
I have not come to steal your fire away
I want to fly with you across the sunrise
Discover what begins each shining day

When the storm clouds in the west
Are quickly gathering
The ponies they run wild there
Before it rains

You'll see their sleek dark bodies
Brightly gleaming
You know the fire is flying through
Their brains

And he says ponies
Now ponies don't you worry
I have not come to steal your fire away
I want to fly with you across the sunrise
Discover what begins each shining day

And he says ponies
Now ponies don't you worry
I have not come to steal your fire away
I want to fly with you across the sunrise
Discover what begins each shining day

And he says ponies
Ponies don't you worry
I have not come to steal your fire away
I want to fly with you across the sunrise
Discover what begins each shining day
I want to fly


[Also recorded by John Denver; Royal Wade Kimes; Jim Horn & Jim Salestrom; Lynn Anderson; Michael Martin Murphey & Johnny Cash; Michael Johnson]

Subject: Lyr Add: THE CARTER AND HIS TEAM
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 21 May 13 - 12:12 PM

This is in response to JeffB, who posted on 01 Aug 2008. (What is the chance he'll see this?)

From The Children's Garland of Verse edited by Grace Little Rhys (London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1921), page 91:


THE CARTER AND HIS TEAM

I was once a bold fellow, and went with a team,
And all my delight was in keeping them clean,
With brushes and curries I'd show their bright colour,
And the name that they gave me was "a hearty good fellow."

As every evening I went to my bed
The thought of my horses came into my head.
I rose in the morning to give them their meat
As soon as I got my shoes on my feet.

The first was a white horse, as white as the milk;
The next was a grey horse, as soft as the silk;
The next was a brown horse, as sleek as a mole;
The last was a great horse, as black as a coal.

As I went a-driving all on the highway,
When light went my load, then I fed them with hay;
And watered them very well, when we came to a pond.
(And after they've drunk, boys, go steady beyond.)

My feet they grew weary as I walked by their side;
I said to my mate, "I will get up and ride."
And as I was riding I made a new song,
And as I did sing it, you must learn it along.

[Dave Webber & Anni Fentiman sing a similar song, which they call THE CARTER, on "Bonnet & Shawl" (1996).]

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: open mike
Date: 21 May 13 - 04:16 PM

I DID A 2 HOUR RADIO SHOW WITH SONGS ABOUT HORSES...
i will check to see if i can find th eplaylist...

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST
Date: 21 May 13 - 04:54 PM

Donkey, Jack Donkey by Bill Caddick - sums up most of the horses I ever backed ...

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: open mike
Date: 21 May 13 - 05:12 PM

here are some

Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard / Horse Called Music / Heroes / Legacy / http://www.willienelson.com/

Corinne West / Horseback in my Dreams / Bound for the Living/ Make Records

Lonesome Traveler / If Wishes Were Horses / Looking for a Way / www.lonesometravelerband.com

Tom Russell has an album called "Indians, Cowboys, Horses, Dogs" / Hightone / http://www.tomrussell.com/

Dave Stamey / If I Had a Horse + Somewhere West of Laramie / If I Had a Horse / Horse Camp / www.davestamey.com....

The Rice Brothers / Darcy Farrow / Rice Brothers 2 / Rounder / www.tonyrice.com

Caroline Doctorow / Carmel Valley Ride / title song / Narrow Lane / http://www.carolinedoctorow.com/

Michael Martin Murphey / Tennessee Stud / Horse Legends / Warner Western / http://www.michaelmartinmurpheymusic.com/....

Chris Williamson / Goodbye Old Paint / Fringe / Wolf Moon / http://www.criswilliamson.com/....

G. W. Groethe / My Father's Horses / Bar-D-Roundup / Cowboy Poetry.com

The Be Good Tanyas / Horses / Chinatown / Nettwerk / http://www.begoodtanyas.com/

Pedro Marquez / Comes a Horseman / Nevada /Heart Bar Ranch

John Tyson / Mustang Moon / Wild Horse Crossing / Lacy J. Dalton / http://www.letemrun.com/Wild-Horse-Crossing.htm

Juni Fisher / title tune + Roundup to Remember / Let 'er Go, Let 'er Buck, Let 'er Fly /Red Geetar / www.junifisher.net

Sisters of the Silver Sage / Ghost Riders in the Sky / Swingin' & Trail Dreamin'

Ramblin' Jack Elliot & Arlo Guthrie / Ridin' Down the Canyon / Friends of Mine / Hightone /

Rich Flanders / Song of the Trail / Yondering / JAZ Music / www.richflanders.com

and last, but not least....

Garnet Rogers / Small Victory / song about a rescued race horse / www.garnetrogers.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge5_gLtSWd4

Subject: Lyr Add: OLD NED (Ted Egan)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 21 May 13 - 10:43 PM

From The Land Downunder by Ted Egan (Norwich : Grice Chapman, 2003), page 128:

OLD NED
Ted Egan

1. They reckon Old Ned is too stiff to be riding,
Too old at the stockyards when the drafting is done.
His eyesight is shot for the tracking and the guiding
He'll muster no more with the camp on the run.

2. Let him dream on; let the old bloke remember
The days when he rode where the wild cattle were.
Pension him off, but just let him cherish
Memories of stockwhip, stirrup and spur.

3. In his day, there were few who could stay there beside him
Through the gidyea and the wattle when slinging the lead.
Few horses could throw him; no man could outride him:
Best in the Gulf, the old-timers agreed.

Repeat 2.

4. Let's yarn to Old Ned in his camp by the river,
Far from the hills that were mustered back then.
The legendary stockman, it's sad that he'll never
Go running the pikers and the cleanskins again.

Repeat 2.

Repeat 1.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: eftifino
Date: 22 May 13 - 01:48 AM

I can't believe that I haven't seen any mention of Steeleye Span's rendering of "Skewball" (Not the US Stewball). It's on their Ten Man Mop album.

I don't know if it can be obtained these days (I live Down Under), but my late father, The Irish Actor Noel Purcell, recorded a 6-kleenex monologue called 'Pretty Polly', about an old Dublin Hackney driver and his equally old Polly. If it is available, it was recorded on the Glenside Label by Walton's of Dublin in the '50s. I had a 78, but it broke!

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST
Date: 22 May 13 - 02:58 AM

ouwe bles is a popular yodel song sung by many Dutch cowboy-style yodelers like the boy-yodeler Bobby Klein [trans from Dutch] also sung by Belgian cowboy yodeler Bob Vrieling.

"in the afternoon when i get home from school
i help my father around the farm
until my father says: "Stop dreaming and
go bring back ole Bles from the pasture"
then I grab the really Ole Bles by the head
and swing uyp on his back and here is
where i become a real cowboy, or so I imagine
and I'm riding across the Texas prairies...
[lots of yodeling]

My 2nd yodel book was recently published: YODEL IN HIFI: FROM KITSCH FOLK TO MODERN ELECTRONICA. you can find more info at: http://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/4594.htm

bart plantenga

Subject: Lyr Add: OLD FAITHFUL AND I (from Les Wilson)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 22 May 13 - 07:11 PM

Not to be confused with another song with a similar title and theme: OLD FAITHFUL.


OLD FAITHFUL AND I
As sung by Les Wilson on "Old Faithful: Songs from the Saddle"

On the great plains of Texas we wander,
Away from the mountain so high,
Serenading the sky and the grasslands,
My old horse Faithful and I.

[Yodel]

When the purple shades close on the prairie,
And the pale moon rises on high,
We'll rest by the campfire in silence,
My old horse Faithful and I.

[Yodel]

When the sun beats down without mercy,
For the cool of the evening we sigh,
And long for the shadows of nightfall,
My old horse Faithful and I.

[Yodel]

Subject: Lyr Add: PATRICK (Mike Beck)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 22 May 13 - 08:45 PM

PATRICK
As sung by Mike Beck on "Mariposa Wind"

My name is Patrick,
And I live in the mountains
Outside Salinas,
Way up in the sky.

My name is Patrick,
And the man who rides me,
He feels what I feel;
He thinks what I think;
His touch goes down to my feet.

My name is Patrick,
And it's easy to run,
And I can stop on four feet,
And no cow can get by me.

And I'm straight up in the bridle,
And my reins and reata,
They're braided by the man
I allow on my back,
Whose touch goes down to my feet.

Back in '57,
The bridle class in Salinas,
The great horses were there,
And the men who rode 'em, too.

And I chased the wild cow,
And I turned her on the fence,
And the people all cheered,
And they all looked at me.

'Cause my name is Patrick,
And I live in the mountains
Outside Salinas,
Way up in the sky.

My name is Patrick,
And the man who rides me,
He feels what I feel;
He thinks what I think,
And his touch goes down to my feet.

When I'm turned out in the golden hills,
I eat the sweetest grass
That grows under the oak trees
Where the fog drifts to the ground.

Now my name is Patrick,
And I sleep on the ridges
Where the wind off the ocean
Brings the scent of manzanita
And it blows through my mane.


[Reputedly written about a horse belonging to Bill Dorrance, one of the original "horse whisperers."]

Subject: Lyr Add: SILVER STALLION
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 22 May 13 - 09:56 PM

SILVER STALLION
Written by Lee Clayton
As sung by The Highwaymen (Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, & Kris Kristofferson)
on "Highwayman 2" (1990), "Highwayman Super Hits" (1999), "The Highwayman Collection" (2000), and "The Essential Highwaymen" (2010).

[Kristofferson:]
I'm gonna steal me a silver stallion,
With not a mark upon his silky hide,
And teach him he can trust me like a brother.
One day we'll saddle up and ride.

[Cash:]
And we're gonna ride, we're gonna ride,
Ride like the one-eyed jack of diamonds with the devil close behind.
We're gonna ride.

[Jennings:]
I'm gonna find me a reckless woman,
Razor blades and dice in her eyes,
Just a touch of sadness in her fingers,
Thunder and lightnin' in her thighs.

[Cash:]
And we're gonna ride, we're gonna ride,
Ride like the one-eyed jack of diamonds with the devil close behind.
We're gonna ride.

[Nelson:]
I'm gonna chase the sky forever,
With the woman and the stallion and the wind,
And the sun is gonna burn into a cinder,
Before we ever pass this way again.

[Cash:]
And we're gonna ride, we're gonna ride,
Ride like the one-eyed jack of diamonds with the devil close behind.
We're gonna ride.

[Also recorded by Lee Clayton on "Gettin' Filthy"]

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Howard Kaplan
Date: 22 May 13 - 10:33 PM

Marie-Lynn Hammond has just released Hoofbeats, an entire CD of horse songs that she's written over the past few years. You can find more details on her web site.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Allen in Oz
Date: 22 May 13 - 11:23 PM

Has The Tennessee Stud been mentioned yet ?

AD

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: mg
Date: 23 May 13 - 03:20 AM

Jingle Bells
Pony Boy
Horse seining song by Hobe Kytr..absolutely awesome song
Mentioned in Coal Town Road
horse with no name?
old nelly on golden wedding day [Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet]

Some beautiful ones about WWI..
something about horse infantry?

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: mg
Date: 23 May 13 - 03:23 AM

Short Grass by Ian Tyson
one horse open sleigh

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Allen in Oz
Date: 23 May 13 - 11:07 PM

Type in Wonga Springs on youtube to see what Australians are singing about horses

AD

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Dot Callery
Date: 24 May 13 - 09:49 AM

Tom Russell - Although a horse-thief song still worth looking up - 'The Sky Above, the Mud Below'.

Subject: Lyr Add: SHE COULD RUN (from Lacy J. Dalton)
From: GUEST,Arkie
Date: 24 May 13 - 10:55 AM

She Could Run
(Lacy J. Dalton ?)

It was in the dead of winter, in a hail of snow and ice
When the pride of old Kentucky came gasping into life
She was weak and she was wobbly
and her legs were much too long
But her heart was like a chalice
where the fire of God was strong
And she could run... run... run...

At six months old they noticed she was faster than the rest
By the time she was a yearling she was racing past the best
So they took her down and trained her,
but they never used a whip
'Cause she'd shoot off like a cannonball
when they let her take the bit
And she could run... run... run...

Now I've heard it said
A racin? horse is only born to run
Some say horses don't possess a soul
But I have seen a shining there
As bright as any sun
And that comes from only
One great source I know

Well, they ran her in the Derby and she won it by a length
Then she took the famous Preakness
in a show of speed and strength
They named her in the papers as a favorite of the crowds
A third win at the Belmont Stakes
Would take the Triple Crown
And she could run... run...
Praise be to Glory she could run

But on the morning of the Belmont
the rain was pourin? down
And the track was wet
and dangerous that day
The bell rang and they cried "They're off!" but the big Bay swerved and fell
And she went down
trying to jump out of his way

Well, the jockey heard her leg bone snap
as they slammed into the fence
"Dear God, don't let this be," he prayed,
but that's the way it went
She struggled but she could not rise ?
Her eyes rolled white and wild
As he knelt to calm her in the mud he cried just like a child
'Cause she could run... run... run...

Now I've heard it said
A racing horse is only born to run
Some say horses don't possess a soul
But I have seen a shining there
As bright as any sun
And that comes from only
One great source I know

Well, she never felt the poison they gave to end her pain
She only heard a quiet voice and felt a gentle rain
Her spirit raced towards the light and she became aware
Of blue sky all around her and bluegrass every where
And she could run... run...
Praise be to Glory, Praise be to Glory

Praise be to Glory, she could run...

Subject: Lyr Add: BALLAD OF THE ABSENT MARE (Leonard Cohen)
From: GUEST,Arkie
Date: 24 May 13 - 11:02 AM

"Say a prayer for the cowgirl" by Emmylou Harris was mentioned up above. The actual title is "Ballad of the Runaway Horse", an adaptation of Leonard Cohen's song "Ballad of the Absent Mare". Jennifer Warnes sings this as well.

"Ballad Of The Absent Mare"

Say a prayer for the cowboy
His mare's run away
And he'll walk til he finds her
His darling, his stray
but the river's in flood
and the roads are awash
and the bridges break up
in the panic of loss.
And there's nothing to follow
There's nowhere to go
She's gone like the summer
gone like the snow
And the crickets are breaking
his heart with their song
as the day caves in
and the night is all wrong

Did he dream, was it she
who went galloping past
and bent down the fern
broke open the grass
and printed the mud with
the iron and the gold
that he nailed to her feet
when he was the lord

And although she goes grazing
a minute away
he tracks her all night
he tracks her all day
Oh blind to her presence
except to compare
his injury here
with her punishment there

Then at home on a branch
in the highest tree
a songbird sings out
so suddenly
Ah the sun is warm
and the soft winds ride
on the willow trees
by the river side

Oh the world is sweet
the world is wide
and she's there where
the light and the darkness divide
and the steam's coming off her
she's huge and she's shy
and she steps on the moon
when she paws at the sky

And she comes to his hand
but she's not really tame
She longs to be lost
he longs for the same
and she'll bolt and she'll plunge
through the first open pass
to roll and to feed
in the sweet mountain grass

Or she'll make a break
for the high plateau
where there's nothing above
and there's nothing below
and it's time for the burden
it's time for the whip
Will she walk through the flame
Can he shoot from the hip

So he binds himself
to the galloping mare
and she binds herself
to the rider there
and there is no space
but there's left and right
and there is no time
but there's day and night

And he leans on her neck
and he whispers low
"Whither thou goest
I will go"
And they turn as one
and they head for the plain
No need for the whip
Ah, no need for the rein

Now the clasp of this union
who fastens it tight?
Who snaps it asunder
the very next night
Some say the rider
Some say the mare
Or that love's like the smoke
beyond all repair

But my darling says
"Leonard, just let it go by
That old silhouette
on the great western sky"
So I pick out a tune
and they move right along
and they're gone like the smoke
and they're gone like this song

Subject: Lyr Add: COLORADO HORSES (Will Dudley)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 24 May 13 - 12:58 PM

COLORADO HORSES
As sung by Will Dudley on "Trying to Rope the Moon" and "Colorado Horses"

1. We were up before the sunrise, loaded up the horses; we were gone.
We crossed La Veta pass into that sweet San Luis Valley, rollin' on.
There's Wolf Creek straight ahead, ten thousand feet of mountain; we'll be there by noon.
We're haulin' Colorado horses down to winter beneath the Arizona moon.

2. Rolled straight on through Durango toward Four Corners; that old Ford was makin' ground.
We stretched the horses' legs in Teec Nos Pos and watched the desert sun go down.
We made camp out in the nations and we listened to the ancestors' tunes.
We're haulin' Colorado horses down to winter beneath the Arizona moon.

3. I called the boss in Wickenburg just to let him know when we'd be rollin' in,
Fed the horses, fed ourselves, picked some guitar while the firelight grew dim,
Then we passed the bottle round and watched the night turn into mornin' way too soon.
We're haulin' Colorado horses down to winter beneath the Arizona moon.

4. Sing praises to these horses; they've hauled a thousand dudes into the hills.
They'd take us to the rivers where the voice of Mother Nature won't be still.
I ain't no big-time banker but I know exactly what I should be doin'.
We're haulin' Colorado horses down to winter beneath the Arizona moon.

[Repeat 3.]

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,CJ
Date: 24 May 13 - 07:06 PM

Has this been mentioned? Richard Dawson's 'Poor Old Horse'


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4OuYsD0PDg

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Artful Codger
Date: 24 May 13 - 08:20 PM

"Two Bits", a true story of equine endurance and heroism set in verse by the Arizona historian and poet Sharlot M. Hall, by 1897. I've revised the text and concocted a tune to it, but assuredly I can't have been the first to do so.
Artful Codger

Subject: Lyr Add: GONE ARE THE STRONG ONES (from C Kydd)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 25 May 13 - 04:49 PM

GONE ARE THE STRONG ONES
As sung by Christine Kydd on "Gentle Giants" (2004)

1. Gone are the strong ones I knew in my day,
Broad-backed, big-legged, not much to say.
They did their work well though they got little pay.
We'll not see their likes any more.

2. I grew up on a highland farm with Dolly, Jock, and Dick.
Dick would take us into town to meet the train from Wick
Slow and safe along the road—tick-tock, tick-tock, tick—
Counting every flower along the way.

3. Dolly was so good with bairns; though I was only nine
I worked her with trace and long rope at the harvest time,
Looped the rope around the rick and pull it into line
So Jock and Dick could haul the hairst away.

4. Jock was a big one, a true-bred Clydesdale brown,
Thick hair and heavy feet, perfect for the plough.
He'd pull from dawn to sunset on any kind of ground.
The Clydesdales earned their oats and hay.

[Repeat 1.]

5. The Clydesdale horse was bred, they say, to carry armoured knights.
I learned that at Newmore School and teacher was always right.
They'd take so long to get up speed, they'd be late for the fight,
But they'd smash down anybody in their way.

6. But one year the grass sickness hit the north full hard.
It killed so many horses, it raged near and far.
Dolly, Jock, and Dick went to knacker's yard.
The tractor towed them away.

[Repeat 1.]

Subject: Lyr Add: MANDRAKE (Tex Morton)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 26 May 13 - 08:43 AM

MANDRAKE
As sung by Tex Morton on "Timeless Country: Tex Morton" and "Tex Morton: Original Recordings Vol. 2: 1936-1938"

[Yodel]

1. I've told you of Aristocrat and good old Rocky Ned.
Their names will be remembered long after they are dead.
They've thrown the best of riders, the greatest of all time,
But now I'll tell you all about this new outlaw of mine.

2. We used to call him Slipp'ry when he came with the show,
But I changed his name to Mandrake; there's no trick he don't know.
He tries a new one every night; he never bucks the same.
Mandrake is a wizard so that's how he got his name.

CHORUS. Screw down the saddle; make it good and tight.
Back from the ropes, please; ask him is he right.
Pick up your mate, lads; he had a nasty fall.
They're all the same to Mandrake, champions and all.

3. Now all you local riders, come here and gather 'round.
Stay on his back ten seconds and I'll pay a hundred pound.
The champion o' Queensland got on to ride him 'round.
He rode him just two seconds: one up, one comin' down.

4. A fella came in the other night to show what he could do.
He thought that he'd be clever, so he painted his pants with glue.
Mandrake threw him easily; he says, "Huh, I don't mind."
I said, "Old chap, take a look at yourself; you've left your pants behind."

CHORUS

5. A new chum went up to the boys just the other night.
Mandrake got mixed up on the ropes and gave him a heck of a fright.
"Eh, what'll I do if horse gets out of ring?" I heard him say.
"Well, you jump into the ring, then, pal, and you'll be quite okay."

6. I have a little saying; it's one you ought to know.
It's always been the motto of my travelling rodeo:
"There never was a rider who never could be throwed,
And there never was a bronco that never could be rode."

CHORUS

Subject: Lyr Add: CHOPO (N. Howard "Jack" Thorp)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 26 May 13 - 07:28 PM

From Songs of the Cowboys collected by N. Howard Thorp (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1921), page 23:


CHOPO
By N. Howard ["Jack"] Thorp

Written in Devil's River, Texas, 1901, at Jeneaw, or Juno, Lake, when in camp with Frank Wilson. This little horse I got from Antelope George at Sierra Blanca, was branded O. I rode him from Sierra Blanca to Paris, Texas. This song was in my first publication, copyrighted in 1908.

Through rocky arroyos so dark and so deep;
Down the sides of the mountains so slippery and steep;
You've good judgment, sure-footed, wherever you go
You're a safety conveyance, my little Chopo.

Whether single or double, or in lead of a team,
Over highways or byways or crossing a stream,
You're always in fix and willing to go
Whenever you're called on, my Chico Chopo.

You're a good roping horse; you were never jerked down;
When tied to a steer, you will circle him around;
Let him once cross the string, and over he'll go.
You sabe the business, my cow horse Chopo.

One day on the Llano, a hail-storm began;
The herds were stampeded, the horses all ran;
The lightning it glittered, a cyclone did blow;
But you faced the sweet music, my little Chopo.

Chopo, my pony; Chopo, my pride;
Chopo, my amigo; Chopo I will ride
From Mexico's border 'cross Texas Llanos;
To the salt Pecos River I ride you, Chopo.

[Sung by Don Edwards on "Saddle Songs," Rodney Hayden on "Rodney Hayden," Horse Crazy on "Cowboy Rhythm," William Clauson on "William Clauson Sings Songs from High Chaparral," Yampa Valley Boys on "Tales of the Trail," and Tex Fletcher on "Riding the Range."]

Subject: Lyr Add: HORSE LIKE YOU (Juni Fisher)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 27 May 13 - 08:37 AM

HORSE LIKE YOU
As sung by Juni Fisher on "Let 'er Go, Let 'er Buck, Let 'er Fly"

You never mention when I haven't combed my hair,
And if I'm not wearin' makeup, you don't care.
It doesn't matter one iota to ya when my lipstick is askew.
I'm lucky to have a horse like you.

When I say, "Let's go for a ride," you go along.
And I'm singin' while I ride; you like my songs.
You got shoulders I can lean on; you're a pal that pulls me through.
I'm mighty lucky to have a horse like you.

I'll admit I've had some horses I've traded, shipped, and sold,
But you're the one and only horse I'll ride till I get old.

When the trail of life is rough and rocky, and I'm feelin' all alone,
I only have to let you have your head, and you'll get us home.

If everybody had a horse that was their friend,
All the strife and trouble in this world would end.
When I get to heaven, let me have a pasture view,
'Cause if it's heaven, I'll have a horse like you.
I'm mighty lucky to have a horse like you.

Subject: Lyr Add: SHE'S IN LOVE WITH HER HORSE (J Woodson)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 27 May 13 - 09:11 AM

SHE'S IN LOVE WITH HER HORSE
As sung by Joyce Woodson on "She's In Love with Her Horse"

Her appaloosa makes her smile like she's a kid again.
Her appaloosa puts the wild back in her inner child again.
A year ago she was feelin' low, ever since her divorce,
But she's smilin' now; she's in love with her horse.

Her friends have tried to rein her in, but she'll just pout.
Even her boss is suspicious when she sneaks out.
Her mom's afraid she'll break a leg, but that won't change her course.
Ah, there's nothin' you can do; she's in love with her horse.

You should see them: tall and leggy, with a long, beautiful mane.
Muscles on his back have that ripplin' effect.
He comes if she's callin'.
No wonder she's fallin'.

She's got his picture in a silver frame right by her bed.
She doesn't care if the whole world knows she prefers him instead.
There's a magic spell about her.
There's a certain smell about her.
There's nothin' you can do; she's in love with her horse.

Tonight she'll take him ridin' out under a veil of stars.
It's great how well they get along; she'll brush his mane, softly whisper his name.

She's thinkin' of buildin' a stall or barn off the livin' room.
A little hay and they'll both be happy, and, hey, she's got the room.
She's besotted, so let's applaud it.
She's forgot about the divorce.
Ah, there's nothin' you can do: no debate, no discourse.
She's happy now; she's in love with her horse.


[Also sung by Judy Coder on "Songcatcher."]

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 27 May 13 - 09:20 AM

The ultimate - Crazy Horses by the Osmonds :-)

And from the ridiculous to the sublime, the late Tom Sydall's brilliant song about a canal man and his horse - Funny thing is I don't know the name but Bernard on here makes a good job of it,

It's heel and toe and to and fro
and neither slow nor tarry
He knows of course he's my old horse
My mate and my butty

Cheers

DtG

Subject: Lyr Add: HEART ALONE (Bill Staines)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 02 Jun 13 - 12:20 AM

HEART ALONE
As sung by Bill Staines on "Redbird's Wing" (1987)

Into this world I came alone, flashing beauty to the bone,
And with all wonder, first I turned to see the sun,
Sired of strength and born of grace in a spare Kentucky place
Where the fields grow on forever in the morning.

And with no first and helping hand, two times I fell, then came to stand,
And with that rising I could feel my life begin;
For like some wild and rushing stream, in all my veins there flowed a dream,
And I could feel the feisty blood of those before me.

CHORUS: Jump to the bell; how do you feel? There's a flier at my heels;
Out straight ahead before the others show.
Now through that fast and final turn where mind and muscle start to burn,
And it is heart alone that brings you to the roses.

There was one, I knew him well; his eyes were kind and I could tell
That he would watch me as I'd fly beneath the sun.
Oh, how he'd smile and shake his head when I'd not let myself be led,
For he could read me and he knew it was just the fire.

Where the great Ohio slips away into a town we came one day,
And there were oh so many like me all around.
There was lightning in the air and I could feel it everywhere
As they gently put their colors to my shoulders.

CHORUS

Now gentle years, the bluebirds keep sweetly singing as they sweep
Across this farm, across this place that is my home,
Where morning mists rise from the dale, wispy wingéd silver tail,
Shining dancers in the early breath of springtime.

Oh, when it is that warming time, mother of youth and all its prime,
That brings the flower, that brings the mare to foal.
Now when I hear them from the hill, pounding hooves by driven will
Heat the heart and finds the flame that's deep inside me.

CHORUS

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Acorn4
Date: 02 Jun 13 - 07:25 AM

You might need long memories for this one when Zara's ma used to give us all a good laugh:-

The Eridge Valley Cowboy

Subject: Lyr Add: IF I HAD A HORSE (Dave Stamey)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 02 Jun 13 - 10:04 AM

Mentioned in Open Mike's playlist above. Not really about the horse, which is a hypothetical horse anyway. But it's a funny song worth having here.


IF I HAD A HORSE
As sung by Dave Stamey on "If I Had a Horse" (2003)

[Verse 1] Now if I had a horse,
A big white flashy horse,
I wouldn't be the kind of guy that I appear to be.
Well, I'd be different; I'd be better,
A hero right down to the letter,
And all them purty women would be after me.

[Chorus 1] 'Cause I'd be Tom Mix; I'd be the Lone Ranger.
I'd be John Wayne; I'd be the tall dark stranger.
I could ride into danger, 'cause I'd be brave, of course.
People would look up to me,
'Cause I'd be somethin' that they could aspire to be,
And this would all be possible if I just had a horse.

[Verse 2] If I had a hat,
A ten-gallon Stetson hat,
Well, I'd look so sharp, all my friends would be amazed,
'Cause I could tip it to the ladies.
My nose would always be shady,
And underneath the brim, I'd have a Gary-Cooper gaze.

[Chorus 2] And I'd be Tom Mix; I'd be the Lone Ranger.
I'd be Lash LaRue; I'd be the tall dark stranger.
I could save any widow's ranch in about eight seconds flat,
And you know, people would look up to me,
'Cause I'd be somethin' that they could aspire to be,
And this would all be possible if I just had a hat.

[Bridge] Clothes and trappin's don't make the man.
I know that's the way it's always gonna be,
But they can bring out the hero inside,
And, buddy, that's good enough for me.

[Verse 3] If I had some boots,
They'd go so well with my buckskin suit.
I could walk into places I never ever dared to go.
With my firm and manly stride,
Mean guys would just step aside,
And I'd be admired by folks I don't even know.

[Chorus 3] And I'd be Gene Autry; I'd be Roy Rogers.
I'd have a sidekick who's an old codger.
I could chase down robbers and I could recover the loot.
People would look up to me,
'Cause I'd be somethin' that they could aspire to be,
And this would all be possible if I just had some boots.

[Chorus 1] 'Cause I'd be Tom Mix; I'd be the Lone Ranger.
I'd be John Wayne; I'd be the tall dark stranger.
I could ride into danger, 'cause I'd be brave, of course,
And people would look up to me,
'Cause I'd be somethin' that they could aspire to be,
And this would all be possible if I just had a horse.

[Tag] It would all be possible if I just had a horse.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: open mike
Date: 22 Jun 13 - 12:02 PM

My radio show today will feature over an hour of horse songs....
the movement to stop horse slaughter in the U.S. and stop transport to slaughter houses in Mexico and Canada and also the movement to stop wild horse round ups in the U.S. West. I will post the playlist after the show....http://krov.fm Crossroads show is on today from 1-3 p.m. pacific time...

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,eldergirl
Date: 22 Jun 13 - 05:39 PM

One bitter disappointment I had years ago was the song "Anna Thea" (or Feher or whatever) . the one that starts 'Lazslo Thea stole a stallion, stole him on the misty mountain' but he wasn't a great judge of horses, got caught and banged up before end of first verse!! And I thought it was going to be a stirring tale of the bold young horsethief liberating a magnificent creature and befriending him. Well, so much for that.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: open mike
Date: 23 Jun 13 - 12:26 PM

I played nearly 2 hours of horse songs on my radio show yesterday... here is the playlist:

TIME – ARTIST – ALBUM – SONG
12:52pm – Leelee and Friends – Western Stars – Full Moon Full of Love
1:03pm – Juni Fisher – Let 'er Go, Let 'er Buck, Let 'er Fly – A Horse Like You
1:08pm – Juni Fisher – Listen To The Horse – Listen to the Horse
1:12pm – Andria Kidd – Sespe Sky – Bucky
1:17pm – Katie Lee – 10,000 Cattle – 10,000 Cattle
1:22pm – Claudia Nygaard – Let the Storm Roll In – His Left Side
1:24pm – Marie-Lynn Hammond – Hoofbeats – Heavy Horse Song
1:33pm – Mountain Saddle Band – The Heart of a Cowboy – I Dream of Riding Fast Horses
1:36pm – Curly Musgrave – Range and Romance – Same Kind of Horses
1:40pm – Kristyn Harris – Let Me Ride – What a Horse Has Gotta Do
1:48pm – The Coyotes and Friends – Home Style Cowboy Music – Dark Horse
1:52pm – The Coyotes and Friends – Home Style Cowboy Music – My Pinto Pal
1:53pm – Rosalie Sorrels – Strangers in Another Country – I Had a Mule
2:05pm – Thomas Snow – Friends – Stewball
2:09pm – Stephanie Davis – Crocus in the Snow – The Spotted Ass
2:22pm – Almeda Terry – Voices from the Range – Our Last Ride
2:22pm – Willie Nelson – Heroes – A Horse Called Music
2:24pm – Christopher Smith – Sweet River Grace – Dead Horse Trampoline
2:31pm – unknown – old 78 rpm recording – Cowboy's Lament (Streets of Laredo) This is from Kat Laughing's Hudson family faves
2:36pm – Joyce Woodson – She's in Love with her Horse – She's in Love with her Horse
2:38pm – Juni Fisher – Let 'er Go, Let 'er Buck, Let 'er Fly – Pony Called Love
2:49pm – Fiddle Wham Diddle – Old School Old Time – Spotted Pony
2:54pm – Bruce Sagan and Andrea Hoag – Spelstundarna – Trollrikepolskan

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Jonas
Date: 22 Jul 15 - 11:38 PM

This is off topic, but since Jim posted that Joyce Woodson song I was wondering if he or anyone else has the lyrics to her song "Have You Ever Seen the San Joaquin"?

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Julie
Date: 16 Oct 18 - 09:55 PM

John must you lend your fine horse for the fight?
Beautiful horse, black as the night.
John if you listen and do as I say,
He will be safe, out of the fray.
Hide your fine horse, black as the night,
Deep in the fields,far out of sight.
Then when the fighting is over some day,
He will be safe, out of the fray.

Similar song:
Three good horses in the field,
Dancing, prancing, neighing nodding there,
Three good horses in the field,
Three good horses all in a row.

Possibly Russian folk songs. Learned these in the 1950's, elementary school, Wisconsin

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Jack Campin
Date: 17 Oct 18 - 05:49 AM

A tune: Ian Powrie's Lament for Big Dougal - can't see anywhere you can get it free, but it's often played in the Scottish fiddle and accordion scene.

Lorca: Song of the Horseman.   I like Zülfü Livaneli's setting of it in Turkish: Atlının Türküsü (lots of videos of that) but it must have been done in many languages.

Subject: Lyr Add: NARROW BOATS TO TOW (Barry Goodman)
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 17 Oct 18 - 07:22 AM

NARROW BOATS TO TOW © Barry Goodman 2008 

A dark and dismal morning in the middle of October,
Another day of toil in the bitter cold and rain.
Sixty tons of coal in the narrow boats behind me
As I start along the towpath once again.
Fetched from out the stables before the dawn was breaking,
Harnessed, fed and watered with the stars still in the sky;
Starting on the working day before the world is waking
With thirty miles to travel by and by.

Chorus:
I could have pulled a haywain, I could have pulled a hearse,
I could have pulled a brewer’s dray to quench the people’s thirst,
I could have pulled an omnibus, I might have pulled a plough,
But I’m a boathorse and I’ve narrow boats to tow.

Across the hedges, fields are shining silver in the sunlight,
And horses work in teams to plough the furrows straight and true;
Steaming through the shadows of a chilly winter’s morning,
Working horses with a long day’s graft to do.
The milk-float makes its daily rounds like clockwork every morning,
The carter carries cargoes from the village to the town;
On every cart and carriage there’s a horse to do the pulling:
It’s the horse that makes this busy world go round.

And as I walk the towpath on a glowing April morning,
The brasses on my harness flashing brightly in the sun,
I think about those horses who by fortune’s fickle calling
Are taken far away to pull a gun.
They fought against Napoleon, then went to the Crimea,
Where men and horses fought and died for honour and for gain,
Many were the Percherons that suffered in the carnage,
And never saw the April sun again.

In summer it’s the children who are quick to walk beside me,
To guide me on a towpath that I know so very well.
Each lock and bridge and aqueduct, each tunnel, lift and stable
Is a chapter in the story I can tell.
And when the towrope slackens and I know the day is ending,
In stables warm and cosy I can rest and ease the pain;
The boatman knows to treat me well, for first thing in the morning
I will start along the towpath once again.
http://www.waterwaysongs.co.uk/narrowboats_to_tow.htm

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: John C. Bunnell
Date: 18 Oct 18 - 02:09 AM

Midwestern folksinger Michael "Moonwulf" Longcor has a song called "Tribes of the Draft" that I've always been particularly fond of:

"We are the tribes of the working draft,
Farm and freighter and mine:
Perch and Belgian and Clyde and Punch
Pull for the honor of our kind."

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,buspassed
Date: 20 Oct 18 - 02:20 PM

Anybody mentioned 'Robin Straggan's Old Grey Mare' sung by the late Terry Conway?

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: peteglasgow
Date: 20 Oct 18 - 02:48 PM

bonnie prince billy has a great song = 'horses' lovely video too if anyone could be bothered to supply the link

Subject: Lyr Add: THE LAST CLYDESDALES (Archie Webster)
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 20 Oct 18 - 06:04 PM

Can't see "The Last Clydesdales" by Archie Webster on this thread, though I know it has been discussed on another a while back. Anyway, here it is again: sung by Archie Fisher among others.

THE LAST CLYDESDALES
composed by a Fife horseman Archie Webster around 1950

Noo come aa ye young plooboys an 'list tae ma tale,
Wha sit roon the table aa drinkin your ale;
I'll tak ye aa back tae yon far distant day,
When I drove the last Clydesdales tae work on Denbrae.

There were twa bonnie blacks wi white faces an feet,
In the hale country roun they could never be beat,
Ye'd tae look roun gey far 'tween the Forth and the Tay,
Tae match ma twa Clydesdales, the pride o Denbrae.

They were matchless in power in the cairt, binder or ploo,
Ma voice and ma hands on the reins they well knew;
There wis niver a thocht in their minds but obey,
Ma twa gallant Clydesdales, the pride o Denbrae.

But the time it wears on and the winters grow cauld,
And horses like men can dae nocht but grow auld;
But I mind on them still though it were yesterday,
When I drove the last Clydesdales that worked on Denbrae.

So come aa ye young plooboys an 'list tae ma tale,
Wha sit roon the table aa drinkin your ale;
I'll tak ye aa back tae yon far distant day,
When I drove the last Clydesdales tae work on Denbrae.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 20 Oct 18 - 06:29 PM

Copied over from the 2010 thread, a link to the lyrics of all the songs on the "Gentle Giants" CD - a real feast of horse songs!

Gentle Giants - lyrics - all

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 Oct 18 - 07:57 PM

Ahem.

Knock knock.

Who's there?

M A B it's a big horse.

M A B it's a big horse who?


(sings) "Emaybe it's a bigause I'm a Londoner..."

I'll get me coat...

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 21 Oct 18 - 07:00 AM

^^^^^
From: peteaberdeen - PM
Date: 20 Oct 18 - 02:48 PM

bonnie prince billy has a great song = 'horses'

https://youtu.be/cYXP95Z_SjU?t=36s

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,Len Kennington
Date: 07 Apr 21 - 08:38 AM

Anyone recognise this?

It's early in the morning, we to the stable go
The horses look to welcome us, for very well they know,
That we're the lads that bring them corn, …...... there
and see that their coats are curry combed and bonnie maines are rare

doesn't sseem to figure in any of the pevious comments
This may be a Scottish stableboys song

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,M Dixon
Date: 07 Apr 21 - 11:10 AM

I may be the only person currently playing this song. It's a tune from Western Prince Edward Island written by Larry Gorman in the 1860s-70s. It's called "The Horse's Confession." The story is that Larry's brother purchased an older horse and Larry thought the horse was being over-worked and misused. Gorman wrote the tune in the voice of the horse as he details his story and complaints. Here's a version I recorded with the lyrics transcribed onscreen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H13qcZRPfpo

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Howard Jones
Date: 08 Apr 21 - 03:30 AM

The young Anglo-Hungarian musician Rakoczy has made a rather splendid debut album, "Frontrunner", themed entirely around horses and their place in British folklore.

Rakoczy, "Frontrunner" on Bandcamp

Well worth a listen.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Acorn4
Date: 08 Apr 21 - 04:01 AM

Bit outdated now but:-

Eridge Valley Cowboy

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Gordon Jackson
Date: 08 Apr 21 - 04:29 AM

No one mentioned Richard Thompson's other horsey song: Both Ends Burning.

Subject: Songs about Horses
From: Bearheart
Date: 03 Dec 24 - 09:23 PM

I'm sure this topic must have been addressed before, but I couldn't find anything when I searched.

I won't post anything until I'm sure there isn't a thread on the topic already.

But a number come to mind.

The variations of Skewball/Stewball, for instance.

I sing the Steeleye Span version and Andy Irvine's version...

I'm quite fond of Garnet Rogers' 'Small Victory".

Who else has one they like?

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Neil D
Date: 04 Dec 24 - 05:36 AM

"Wild Horses" by the Rolling Stones. I like the Burrito Bros cover best.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 04 Dec 24 - 06:43 AM

This is my cover of Christy Moores song...'Ride On.'    https://youtu.be/aLD1Q-8HQ_E?si=uMzYg7i9ZCkTtWix

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: David C. Carter
Date: 04 Dec 24 - 08:15 AM

Pinto Pony...Paul Sieble.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Bearheart
Date: 04 Dec 24 - 09:14 AM

Thanks to whomever found this thread for me. I am looking forward to exploring. Not sure why I am having touble with the searches- used to work fine.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Bearheart
Date: 04 Dec 24 - 12:19 PM

Wow- spent my morning following all of the posts on this thread.
Found some old songs and some new ones here. It is unfortunate that some of the leads went nowhere, because I was touched by a number of songs I found.

I remember Wildfire from my youth and how much I felt that song at the time.

Home, Lads, Home- has been on my list to learn for some time now. Like others on that list it moves me so much I'm not sure I will ever be able to get through it without breaking down.

Horse Days- tune? could not find this anywhere.

The old Ways by Mike truelove- I can't find anything about this song, and would like to learn it.

Found Archie's rendition of the Last Clydesdales. Will add it to my list, along with Blossom the Mining Horse.

I probably have a few to add myself, though I am mostly focused on songs that are really all bout the horse(s). So The Tinkerman's Daughter (traded for a pony) and similar aren't on this list.

Hopefully others will be inspired to add to this thread...

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Ian
Date: 04 Dec 24 - 12:59 PM

When the horses come back by Matt Armour of song loft stony Stratford.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 04 Dec 24 - 05:07 PM

"Horse With the Lavender Eyes"

https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=126973

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

A childhood favorite

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: gillymor
Date: 04 Dec 24 - 05:45 PM

Did anyone mention "Chestnut Mare" by the Byrds. Written by McGuinn and Jacques Levy (I think).

"The Blind Harper" trad by Nic Jones. Kate Rusby did a nice version as well.

"Plains of Kildare" trad by Planxty.

"Tennesee Stud" written by Jimmy Driftwood covered by a lot of people with Doc Watson's version probably being the most noteworthy.

Subject: RE: Songs about Horses
From: Bearheart
Date: 08 Dec 24 - 02:17 PM

Thanks for the post about "The Bind Harper"- I found Nic Jones' version on youtube. Lovely song.