Horse stories have captured our imaginations for quite a while now, perhaps explaining the existence of eyebrow-raising horse film subgenres, from Hallmark movies with faith themes to straight-up romance stories.  You know you’ve seen it all when you scroll past Rodeo & Juliet or Horse Crazy Too.  In this herd of horse movies, a few quick criteria rapidly eliminate what I’m willing to consider, and as with racehorses themselves, I find myself making a lot of gut decisions based on names and looks—in this case movie titles and cover art.

To help you make a more informed decision about which horse films to watch, I decided to compile a quick list of some of my favorite equine films, many of which make for great movies to watch as a family.

1) Hidalgo

Historical fiction
Setting: 1890s America and Arabia

Premise: Long-distance racer Frank Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen) and his wild mustang Hidalgo have traveled many miles together across the untamed U.S. on their own adventures and with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show.  When a Bedouin sheik shows up to challenge Frank to race Hidalgo against pure-bred Arabian horses, Frank decides to take Hidalgo for one last ride.  The race is an annual 3,000-mile competition across the desert in Saudi Arabia with a king’s ransom of $100,000 for the prize.  Perhaps it’s partly nostalgia, but this is my favorite horse movie.  I find new levels of interest every time I watch it, especially the exploration and comparison of the Bedouin and Native American cultures that form the story’s backdrop.

2) Ride Like a Girl

True story
Setting: Australia
Available with Prime

Premise: First of all, don’t judge this movie by its cheesy title; it’s actually a really good movie.

Racing is in Michelle Payne’s blood.  She’s the youngest in a family of jockeys, which is why she’s frustrated and confused about why she is the only child, besides her brother Stevie who has Down Syndrome, whom her father won’t allow to race.  This is a wholesome movie that will keep you riveted as you watch Michelle’s journey and struggles to achieve her dream of winning the Melbourne Cup.  Among many fun facts about the real-life family is the fact that Michelle is the youngest of ten children in a devout Catholic family, and her brother Stevie plays himself in the movie.

3) Dream Horse

True story
Setting: Wales
Available on Hulu

Premise: Members of a small Welsh town create a syndicate to breed and raise their own racehorse, which they name Dream Alliance, and which is born on the syndicate leader’s small allotment of land in town.  What makes this against-the-odds horse story unique is the Welsh culture and the syndicate the owners form to chase their dream about having something bigger than themselves and their small town.  Make sure to watch through the credits because the closing scenes are neatly done and incorporate the actors and real-life main characters in a fun, creative manner.

4) Dreamer

True story
Setting: America

Premise: After their prize-winning mare Soñador (Spanish for dreamer) is seriously injured in a race, the owner and his family make the unconventional decision to spare the horse’s life and nurse her back to health, hoping she will recover and be able to walk again and breed a winning horse.  While the film is nominally about a horse and racing, the real story is about three generations of a horse-loving family overcoming their own set of obstacles: the grandfather who brought the farm racing success, the father (Kurt Russell) who is full of fear after years of failure, and the little daughter (Dakota Fanning) who dreams of seeing her horse race again.

5) Secretariat

True story
Setting: America
Available on Disney+

Premise: A horse farm on the brink of closing finds an owner with the drive to keep it going and the incredible horse and racing team to bring it a Triple Crown victory.

6) War Horse

Historical fiction
Setting: WWI England and Europe

Premise: A farm horse is drafted to join England’s forces in Europe during World War I.  As the film follows the horse’s journey, you see the many people whose lives it touches and get to see the war from a new perspective.  The film is based on a play of the same name and is directed by Steven Spielberg.

7) Seabiscuit

True story
Setting: Great Depression America

Premise: A lot of horse stories are about horses and their riders overcoming the odds.  I haven’t encountered a horse film with odds quite as insurmountable as those Seabiscuitand his jockey Red Pollard (Toby Maguire) faced during their race to fame during the Great Depression.  This is by far the darkest of the horse films in this review, but it’s worth the watch.