Celebrate the Kentucky Derby With the 5 Best Acting Performances in Film by Horses

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The Kentucky Derby has come once again. But the greatest two minutes in sports is, well, not a lot of time. You should pass the hours with some great horse movies featuring great acting … by horses. Here are five horses who won us over.

5) Popcorn Deelites: Seabiscuit in Seabiscuit

The 2003 film was nominated for Best Picture. Many would credit this to the direction, but no, it was Popcorn. Just look at his range: sitting, eating, kicking. My goodness, his quiet intensity prevented the part from being just a caricature of a horse.

4) RH Tecontender: Hidalgo in Hidalgo

Hidalgo didn’t get great reviews — Rotten Tomatoes summarized it as “an overstuffed horse story [that] contains too much cheese.” Hmm. Maybe they should have cut the cheese and put in more horse, because RH’s interpretation of a horse was one for the ages.

3) Finder: Joey in War Horse

Now, this is a different one because it’s not about a racing horse, and I think that’s important because it’s essential to not just view horses as things used in races. They’re people too. Well, they’re not technically people, they’re horses, but you get my point. Finder was magnetic as Joey and had me saying, “Hey, you know what? War might be bad.”

2) Sam: Stripes in Racing Stripes

I know what you’re asking: Are zebras really horses? The answer is: I don’t know. But I went on to Yahoo Answers, and Fred says, “Zebras are several species of African equids (horse family) united by their distinctive black and white striped coats.” So, there you go. And Sam was marvelous, so I’m proud to include him on this list.

1) King Charles: The Pie in National Velvet

The movie was made in 1944, and, sure, it had Elizabeth Taylor, Mickey Rooney, and Angela Lansbury in it. But King Charles was clearly the best actor out of the bunch. It’s almost like he knew exactly what it’s like to be a horse. Bravo, sir.

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Our apologies to BoJack Horseman, who just missed our list. What do you think? Did we miss a good horse actor? Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram or leave your comments below.