Music Album Covers with Horses on Them

A composite of 36 music album covers with horses.

The saying goes that dog is man's best friend, but horse can't be far behind we'd add. The human-dog relationship dates to our Ice Age ancestors 30,000 years ago, while the start of the human-horse relationship is much more recent at around 4000 BC. However, the benefit horses gave to the development of human society with their speed, strength, and friendship can't be underestimated. It's with that in mind, that we dedicate this "music mosaic" of album covers to the horse, Equus ferus caballus.

The 36 album covers in this post features horse on them. The horses are by themselves, in a herd, or with riders. Some of the horses are stylized pushing the boundaries of what a horse looks like. And there are two centaurs (they are half horse after all): Roger Daltrey's "Ride a Rock Horse (1975) and Sagittarius' "Present Tense" (1967). Note: there were many other "horse" themed albums that we could have included but decided to curate the number down to these 36 interesting covers.

The albums span 1967 – 2020. For the 1967 "Present Tense" cover, we have the light psychedelic rock / sunshine pop of the American group Sagittarius. (Confession: we love this album!). For 2020 "Dying Breed" single cover, we have the American rock group The Killers.

And to give the last word to the horse: folks have studied the effect of different music genres on the behavior of horses. Of four genres, classical, country, jazz, and rock, it would seem that horses prefer classical or country, major keys, and slow tempos. Not liked: fast tempos and minor keys.

For our follow-on post part II with 36 more horse covers, see: Music Album Covers with Horses on Them - Part 2.  List of albums from left to right and top to bottom:

Roger Daltrey - "Ride a Rock Horse" (1975)
Sagittarius - "Present Tense" (1967)
Weissmuller - "Equestrian Friends" (2012)
The Beach Boys - "Surf's Up" (1971)
The Steve Miller Band - "Book of Dreams" (1977)
Blue Oyster Cult - "Some Enchanted Evening" (1978)
Enya - "And Winter Came" (2008)
Budgie - "Budgie" (1971)
Molly Hatchet - "Molly Hatchet" (1978)
Byran Ferry - "Mamouna" (1994)
Missy Elliot - "Respect Me" (2006)
Michael Martin Murphey - "Cowboy Songs III" (1993)
Poco - "Legend" (1978)
Fleetwood Mac - "Then Play On" (1969)
Paladin - "Charge!" (1972)
Willie Nelson - "A Horse Called Music" (1989)
Arab Strap - "The Red Thread" (2001)
Phish - "Hoist" (1993)
The Killers - "Dying Breed" (2020)
The Blue Nile - "Peace at Last" (1996)
Nico - "Desertshore" (1970)
Capercaillie - "At the Heart of it All" (2013)
Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band - "Against the Wind" (1980)
Kishi Bashi - "Lighght" (2014)
Modern English - "After the Snow" (1982)
Cher - "Half Breed" (1973)
Bruce Springsteen - "Western Stars" (2019)
Carole King - "Thoroughbred" (1976)
The Besnard Lakes - "Are the Dark Horse" (2007)
Over the Rhine - "Drunkard's Prayer" (2005)

Crazy Horse - "Crazy Horse" (1971)
Michael Martin Murphey - "The Horse Legends" (1997)
Quicksilver Messenger Service - "Happy Trails" (1969)
Jethro Tull - "Heavy Horses" (1978)
My Brightest Diamond - "Bring Me the Workhorse" (2006)
NEEDTOBREATHE - "The Outsiders" (2009)