List of Classic Horse Movies of the 1950s

Horse Movies from the 1950'sMovies of the 1950’s, not a big decade for equine films, but with classics like The Courage of Black Beauty & Francis the Mule, it’s not one to be overlooked.

Each one provides a brief description with links to their IMDB & where they can be purchased online. Enjoy!

Francis the Talking Mule (1950)

Francis the Talking MuleFrancis is a very special mule – he can talk. This is the story of his adventures as the army mule & the soldier who winds up looking like a lunatic because of him. Through the hilarity, Francis is busy uncovering a spy mission.


Born to the Saddle (1953)

Born to the SaddleThe story of a young trainer who takes a job working for the man who murdered his father to exact revenge. A mutual love of horses forces a bond between the two men as they train a fast quarter horse named Blue Chip.


Gypsy Colt (1954)

Gypsy ColtAbout a girl named Meg, whose parents hit rough financial times & have to sell her horse Gypsy as a potential racehorse. The animal is transported 500 miles away from Meg, breaks away & takes on the 500 mile trek back to her.


The Littlest Outlaw (1955)

The Littlest OutlawThe Littlest Outlaw is a youth named Pablito whose father is a cruel horse trainer. His training gives a Mexican General’s horse a fear of jumping & the animal’s death is ordered. Pablito rescues the horse and runs away with him.


Courage of Black Beauty (1957)

Courage of Black BeautyLoosely based on the Anna Sewell classic, this is a movie about a shy alienated boy who finds comfort in a young colt called Black Beauty. The animal teaches the boy about life and serves to bring him & his father closer.


Tonka (1958)

TonkaTonka is about a young Souix named White Bull who proves his manhood by capturing & training a wild colt named Tonka. When his cousin claims rights to the colt, White Bull frees his horse who ends up in the hands of the US calvary.


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67 Comments on “List of Classic Horse Movies of the 1950s

  1. Debs

    Riding High(1950) Bing Crosby
    The Lion and The Horse(1952)Like the movie Smoky(1933)(1946)and(1966)
    The Lone Ranger(1956)

  2. Barbara Gambill

    If anyone happens to come across these two Disney movies I would deeply appreciate information on where they found them and their cost. The two movies I am referring to are “The Horse With The Flying Tail” about a show jumper and the movie “The Tatooed Police Horse” about a horse that was a trotter who is sold and ends up as a police mounted horse who then gets a chance to show it’s stuff back on the track if my memory is not failing me. I have been looking and looking for these movies. I have even written the Disney company to see if they might rerelease them in DVD format but as of yet have not heard from them. I have my fingers crossed. If you should know where I could find these two please contact me at BEG48@aol.com. Thanks.

  3. Gale

    Hi,
    I am looking for an old b/w movie about a young man who is framed for murder, breaks out of jail to look for the men who framed him, and tries to steal a horse from a rancher who believes him. So the rancher gives him his “best mount”…. an old white mule…. The rest of the story follows the young man and the mule tracking the bad guys while eluding the posse…. ANY help would be appreciated.

    Gale

    1. Robert Mills

      The movie you are looking for is Audie Murphy its called Tumbleweeds. The horse is was suckled by a mining mule.

  4. Betty

    I am looking for a movie from the 50s or 60s where a man is running from police and rides a palomino horse to elude them. At the end he attempts to cross a road and the horse gets scared and eventually gets hit by a car. The police shot it.

    1. John

      I remember seeing this movie as a young child. The law that was after him was flying a helicopter. I am also looking for an old movie set on the North Carolina coast and it was about swimming ponies across a chanel to sell them.

  5. maggie

    I love horses!!!! I ask my mom if she would buy me every horse movie I come a cross.I’m looking for a moive with alot of horses and is exciting to, like the black stallion, but I aready have all of the black stallions, but one, whice is the one where a little gril ran out on the horse racing track when there is a horse race and the black stallion was racing and alec(which is the black’s owner)snacks the gril and puts her on the black’s back and the black lets her ride him,what I don’t get is that the black lets her ride on him ,but all the other people he won’t let them near him.

  6. Ashley kingsbury

    im looking for the name of the movie about a girl who loves horses and wins one from a ticket compition and jumps the horse in races and gets kicked out because she was a girl, i cant remember the name of the movie

    1. Diane Ernst

      She dosent win the competetion. the guy that wasnt there so they drew another ticke and it was velvet’s. she was at home crying when she saw them bringing the horse the pie

  7. Betty

    Thanks Vicki! You are right it is Lonely are the Brave! It was the last movie I watched with my father as a child!

  8. Dawn Auerbach

    I am looking for a movie from 50’s or 60’s I was so infatuated with. I think it was a woman and man in love and I remember possibly the man dying and coming back as a horse from heaven. Also could have involved another person coming back as a dog. I can still see that white stallion coming through the clouds from heaven. It had alsways been in the back of my mind. Wish I could remember more but would love to see it again.

  9. JACK

    I am looking for a movie ca. 1948-1953 wherein a young woman in the last scene was asked where her horses were. She tapped her forehead upon which was drawn a black rectangle similar to a barn door. Any leads would be greatly appreciated.

  10. Nightingale

    Hello,

    I am looking for a very, very old kids horse movie.
    What I remember of it is very choppy, and I’ve searched all over the web…
    But it was about this horse who had a pony, and they lived in this mountainous area, and I remember there being snakes a minimal humans…
    I saw it in the 90’s.
    I know it isn’t much to go on, but if this sparked anyone’s memory, I would love it if you gave me an idea on what this movie might be called.
    I keep thinking it was “the horse of something hallow” or something along those lines…

  11. Cindy

    Looking for the name of a movie where a young man in the military saves a horse in the jungle that is caught in the mud. While the troop is helping the horse, their camp is bombed (saving all). the horse becomes their good luck charm and when they are forced to leave him on the island, they look behind as their ship is leaving and the horse is in the water following them. They open the back of the ship (amphibian style) and get the horse on board. Does anyone know the name of this movie?

  12. Kora Kari

    Looking for the name of a movie about twin colts being born one with a split hoof. Owner was going to put it down when a young boy stole it and took it to his grandfather on a beach to heal it. Took it back to its owner to prove his worth, but had to ride it through many trials to return it. Last scene is in the area competing in Lew of the colts twin. The boy proved the horse was sound by riding him in the area with a wine glass on his head. Horse was a Paso Fino.

    1. Cyndi

      I think this is the Disney movie “Cristobalito”. I haven’t seen it since it was on the Disney hour Sunday nights on NBC back in the 1960s.

      1. Corinne

        Just this week I saw “Cristoalito the Calypso Colt” (finally!) for sale on Amazon. The price was expensive, so I haven’t bought it yet.

  13. Nickie

    Looking for a black/white file from the 1950’s (?)setting in Australia(?)/New Zealand(?)with children who ride to school on horses each day and become involved trying to solve mystery of where horse thieves have taken one of their fathers horses; they look for clues, track thieves and are gone for about a week from their ranch. Any info would be appreciated. Last saw it on TCM on a Saturday morning but cannot locate it now.

  14. Donnie Cresap

    Cindy, the movie with the horse with the military is Gallant Bess. I’ve been looking for a dvd of this movie.

  15. barbara

    NOT SURE IF THIS WILL REACH ANYONE, BUT I AM FROM THE 40S AND AROUND THE 50S THERE WAS A MOVIE OUT SIMILARY TO THIS WAR HORSE I ‘VE BEEN TELLING MY CHILDREN THAT THERE IS ALREADY A MOVIE OUT THERE LIKE IT .AM I WRONG BUT RIGHT AT THE END OF THE MOVIE THE ORIGINAL MOVIE IS WHEN THE LITTLE THAT WAS AGROWN MAN WAS ENTERING A STORE SAW HIS HORSE THAT WAS PULLING A TINKERS WAGON AND SOMETHING ABOUT THE HORSE MADE HIM NOTICE HE WAS HIS FROM WHEN HE WAS A BOY

    1. bernie

      I remember this movie, and have been racking my brain for days, I remember it was a coal wagon at the end and the coal dust covered his white mark on his forehead, the man was beating him with a stick/whip as he couldn’t walk any further. I remember first being owned by a young boy, and then a young girl just like war horse. I told as much of the story as I could remember to my daughter after she saw war horse and it seems the similarity was too much for war horse to be an original story,

  16. Paul Ramsay

    I hope someone can help. I am trying to find a movie which I think was made in the 1950’s and i saw on Tv in the early 70’s. It is an American 2nd WW film. It was about a young man and his horse. The young man was called up to serve in the marines and had to go to war. The horse did not want him to leave and as the troop ship sailed away from the port the horse jumped into the sea and was swimming after the ship. Someone on the ship spotted it and the troops encouraged it, and finally the captain stopped engine and lowered the rear ramp for the horse to climb aboard. From thereon the film followed the adventure of the horse and its owner. For me this was the original ‘War Horse’. What is the name of the film?

  17. David

    Does anyone remember a movie about a teenage girl who goes to work on a farm and becomes a skilled jumper? The men who work on the firm are dismissive about her ambitions. She competes with one of them for the right to train a horse for a competition. He tries to rape her in a pickup truck and she is saved by the owner of the farm. She eventually develops a relationship with another teenage boy and performs very well in a competition in Tennessee maybe? Does anyone know the name of this film?

    Thanks,

    David

  18. mandy

    just wondering if you know the answer of the tv guide the answer is do the clue: is these have been featured on certain shows sincew 1950s

  19. Wayne

    Hi,
    trying to find a movie about a horse with a white star on its forehead. It forms a special bond with his owner and rescues him by dragging his unconscious body back to the ranch.
    The owner goes to war (WW2 I think), comes home and the horse is gone.
    He finds the horse years later – laying in an alley hooked up to a cart being whipped by an old man.
    I thought it starred Glenn Ford.
    Cheers

  20. Ann Lawrence

    Sometime in the late 40’s early 50’s I saw a Korean horse film–the foal was colicky,nursed to health by the child,raced,won,died of colic. Tear jerker. Yup–it left an impression on me–any one know the title? Great site here!

  21. Lee

    Snowfire – 50’s movie- White stallion – hunted by ranchers, bonds with little girl….don’t remember any more – has anyone seen it on any format??

    1. Millie

      I remember that movie, saw it in the movies, Then on tv twice and never again after that. It was a disney movie, the girl was an orphan sent to live on a farm with relatives who didnt believe she kept seeing this white horse, that they thought was a made up legend. The horse befriended her and thats all I remember.

  22. AnnaMariah

    I remember a movie out some time around 1960 in which the girl thought she was a horse. I don’t remember much, but I remember her running along the beach and/or a cliff overlooking the beach, pawing and neighing like a horse. That movie was totally entrancing but I’ve never been able to remember the name or find out anything about it.

    Ideas anyone?

    1. Jan

      Hi – I remember this movie too. It’s been driving me crazy for YEARS! don’t know what it was called but think I must have watched it in about 1970 ( I was born in’65). I also remember that the girl had a wooden horse that she played with, & in the final scene she was galloping along the beach holding the horse. Does anyone reading this have any idea of the name of the film – PLEAZZZZZE!

      Many thanks ~ Jan

  23. Matty

    Hi Everyone I am searching for a film I watched as a teenager many, many years ago. It was about some english gypsies and their little girl who who had a horse, and they were not allowed to breed it with a thoroughbred stallion, so they broke into the stud and made it happen. Does that ring a bell with anyone?

  24. Dane

    I’m looking for a movie that i saw when i was young. the movie starts with the civil war & the mare is being taken away, the family has to raise the fowls. the movie than goes to modern times & he is an old man with no horses, he is dressed like a colonel in all white, a race man gives him a pick of any colt off his farm, he turns down a beautiful colt called the “postman” and picks a small black colt that ends up beating the “Postman”. the man was always talking about the look of eagles. does anybody know the name of this movie or where it is available.

  25. Jade

    i love horses i wish i had one for free but i would take care of it and you only need to go 2 each week ilove horses more then all my stuff i love horses from in my heart.

  26. Bronzen

    I am looking for a movie from when I was a child. All I can remember is that a young farm girl becomes secret friends with a wild stallion. I think everyone else wants to shoot it. I believe I saw it in the 1950’s or very early 60’s. I think she lives with relatives on the farm, but not sure. That at the moment is the only parts I can recall. Any out there have any ideas? Thanks.

  27. Al

    I am looking from a B&W movie from the 1950’s or even 1940’s.
    I think it may have John Wayne in it, but I’m not entirely certain.

    It features a political breakdown between senators and some Native American nation causing an outbreak of war.
    Then three divisions of cavalry converge on the above Native American nation to defeat them

    Sorry, but that’s all the info I remember.

    Thanks
    -Al

  28. John

    I have scrolled through a lot of these comments and thought I would like to see some of these movies too. They just don’t make movies like they used to anymore. A lot on story and throw in a horse and a little romance and walah.

  29. Mark

    Looking for a film I saw as a young boy in the early sixties with a horse called Aspersel I would love to see it again thank you

    1. KarenGF

      I think the name of the movie was a Walt Disney’s The Horse in The Grey Flannel suit. Dean Jones starred in it. The horse was that of a grand prix jumper.

  30. Travis

    Looking for a movie about a group of teens/young adults who go to a riding academy. I can only remember that one girl was afraid to jump at first and she winds up hurting her foot after falling down a hill while riding.

  31. Brigid Singleton

    I saw a film in the cinema in, I think, 1969, or thereabouts..it was about a black racehorse named Coal..and a young man or a boy (I don’t remember exactly) and his friend (an older man) tried to train Coal to run fast but he was slow, unless he could smell pilchards ! So the boy and man held a tin of pilchards by the racetrack’s winning post to get Coal to win his race.. I wish I knew the name of the film and who the actors were but it was so long ago I doubt anyone else remembers it.. Does anyone know anything about this heartwarming film please ? p.s. I’ve read through your comments and have some faith that someone out there in horse-loving ‘fandom’ can help me learn the title of that lovely film..finger’s crossed and thankyou.

  32. KarenGF

    For years I remember watching this one horse movie on TV a long time ago. It was in black and white and there was a boy and his father and they lived on this horse farm. When the thoroughbred mare gives birth to twins the farm kept the one colt and called him Satan. However the other foal due to some type of deformity they were going to do away with when the boy and his father step in and take the colt. The boy would play music and sing songs to it on his guitar. One time they left the colt in the farm and he ended up putting a hole in the boy’s guitar. The colt they called Mr. marker. And they eventually had this operation done on his foot so that he could race. However he would only respond if whistled at. The two colts in Satan and Mr. marker ran in the same race and both owners were there to see him race. The jockey on Mr. Marker went to whistle when he lost his dentures and seeing the colt not moving up the boy let out a whistle and the colt accelerated past the rest of the field to win the race with Satan his brother placing 2nd. Does anybody happen to know what the name of this one is? It is not Run For The Roses as it is in color.

  33. john

    looking for a b/w mexican musical that starts with a man singing on a horse saying hedllo to another singer while his horse prances down a hill. the song gave me goosebumps… just amazing!

  34. Kim S.

    Looking for a 50s film called Pony Girl. Featured American Saddlebreds. Was a short Disney film, maybe 20 to 30 minutes long. Anyone recall this?

  35. larry

    I am looking for a movie that my wife watched in the 50s. The only thing she remembers is it was about a white horse named topcake. Thank You

  36. Aiya

    I want to find the movie, “SnowFire” from the 1950’s era. That movie left a big impression on me…or at least, the Horse did! Anyone know where I can get it?

  37. Sgg

    Hi! I am looking for a movie around the 70’s, there is an autist boy and a horse, at the very end the horse falls into a swamp, the little boy has to jump into the swamp to save him, and surprisely talk to the horse, the horse is saved with the help of a group of people!

  38. ruthy

    am looking for the name of a film when l was a little girl , the film a bit like Tonka , but its about a cowboy who finds a wild horse and trains it the love between the two is lovely , ut later on a indian has him to and they both love the wild horse , sorry can not remember the name of the horse or film , but would love to find out what it is called in the end the cowboy and indains fight to the end and all 3 die . please can anyone help thank you

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