Thirteen U.S. states have designated a horse breed as the official "state horse", to have a horse breed as their "state animal", one has an official "state pony", and one has a "honorary state equine". The first state horse was designated in Vermont in 1961. The most recent state horse designations occurred in 2024 when Mississippi designated the American Quarter Horse as its state horse and in 2022 when Oklahoma declared the American Quarter Horse as its state horse. There have been proposals to designate a state horse in Oregon as well as in Arizona (where an ongoing campaign sought to designate the Colonial Spanish Horse as the state horse prior to the state centennial in 2012), but neither proposal is yet successful.[1] In one state, North Dakota, the state horse is officially designated the "honorary state equine".[2] Two additional states have not designated a specific state horse, but have designed a horse or horse breed as its official state animals: the horse in New Jersey and the Morgan horse breed in Vermont.
Some breeds, such as the American Quarter Horse in Texas and the Morgan horse in Vermont and Massachusetts, were named as the state horse because of the close connection between the history of the breed and the state. Others, including the Tennessee Walking Horse and the Missouri Fox Trotter, include the state in the official breed name. School children have lobbied for the cause of some state horses, such as the Colonial Spanish Horse being named the state horse of North Carolina due to the presence of the Spanish-descended Banker horses in the Outer Banks,[3] while others have been brought to official status through the lobbying efforts of their breed registries.
Official state horses are one of many state symbols officially designated by states. Each state has its own flag and state seal, and many states also designate other symbols, including animals, plants, and foods. Such items usually are designated because of their ties to the culture or history of that particular state. In addition to being state symbols in their own right, horses have also appeared in state symbols; for example, a horse's head appears on the seal of New Jersey.
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| State | Breed | Description | Image | Year designated | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | The Racking Horse is a breed of horse known for its ambling gait. The breed association is headquartered in Decatur, Alabama. | 1975 | [4] | |||
| Florida | The Florida Cracker Horse was first brought to what is now Florida in the 1500s by Spanish explorers, and it played a large part in the development of the state's cattle and general agriculture industries. | 2008 | [5] [6] | |||
| Idaho | The Appaloosa has made a substantial contribution to Idaho history, mainly through its association with the Nez Perce Indian tribe. | 1975 | [7] | |||
| Kentucky | The Thoroughbred is the center of a multi-billion dollar breeding and racing industry in Kentucky. | 1996 | [8] | |||
| Maryland | Maryland has a long history of breeding and racing Thoroughbreds, and today maintains an extensive network of breeding farms, training centers and racecourses. | 2003 | [9] [10] | |||
| Massachusetts | The foundation sire of the Morgan breed, named Figure, was born in West Springfield, Massachusetts in 1789. | 1970 | [11] | |||
| Mississippi | The American Quarter Horse, is well-suited for the intricate and quick maneuvers required for rodeo events. | 2024 | [12] | |||
| Missouri | The Fox Trotter is a gaited breed developed in the Missouri Ozarks. | 2002 | [13] | |||
| New Jersey | Horse (state animal) | As of the designation of the horse as the state animal, New Jersey contained over 4,500 horse farms housing almost 40,000 horses and played host to a horse industry that extensively contributed to the preservation of natural lands in the state. | 1977 | [14] | ||
| North Carolina | This state breed references the Banker horse of the Outer Banks, descended from Spanish stock. | 2010 | ||||
| North Dakota | Nokota (honorary equine) | Nokota is a name given to a population of horses in the badlands of southwestern North Dakota, named after the Nakota Indian tribe that inhabited the area. | 1993 | [15] | ||
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma was home to Quarter Horses ridden by cowboys, Native Americans, pioneers, and others who built Oklahoma as a state. | 2022 | [16] | |||
| South Carolina | The Marsh Tacky was developed in the swampy Low Country region of South Carolina, and has played an integral part in the state's history. | 2010 | [17] [18] | |||
| Tennessee | The Tennessee Walker is a gaited breed initially developed in middle Tennessee. | 2000 | [19] [20] | |||
| Texas | The history of the Quarter Horse is closely intertwined with that of Texas, where the breed was used for ranching and racing. The American Quarter Horse Association is headquartered in Amarillo, Texas. | 2009 | [21] | |||
| Vermont | Morgan (state animal) | The Morgan breed was developed mainly in Vermont, where the founding stallion, Figure, lived most of his life and died in 1821. | 1961 | [22] [23] | ||
| Virginia | Chincoteague (state pony) | The Chincoteague herd is owned and managed by the volunteer fire company of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge on Assateague Island. Although referred to as a pony breed, the Chincoteague is phenotypically a horse. | 2023 | [24] [25] |
| State | Breed | Description | Image | Year proposed | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | The Colonial Spanish Horse has a long history in Arizona, mainly through the Wilbur-Cruce strain originally bred near Arivaca. | 2010 (re-proposed in 2011) | [26] | |||
| Nevada | Senate Bill 90 (SB90) would make the wild mustang Nevada's official state horse. However, the bill remains controversial. | 2023 | [27] | |||
| Oregon | The Kiger Mustang is a strain of Mustang found in a feral state only in southeastern Oregon. | 2001 | [28] |
Horses, both official state horses and not, are present in the emblems of several states.
| State | Symbol | Image | Date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | State quarter – Caesar Rodney on horseback | 1999 | [29] | ||
| Idaho | 2003 | [30] | |||
| Kentucky | 2001 | [31] | |||
| Maryland | Obverse state seal – Knight on horseback | 1969 | [32] | ||
| Minnesota | Former state seal – Native American on horseback | 1858, 1971, 1983, 1987 | [33] | ||
| Nevada | 2006 | [34] | |||
| New Jersey | State seal and coat of arms – Horse | 1928 | [35] [36] | ||
| Pennsylvania | Coat of arms and flag – Horses | [37] |