Horses

"Then you'll brush him and feed him. […] It builds an essential bond: the trust between knight and steed."

- David Nolan to Henry Mills

Horses, and their females Mares, are a creature species featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time and Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. They are native to Fairy Tale Land, Land Without Color, Land Without Magic, New Fairy Tale Land, Victorian England, Underworld, Wish Realm and Wonderland and first appear in the first episode of the first season of Once Upon a Time.

Known Horses

 * Felipe
 * Nicodemus
 * Pegasus
 * Rocinante †
 * Roman

Known Owners and Riders

 * Abigail
 * Anna
 * Aurora
 * Belle †
 * Bo Peep
 * Black Knights
 * Cinderella
 * Emir †
 * Emma Swan
 * Evil Queen
 * Gabriel †
 * Gaston †
 * Gerhardt Frankenstein
 * Grif †
 * Grumpy
 * Henry Mills
 * Hook


 * Hordor †
 * Jacob
 * King Arthur †
 * King Leopold †
 * King Stefan
 * Knights of the Round Table
 * Lady Tremaine
 * Lancelot
 * Marian †
 * Martin †
 * Maurice
 * Merida
 * Morraine †
 * Mulan
 * Myrna †
 * Percival †
 * Prince Charming


 * Prince Phillip
 * Prince Thomas
 * Red Queen
 * Resistance
 * Robin Hood †
 * Rumplestiltskin †
 * Ruth †
 * Sheriff of Nottingham
 * Sheriff of Nottingham (Wish Realm)
 * Sir Henry (Wish Realm)
 * Snow White
 * Violet Morgan
 * Violet's Mother †
 * Will Scarlet
 * Zoso †

Trivia
|-|On-Screen Notes=

On-Screen Notes

 * Horses are featured in the title cards for "Desperate Souls", "The Stable Boy" and "The Bear King", the latter being reused from that of "The Stable Boy".
 * Trolls do not like horses.
 * During her youth years, Regina was known for being passionate about horses. Ironically, her archenemy Snow White, as a kid, became "the best rider in the land" and won several medals.
 * It is unclear whether Pegasus is a unique creature or there are other winged horses in the Enchanted Forest.
 * Marco once taught Pinocchio how to build a wooden horse.
 * Horses often get frightened by the presence of a Dark One.
 * It is unknown if horses are meant to have a sort of soul or spirit, nor is it clear if the horse seen in the Underworld actually originates from there or was previously alive elsewhere. Likewise, though horses can be placed under sleeping curses and remain alive nonetheless, it is not established whether or not their soul travels to the Netherworld as happens with humans.
 * The well-known expression "getting off (one’s) high horse" is also used in Wonderland to mean someone should stop acting as they were better than the others.
 * A toy horse and a rocking horse can be seen in the bedroom of Wendy, Michael and John Darling in the Darling House.


 * -|Production Notes=

Production Notes

 * In the scene where Snow White is captured by the Evil Queen's henchmen, the horse ran into Ginnifer Goodwin and sent her flying with injuries to the hand and face.
 * The horse that Josh Dallas rides in the scene where he meets Red Riding Hood is called Adella.
 * During the shooting of the scene where Cora kills Daniel, when Lana Parrilla screamed "No!", Jerry the horse, who plays Rocinante, would constantly make sounds and kick the door in his stall, and had to be walked out.
 * Emilie de Ravin regrets she never had the chance to ride a horse during her time in the show. The actress stated that she even suggested that Belle was given a horse-riding scene because "everyone else is riding horses".
 * Additionally, Emilie revealed that, by the time "Her Handsome Hero" was shot, she was seven months pregnant, so most of the horse-riding was written out, and a double was used for the parts that actually made to the episode.
 * About the weather conditions during the filming of the show, the production team often considered that "the fog, the mist, the clouds, that's a particular texture and a particular beauty that you can't get in a man-made environment", though, when it was wet, "the horses [would] start steaming and the actors' hair looks a little funny".
 * Sean Maguire filmed the horse chase scene in "Heart of Gold" while riding a mechanical horse, while a stunt double rode a real horse.


 * -|Cultural References=

Biblical

 * Violet's horse is named Nicodemus, a reference to a Christian saint mentioned in the Gospel of John, who is most notable for assisting in the burial of Jesus.

Disney

 * In Camelot, Merida rides a black horse, just like she does in the movie Brave.

Lost

 * Henry's horse is in stall 8, which is the second Lost number.

Popular Culture

 * Rocinante is named after the horse in Miguel de Cervantes's novel Don Quixote.


 * -|Set Notes=

Props Notes

 * The chest that once held the heart of the Evil Queen's horse in the Enchanted Forest is sitting on Regina's desk in her office.
 * The horse statue above the fireplace is an Amir Resin Stallion by Lazy Susan (no longer available).
 * Both the Royal Manor and the Royal Castle dining halls have horse tapestries.
 * The book Regina is reading at the Royal Manor is called On Horsemanship. The cover illustration is "Small Horse", a 1505 engraving by the German painter and engraver Albrecht Dürer. Note that the book's version is mirror-inverted and has been modified for the show.
 * Over the Mills House fireplace, there is a framed artwork of two horses. One half is the first half of Dyad by the Canadian artist Andre Petterson. The other half is Snow Run by the same artist.
 * At a later point, a different artwork of two horses hangs above the same fireplace. The first half is Appaloosa Study I by the Canadian artist Ethan Harper, while the other half is Appaloosa Study II by the same artist.
 * The face piece on the bridles worn by Bo Peep's horses was previously worn by a horse in New York City.

Costume Notes

 * The yellow robes worn by Tiana's royal guards, previously worn by Prince Eric's guards, bring the symbol of a hauriant seahorse (in a vertical position with its head up). In heraldry, the seahorse is a hybrid with the fore quarters of a horse with webbed paws, and the hind part of a fish or dolphin. A scalloped fin runs down the neck and back in place of a mane.


 * -|Goofs=

Goofs

 * During the scene with the fallen trunk blocking the path of Abigail and James' horse carriage, a horse wrangler with a blue baseball cap is visible in the bottom's center left of the screen. It is noticeable when Abigail screams, "Please help me!".
 * During the scene where Sir Henry searches for his mother and the Evil Queen along the waters edge, a horse wrangler can be seen in the lower half of the screen.
 * -|Other Notes=

Script Notes

 * The military advisor is called Philippe, which was the name of Belle and Maruice's Belgian draft horse in the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast.
 * Also a Disney princess, Cinderella is later revealed to own a horse named Felipe.

Filming Locations

 * The pilot opening scene, featuring Josh Dallas as Prince Charming on horseback, was filmed at Alouette Lake in British Columbia's Golden Ears Provincial Park.
 * The Camelot village scenes and the horseback/Middlemist Field scene with Hook and Emma were filmed in Burnaby's Central Park.
 * The scene from the series finale featuring Henry riding a horse was filmed by Central Park's upper pond.
 * The scene with Cyrus and the Red Queen in the horse-drawn cart was filmed in Burnaby's Central Park.

Appearances
Note: "Archive" denotes archive footage.