Anyone who has spent time around horses knows they can be startled by the smallest things — a plastic bag, a puddle, their own shadow. Compilation videos titled “Horses Being Absolutely Insane for 10 Minutes Straight” are a beloved YouTube subgenre. Watching a 1,200-pound animal leap sideways because of a falling leaf never gets old. It’s pure, unfiltered, hilarious chaos.
Steven Spielberg’s War Horse features a sequence where the protagonist horse, Joey, runs through no-man’s-land during World War I, dodging explosions, barbed wire, and machine-gun fire. While no real horses were harmed (thanks to impeccable animal training and CGI), the emotional intensity made audiences worldwide gasp. It’s a masterclass in how can also be deeply moving. Anyone who has spent time around horses knows