# What kind of horses would the Horsemen of the Apocalypse have riden? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 23, 2004, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589 "2004-02-23T02:36:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/1 "2004-02-23T02:36:52Z")
OK, weirdass, nearly unanswerable question time…what breed of horses would the [Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse) have riden? Has there been any theological discussion on the subject? I mean, if Thomas Aquinas pondered wether Angels could dance on the head of a pin,—[sorta](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_132.html)—you’d think someone would have wondered about the Horsemen’s rides. Or, at least…can anyone here conjecture what breed of horse your average cavalryman would have riden, in the time and place of Revelations’ writing? ---
**Author:** ![herman\_and\_bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@herman\_and\_bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herman_and_bill)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/2 "2004-02-23T03:09:18Z")
You have the wrong tense. The Apocalypse hasn’t occured yet so it is what the horsemen WILL be riding. ---
**Author:** ![Peezus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Peezus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peezus)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/3 "2004-02-23T03:27:05Z")
They would ride bicycles, of course. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/4 "2004-02-23T03:42:45Z")
This is just a matter of opinion, not to mention that the apocalypse is mostly a symbolic book, but I always imagined that the horses could only look like the ones Frazetta made for the Death Dealer: [http://www.darkhorse.com/profile/profile.php?sku=12-679](http://www.darkhorse.com/profile/profile.php?sku=12-679) The original artwork is more impressive: [http://www.wadhome.org/frazetta/deathdealer.html](http://www.wadhome.org/frazetta/deathdealer.html) ---
**Author:** ![pothead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecb155/32.png) [@pothead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pothead)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/5 "2004-02-23T04:07:31Z")
Things that don’t/won’t exist can’t ride horses. ---
**Author:** ![prisoner6655321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@prisoner6655321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prisoner6655321)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/6 "2004-02-23T04:20:10Z")
> [@pothead](#): > > Things that don’t/won’t exist can’t ride horses. Dang. Can’t you guys open your minds up enough for two damned seconds to discuss a hypothetical question? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/7 "2004-02-23T04:43:38Z")
I’m going to assume the 4HOTA wouldn’t be riding carthorse, but cavalry/warhorse type animals. That said, the Romans would most likely have had the horses the author of Revelations would have been most familiar with. The Romans typically hired auxiliary cavalry, although, as the following link describes, they did have some of their own. There’s a lot of good background infor here: [http://www.fellpony.f9.co.uk/fells/rom\_dark/friesian.htm](http://www.fellpony.f9.co.uk/fells/rom_dark/friesian.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/8 "2004-02-23T04:50:55Z")
> [@Peezus](#): > > They would ride bicycles, of course. I was thinking unicycles, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/9 "2004-02-23T05:04:16Z")
Dead ones. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/10 "2004-02-23T05:41:12Z")
Well, one was white, one was bright red, one was black, and one was pale green. So I don’t think your going to find a likely candidate breed. ---
**Author:** ![Vezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b38774/32.png) [@Vezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vezer)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/11 "2004-02-23T06:08:09Z")
> [@Alan Smithee](#): > > Well, one was white, one was bright red, one was black, and one was pale green. So I don’t think your going to find a likely candidate breed. Could be demonic warpaint a la Native American tribes (who did it sans the demonic part). Images seem to either horses of bones (there by being Equitrius ossein) or muscular like a shaved Arabian. A horse, not a human silly. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Drethelin2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@Drethelin2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drethelin2)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/12 "2004-02-23T06:25:49Z")
Death rides a pale horse, famine a thin one. Pestilence a sick one, and war a huge charger. Beyond that, breed is probably irrelevant. And Kaos has a chariot. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/13 "2004-02-23T13:00:30Z")
PONYS! CUTE LEEDLE PONYS! With ribbons in their manes. And flowers and jinglebells and and and… Damn. That prescription cough medicine sure is strong, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/14 "2004-02-23T13:41:38Z")
> [@Drethelin2](#): > > Death rides a pale horse, named Binky. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/15 "2004-02-23T18:40:31Z")
> [@Drethelin2](#): > > Death rides a pale horse, famine a thin one. Pestilence a sick one, and war a huge charger. Beyond that, breed is probably irrelevant. > > And Kaos has a chariot. Cite? Mine is from the sixth chapter of The Revelation to John. I can’t find your descriptions or the names of the horsemen anywhere in Scripture. (The names, at least, are certainly widely known, presumably from later tradition.) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/16 "2004-02-23T18:49:02Z")
> [@Amp](#): > > Dead ones. Nope. Death tried that once. He had to keep stopping to wire bits back on. Let’s move with the times, people. It’s now The Four Motorcyclists of the Apocalypse. Harleys. ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/17 "2004-02-23T19:28:55Z")
> [@prisoner6655321](#): > > Dang. Can’t you guys open your minds up enough for two damned seconds to discuss a hypothetical question? No. We don’t have to, because this is the forum for questions with factual answers, not ‘unanswerable’ questions. Those hypothetical thingamjigs go over pretty well in [IMHO](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?f=12) and [MPSIMS](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?daysprune=-1&f=4) , though. Now, if the question had been “What kind of horse does Dubya ride?”… ---
**Author:** ![kiwiboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/35a633/32.png) [@kiwiboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiwiboy)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/18 "2004-02-23T19:58:16Z")
> [@Alan Smithee](#): > > Cite? Mine is from the sixth chapter of The Revelation to John. I can’t find your descriptions or the names of the horsemen anywhere in Scripture. (The names, at least, are certainly widely known, presumably from later tradition.) Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels. The Four Horseman appear in _Thief of Time_. Kaos was with them before they became famous, and is to be found in Ankh Morpork under the cunning disguise of a milkman named Ronnie Soak. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/19 "2004-02-23T22:03:24Z")
Since they’re supposed to be scary, I figure they’d _drive_ slammed '74 Pintos sporting Firestone 500 radials. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2004, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589/20 "2004-02-23T22:16:44Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Since they’re supposed to be scary, I figure they’d _drive_ slammed '74 Pintos sporting Firestone 500 radials. Or Hummers, maybe. Unfortunately, “Four Hummers of the Apocalypse” sounds like an alternate title for the _Sex and the City_ finale. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-horses-would-the-horsemen-of-the-apocalypse-have-riden/230589.md?page=2)