There was an old Montana CowMan, Spike Van Cleave, who wrote (besides a couple books full of great tales of horses, cattle and family) that when he died he wanted his epitaph to be:
“He was good to his horses and true to his friends.”
I can’t think of a better way to be remembered.
“The fool on the hill”
“The devil dare not enter a camp gaurded by an Arabian horse.”
(I prefer to say …“Arabian mare”…since mine would attack you if you tried to hurt my daughter) 
I heard this from a friend so I’m not sure who said it:
Life without horses is possible but pointless.
I use these in my lesson barn: (Please excuse the caps - it is how they were in my file!)
WHETHER YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN DO SOMETHING, OR BELIEVE YOU CAN’T,
YOU’RE RIGHT.
IT ISN’T WHAT YOU KNOW THAT COUNTS,
IT’S WHAT YOU THINK OF IN TIME.
FAILURE IS THE OPPORTUNITY TO BEGIN AGAIN MORE INTELLIGENTLY. - Henry Ford
ETERNAL VIGILANCE IS THE PRICE OF NOT GETTING HIT IN THE HEAD.
THE PURPOSE OF THE HORSE IS TO EMBODY THE WINGS A PERSON FEELS WITHIN HER.
AIM FOR PERFECTION: EXCELLENCE WILL BE TOLERATED.
THE TRUTH DOESN’T HURT - UNLESS IT OUGHT TO.
ANYTHING SCARCE IS VALUABLE - PRAISE, FOR EXAMPLE.
SUCCESS IS THE PRODUCT OF BACKBONE, NOT WISHBONE.
WORRY GIVES LITTLE THINGS BIG SHADOWS
NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THEY CAN DO, UNTIL THEY TRY.
PEOPLE WILL BELIEVE ANYTHING, IF YOU WHISPER IT.
WHEN MADE TWICE, A MISTAKE BECOMES A FAULT.
THE ROAD TO FAILURE IS PAVED WITH INDECISION
IMPROVEMENT BEGINS WITH “I”
Riding is a partnership. The horse lends you his strength, speed and grace, which are greater than yours. For your part you give him your guidance, intelligence and understanding, which are greater than his. Together you can achieve a richness that alone neither can. - Lucy Rees
“If you expect and reward mediocrity, that is what you will get; however, if you expect and reward excellence and quality, you have a probability of getting it”
…And a few more I have collected:
Age is a very high price to pay for maturity.
Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.
It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.
Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.
Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused
A horse doesn’t care how much you know until he knows how much you care
The hardest thing about learning to ride is the ground!
It is the difficult horses that have the most to give you.
Whoever said that money couldn’t buy happiness didn’t know where to buy a horse.
Jumping is just dressage with speed bumps!
Bread may feed my body, but my horse feeds my soul.
Riding isn’t a matter of life or death. It’s more important!
Riding is life; the rest is just minor details.
You don’t have to ride EVERY day, just the ones that end in “Y”
He knows when you’re happy, he knows when you’re sad, and he knows when you have a carrot…
A bad ride is better than a good walk
No one can teach riding as well as a horse.
I used to have money, now I have horses.
If your horse says no, you either asked the wrong question or asked the question wrong.
A good horse and good rider are only so in mutual trust.
No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle.
It is not enough to know how to ride; you must learn how to fall
I spent most of my life riding…the rest is wasted
Life is good…horses make it better
A horse without a rider is still a horse; a rider without a horse is no longer a rider.
There is no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse.
You can lead a horse to water- but you can’t make him step in it!
Riding the art of keeping a horse between you and the ground.
The hardest thing to do on a horse is nothing at all.
"On ne suit pas tous la meme piste.
“Don’t get mad at somebody just 'cause they know more’n you do. It ain’t their fault.”
“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” - Will Rogers
The horse stopped with a jerk, and the jerk fell off.
The greatest obstacle to progress is not the absence of
knowledge, but the illusion of knowledge. - Daniel Boorstin, The Key Reporter
“Do or do not. There is no try.” Thank you Yoda.
“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, design a building, conn a ship, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve an equation, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.” - Robert Anson Heinlein
If you can do it, it ain’t braggin’.
It is best not to swap horses while crossing the river.
–Abraham Lincoln
…but why discourse
upon the virtues of the horse?
They are too numerous to tell
Save when you have a horse to sell.
–Josh Billings
The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong–but that’s the way to bet
–Damon Bunyon
Horse sense is something a horse has that keeps him from betting on men.
–(I don’t remember who the author is)
A golden bit does not make the horse any better.
–proverb
If the world were truely a rational place men would ride sidesaddle.
–Rita Mae Brown
You cannot judge the horse by the harness.
–Proverb
The only people who never fall off are those who never get on.
–anonymous
Horses have never hurt anyone yet, except when they bet on them.
–Stuart Cloete
That hoss wasn’t built to tread the earth.
He took natural to the air.
And every time he went aloft,
He tried to leave me there.
–anonymous tribute to an unmanageable horse
What shall we choose in life–Pegasus or workhorse? Shall it be sprinters and jumpers to entertain us, or workers to pull the load?Do we have more need of strong hocks than we do winged hooves? Do we choose to ride the wind, feet off the ground, knowing–however briefly–an intensity, a magic that transcends the everyday? Or shall we seek stamina and support, the straining muscles of an old war horse for the journey? Maybe it all depends on what we think we need for the long haul; Pegasus, a thing of beauty, or the workhorse, a joy forever.
–Jean Schaefer
“Well, suh, about the head of a truely great hawse there is an air of freedom unconqureable. The eyes seem to look on heights beyond our gaze. It is the look of a spirit that can soar. It is not confined to hawses; even in his pictures you can see it in the eyes of the Bonaprte. It is the birthright of eagles.”
–John Taintor Foote
The horse is virtually the only animal the world has ever known to be both weight-carrying servant and bosom buddy…
–L.T.L.
Show me your horse and I will tell you what you are.
–Old English Saying
I’m all for good conformation, but rarely have I seen it. If you examine the top [dressage] horses today, you will find many faults. If the imperfect machine works perfectly, who cares what the machine looks like?
–John Winnett
You can lead a horse to water, but if you can teach him to roll over and float on his back, then you got something–Joe E. Louis
There were probably just as many reckless drivers before the day of the automobile but the horses had more sense.
–anonymous
O! For a horse with wings!
–William Shakespeare
x, Ian Fleming! Thanks, A non-riding friend framed the quote and gave it to me as a joke.
Said it expressed his attitude perfectly!
I don’t know why I got the the idea it was Churchill…but funny to think of Mr. James Bond saying that!
Gabz: Very cute quote but won’t work for those of us that ride aside! 
“Throw your heart over the fence and the horse will follow…” author unknown, very old saying… I only wish someone would tell this one to the horses!!! 
“Everything looks good until you start to examine it!!!”, uttered by me on more than one occasion
I should probably be asking this on the eventing board, but as long as the thread’s up here, I’ll give it a shot. I’m looking for a specific quote about eventing. I forget how it starts, but it ends, “and if you make a mistake, make it going forward.” I just need the first part and also who said it!
To contribute, I’ll throw in some I’ve collected. I collect quotes both horsey and non-horsey. My faves:
Art thou afear’d to be the same in thine own act and valor as thou art in desire? (Lady Macbeth)
Judge not, that ye be not judged. (Matthew 7:1)
Only that day dawns to which we are awake. (Henry Thoreau)
Thought before action, if you have time. (Dick Francis)
There are fools, damn fools, and people who remount in a steeplechase.
The hooves of the horses! Oh witching and sweet is the music earth steals from the iron-shod feet. Will Ogilvie
Posted by Jewels:
<<In my opinion, a horse is the animal to have. 1100 pounds of raw muscle, power, grace, and sweat between your legs—its just something you cant get from a pet hamster! >>
LOL – Jewels! This is for a classromm of kids! Somehow, I don’t think that this quote will be the first one chosen.
My two faves, because I can personally identify with both of them:
A Horse! A Horse! My Kingdom for a Horse!
The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man.
“If your horse says no, you either asked the wrong question or asked the question wrong.” (unknown)
Student teaching…I am responsible for coming up with a quote for our classroom blackboard each day. I am getting a case of “quote fatigue.” I beg for inspiration!
So what are your favorite horse related quotes, sayings, proverbs?
(OMGoodness–I missed my 2000th post!)
MCL
If you always do what you’ve always done… you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.
(don’t know who said it… but I use it often with new students that I am trying to get to try something new!)
The quote attributed to Lincoln reminded me of another horse incident he was supposedly involved in. He was beginning to mount up when the horse kicked and caught a hind foot in the stirrup. Lincoln is supposed to have said: <BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>If you’re getting on … I’ll get off. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
“The fool on the hill”
My favourite book of all time, has in my opinion the best quotes to live by (if you change them to human lessons).
These two are from black beauty.
There is no religion without love, and people may talk as much as they like about their religion, but if it does not teach them to be good and kind to both man and beast it is all a sham - James from Black Beauty, by anna sewell
i hope you will grow up to be gentle, and good, and never learn bad ways, do your work with good will, lift your feet up well when you trott, and never bite or kick even in play …Duchess from Black Beauty by anna sewell
I cry everytime I read it but can read it over and over and over.
Its my absolute favourite
“I hope you will grow up to be gentle and good, and never learn bad ways, do your work with good will, lift your feet up well when you trot, and never bite or kick even in play.”
-Duchess, Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
Horse’s make a liar out of you every time 
“Proud Member Of The I Love Dublin, Starman Babies, Mini Horse, Sunnieflax and Horse Boxes Cliques”
“Remember: You’re A Customer In A Service Industry.”
When the Almighty put hoofs on the wind.
And a bridle on the lightning
He called it horse.
Great Said
Why not make it kid-appropriate?
“In my opinion, a horse is the animal to have. 1100 pounds of raw muscle, power and grace—its just something you can’t get from a pet hamster!”
I.e., captures most of the spirit (without hopefully Bowdlerizing it) while being age appropriate… 
I dont know who said it first but I heard this quote from a few friends:
Horses are like chips, you can’t just have one
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