What Is A Group Of Horses Called?

One of my favorite things when it comes to animals is learning all the different collective names for them.

There are always unique and interesting names for groups of different animals, and whether they’re ‘official’ or not I don’t really care.

I just find them interesting!

Recently, though, I was walking out to my friend’s horse pasture with him when we both realised, we didn’t know what the collective term for a horse was, if there was a specific one.

So, I decided to look into it.

So, what is a group of horses called?

The simplest name is a herd of horses. Other terms include a team of horses, a harass, a rag, or a string. These terms can indicate different things about the horses in the herd, but any group of horses that are socialized together is a herd.

Collective nouns for animals are always fun, and not to be the pedant, but the thing to remember is that these terms generally aren’t considered ‘official’ or scientific in any way.

They’re usually just popularly applied, and in the case of horses, there is actually a lot of utility in having a variety of names for a group of horses.

Let’s look into it in more detail.

Is a group of horses a herd?

Yes, the best catch-all term for horses is herd.

Any large group of horses is a herd—that is, any large group of horses who live alongside one another.

A gathering of racehorses during a race isn’t really a herd in any useful sense.

Herds of horses live together.

A herd of horses could still be classified in another, more particular way, as I will get into.

But whether it’s in your homestead or in the wild, a group of horses socializing together is a herd.

Again, as I said, the thing is that these collective nouns that are particularized to individual horses are only really popularly applied.

They aren’t officially used by zoologists or scientists.

So, one more particular general term to describe a group of horses is a ‘team’.

There’s really no functional difference between a herd of horses and a team of horses, though.

It’s just a word that has been specifically applied to horses.

What do you call a group of horses in the wild?

Again, for the most part, you can simply call them a herd.

There’s no real reason to use any specialized terms when it comes to wild horses, since groups are usually made up in the same way: one stallion and many females.

So, there’s no reason to describe any other kind of horse than a fertile male and a fertile female.

That said, one term that often is used by naturalists in this context is ‘harem’.

This doesn’t really adequately describe the whole group, but rather simply the fact of many females.

In any animal, when one male commands a group of females, that group of females is called a harem.

In the wild, one male horse mates with all of these females.

He will have to defend against challenges by other males, but the females will not mate with any other until he is bested.

This is the only important distinction with wild horses, since this is not how domestic horses are bred.

What is a rag of horses?

One other commonly used term is a rag of horses.

This describes a group of what is known as colts.

Colts are young males, usually under the age of four, that have not been castrated.

This age is arbitrary and is really about the horse’s racing life.

Most horses do not race for most of their lives and are retired by age 5.

Distinguishing between fully mature males and colts is important, then, since the age of a horse is absolutely essential to its racing career.

So we may hear the term ‘rag of horses’ essentially to describe a group of young males.

What is a string of horses?

Finally, a string of horses is not about the horses themselves but about who owns them.

We use the term ‘string of horses’ to describe a group of horses owned or used by one individual.

Again, horse racing involves a lot of individuals: from the jockey to the trainer to the owners.

Knowing whose horse is who and what belongs to whom is really important, then, and so terms like these have naturally sprung up.

Again, though, being part of a string has nothing to do with the horse itself, just who happens to own it.

So, if you’re looking for a basic, catch all term for horses, then herd is perfectly adequate.

Any large group of horses is called a herd, and there may be more subdivisions beyond that that identify particular types of horse.

If it’s a group of colts, it’s a rag.

If it’s a group of military horses, it’s a troop.

Horses come in many varieties, and there’s a lot of utility in describing groups of them using different words.