The word equine comes from the Latin equus, meaning horse and includes animals belonging to the family Equidae: horses, asses, and zebras.
Horse:
Symbol of intellect, wisdom, the mind, reason, nobility, dynamic power, swiftness, instinctual animal nature, and the wind
Represents solar power if white, golden, or fiery colored
Symbol of lunar power when associated with oceanic gods
When ridden by evil entities, becomes a symbol of death
The winged Cosmic Horse represents the sun; when white, symbolic of innocence and life and is ridden by heroes
Buddhist symbol of the indestructible, the winged horse named Cloud is a form of Kwan-yin
In Celtic tradition the attribute of the horse deity, Epona the Great Horse and goddess mare
Chinese symbol of the heavens, fire, yang, the South, speed, and a good omen
Christian representation of the sun, courage, swift passage, the four horses of the Apocalypse are war, death, famine, and petulance
In Greek mythology, symbolizes the humid principle when associated with Poseidon as his sacred animal, and as Pegasus, carries the thunderbolt of Zeus
Irish legendary magic spirit horse, the Pooka, was an omen of death
In Indian tradition, the white horse was Kalki Avatara, the final incarnation of Buddha
Japanese form of Bato Kwanno, goddess of mercy and the Great Mother; a black horse is the attribute of the rain God
In Roman mythology, white horses pulled the chariots of Apollo and Mithra; attribute of Diana, the huntress
Sacred to Oden as the eight legged mare, Slepnir
Shamanistic symbol of passage from this world to the next
Sumero-Semetic emblem of Carthage, appears on bas-relief and coins
In Taoist tradition, an attribute of Ch’ang Kuo, a Taoist genie
(continued in Equus Part 2)