Horse

The horse is a common animal in dreams, even for the majority of people who lack real-life contact with this powerful and highly symbolic creature. (Strength is perhaps the horse's most defining attribute.) It shares much of the symbolic value of the dog, being a tamed animal (instinct) that assists humans; however, the horse’s symbolism more strongly incorporates the concept of “work” – energy channeled into labor.  

Vitality

Above all, the horse is a beautiful symbol of our vitality and life force – libido –, representing our instincts in their "lower" form. It is tamed by humans but still retains the strength to choose its own path if it so desires. Power and energy have been so closely associated with the horse that we still measure force in horsepower. In dreams, rearing or runaway horses may suggest that the energy they represent is unbridled or unconscious.  

The Rider  

The rider on a horse is perhaps the ultimate image of the civilized human who masters his or her instinctual self – a person in harmony with oneself, maintaining a healthy relationship with his or her libido and channeling its energy to achieve goals.

The galloping rider can symbolize this, while a galloping horse without a rider is a more negative image – unbridled libido, etc.

The Body and the Mother  

The "substrate" of humanity is the body – an animal – that we, so to speak, rise above. According to von Franz, dreams about injured or sick horses often indicate issues with the physical body (Animus and Anima in Fairy Tales, p. 80).  

From the bodily and physical, but unconscious, the symbolic link to the mother is not far; the horse and the mother are connected (as is the tree). (Practice of Psychotherapy, par. 347.)  

Visionary Helper  

Like the dog, the horse is humanity’s wise helper, contrasting with wild animals or "lower" creatures. The distinction between the horse as a symbol of instincts and many other animals is that the horse more strongly represents the positive potential of instincts.  

Like the dog, the horse is believed to be clairvoyant; it sees what is invisible to humans, always finds its way home, and so on. This makes the horse, like the dog, a symbol of intuition, perhaps of the unconscious itself.

In the medieval author Chrétien de Troyes' version of the story of Parsifal, the knight finds his way back to the castle of the Fisher King and the Holy Grail only when he lets go of the reins and allows the horse to lead.

Psychopomp  

This pathfinder is a psychopomp, a soul guide carrying humans to other worlds. The dead are brought to Valhalla by female riders, the Valkyries. Rune stones depict the deceased chieftain being led on horseback to Odin’s hall. When Hermod is tasked with traveling to the underworld to retrieve Balder, he must ride Odin’s horse Sleipnir to reach the realm of death. Odin himself was a shaman who rode between worlds, and for shamans, the horse was a typical helper to the other side. This belief may underpin the idea of winged horses, such as Pegasus.  

Death  

The horse’s ability to travel between worlds makes it a symbol of death at times. It has been referred to as the "tree of death" and was associated with Yggdrasil in Norse mythology. Odin, a god of death, rode the eight-legged horse Sleipnir. Horses sacrificed to Odin were hung in trees, mirroring Odin's own sacrificial hanging on a tree. In modern dreams and visions, the horse often appears as a harbinger of death.  

Wind  

Odin's wild ride swept like a storm across the heavens and over the land, linking the wind as one of the horse's attributes. The centaur, too, was considered a "wind-being."  

Sexuality  

As an expression of power and instinct, the horse is closely tied to sexuality and even the devil. Myths and legends recount tales of both Loki and the devil impregnating mares, resulting in offspring. In several languages, "stallion" is used metaphorically to describe a particularly virile womanizer.  

Hooves and Horseshoes  

Perhaps the sound of galloping contributed to the horse's association with thunder and lightning. Just as thunder fertilizes the earth, according to folklore, the hoof, as the "thunder of the ground," has a phallic quality (compare Foot). These attributes have extended to the horseshoe, regarded as magical in its own right: it brings luck, wards off evil, and so forth.

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