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A brown horse standing side-on with a dark flowing mane and tail, pointed ears, long legs and dark hooves.
The finished drawing.

How to draw

How to Draw a Horse

  • Confident (level 4 of 5)
  • 25 min
  • 14 steps
  • Ages 8–12 (a guide, not a rule)
Start Drawing Draw on Screen Print

Draw on paper: Paper, Pencil. Optional: Eraser, Brown, tan and dark brown crayons, colored pencils or markers.

Draw it on the screen

A horse is built from two circles: one for the chest and one for the hips. The legs are about as long as the body is deep, and the front and back legs bend in different directions. Keep every guide light so you can erase it at the end. Ready for a simpler start? Try the Unicorn lesson first.

Rather color it? Print the horse coloring page.

Step by step

  • New lines: purple, thick and glowing
  • Lines you already drew: gray
  • Guides: dashed blue, draw them lightly
  • Erase: dotted pink with an eraser
  1. Step 1 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 1 of 14 Draw two light circles the same size, side by side with a small gap: the chest circle on the right and the hip circle on the left.
  2. Step 2 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 2 of 14 Draw a smaller circle up and to the right for the cheek and a little circle below it for the nose. Join the head to the chest with two light neck lines.
  3. Step 3 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 3 of 14 Draw a light ground line below the body. Leave a gap about as tall as the body: a horse's legs are about as long as its body is deep.
  4. Step 4 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 4 of 14 Draw the back: start at the top of the chest circle, dip a little in the middle, then curve over the hip circle. Draw the belly between the two circles.
  5. Step 5 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 5 of 14 Draw the neck: a curved line from the back up to the head, then a throat line from under the head down to the front of the chest.
  6. Step 6 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 6 of 14 Draw two pointed ears. Then draw the face: down the front to the nose, around the soft round nose and chin, and back under the jaw to the throat.
  7. Step 7 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 7 of 14 Add an eye high up on the head, a curved nostril near the front of the nose and a short mouth line.
  8. Step 8 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 8 of 14 Draw the near front leg. It is thick at the top, the knee sits about halfway down, and the hoof is a wide block that stands on the ground line.
  9. Step 9 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 9 of 14 Draw the round rump and the near back leg. The back leg bends backward at the hock, the opposite way to the front knee.
  10. Step 10 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 10 of 14 Draw the far legs behind the near legs. Stop each line where it meets a near leg, and set the far hooves a little higher: they are farther away.
  11. Step 11 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 11 of 14 Draw the mane in wavy locks along the top of the neck. Add a small tuft of hair between the ears.
  12. Step 12 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 12 of 14 Draw the long tail. It starts at the top of the rump, flows down and ends in a few soft points.
  13. Step 13 diagram, showing what to erase
    Step 13 of 14 Erase all the light guides: the circles, the neck lines and the ground line.
  14. Step 14 diagram, with the new lines highlighted
    Step 14 of 14 Finish with shading and details. Light comes from above, so add short slanted lines under the belly. Draw a line across each hoof and a few hair lines in the mane and tail.
A brown horse standing side-on with a dark flowing mane and tail, pointed ears, long legs and dark hooves.

You did it!

Your drawing does not have to look like this one. Every artist draws a little differently.

Color it on screen Print a practice sheet

Tips for this drawing

Helpful hints

  • Press very lightly for the circles and lines in the first three steps. They only show where the parts go.
  • Check the legs before you draw them: the gap under the belly should be about as tall as the body itself.
  • If a line goes behind another part, stop drawing it where it disappears.

Common mistakes

  • The legs are short and the horse looks like a dog. Make the legs about as long as the body is deep, and keep them thin below the knees.
  • The back legs bend forward like the front legs. A horse's back leg has a hock that points backward. Draw the back leg sloping back to the hock, then straight down.
  • The head is round like a ball. Use two circles, a big cheek and a small nose, and join them with a long straight face line.

Make it simpler

Draw the two body circles, a neck, a head from two circles and four straight legs with a block hoof on each. Add the mane and tail and skip the shading.

Proportion

The chest and hip circles are the same size. The legs are about as long as the body is deep, and each knee and hock sits about halfway down the leg.

Overlap

The far legs stand behind the near legs, so you draw only the parts that peek out. Their hooves sit a little higher because they are farther away.

Light and shadow

Light comes from above, so the underside of the belly is in shadow. A few short slanted lines there make the body look round.

Practice first: Unicorn.

  • A pale lilac unicorn standing sideways with a golden striped horn, a pink, purple and blue mane, a flowing purple tail and lavender hooves.

    Unicorn

    Growing (level 3 of 5) 25 min Ages 6–10
  • A tan dog standing sideways on four legs, with a floppy brown ear, a brown patch on its back and its tail held up.

    Standing Dog

    Growing (level 3 of 5) 20 min Ages 6–10
  • An orange fox sitting and facing forward, with tall pointed ears, white cheeks and chest, and a bushy white-tipped tail curled in front of its feet.

    Fox

    Confident (level 4 of 5) 20 min Ages 8–12