What Is a Group of Horses Called?

A group of horses is called a drove, a term rooted directly in the age-old practice of droving: moving livestock, horses included, on foot over land, often significant distances, to market or new pasture.

Horses are one of the most thoroughly domesticated group-living animals on the planet, and the sheer number of collective nouns for them, drove, herd, string, stud, team, and more, reflects just how many different roles horses have played throughout human history: wild band members, cavalry mounts, farm labor, and family transportation, each needing its own way of talking about a group.

What Is a Group of Horses Called?

The most common term is a drove of horses, though a herd of horses is just as widely recognized and is generally the preferred term for wild or feral horses, like America’s mustangs, living and moving as a natural social unit rather than being actively managed by humans.

Other Collective Nouns for Horses

Because horses have served so many different working roles, English has developed an unusually specific vocabulary for groups of them:

Herd — the standard term for horses living as a natural social group, especially wild or feral populations.
Team — horses harnessed together to pull a shared load, such as a plow, wagon, or carriage.
Pair — specifically two horses, most often in a working or driving context.
Span — a matched pair of horses harnessed side by side, an American term especially tied to 19th-century horse-drawn transportation.
Stable — a group of horses named after the structure and system that houses and manages them, much like “kennel” for dogs.
String — the set of horses assigned to or owned by one person, especially a working cowboy, for rotation across a day or season of work.
Stud — horses kept specifically for breeding, the source of the term “stud farm.”
Troop — a group of horses in a military or cavalry context.
Remuda — from Spanish, via the vaquero tradition of the American Southwest, a reserve herd of horses kept for exchanging out working mounts.

Where Did the Name Come From?

“Drove” comes directly from droving, the historical practice of moving livestock, cattle, sheep, goats, and horses alike, on foot over established routes called drove roads, often across long distances to reach markets or new grazing ground. It’s a working term rather than a fanciful or literary one, and it reflects just how central horses were to overland transport and trade for most of human history.

Several of the more specialized terms have similarly practical origins. “Remuda” entered English through the Spanish-speaking vaquero tradition of the American Southwest, itself rooted in a word meaning “exchange” or “relay.” “Span” and “team” both come from harness and draft-work vocabulary from the era before engines, when horses were essential infrastructure rather than recreation.

Horse Facts

Habitat: Wild and feral horse populations, like North America’s mustangs, roam open rangeland, plains, and grassland, though the vast majority of the world’s horses today are domesticated and kept on farms, ranches, and stables.
Social behavior: Wild horse herds typically organize into small family bands, usually one stallion, several mares, and their young, alongside separate “bachelor bands” of young or displaced males. Within a family band, an experienced lead mare, not the stallion, usually decides where the group grazes and travels.
Diet: Horses are herbivorous grazers, feeding primarily on grasses, supplemented with hay and grain in domestic settings.
Lifespan: Domestic horses typically live 25–30 years with good care, somewhat longer than most wild populations.
Companionship: Horses are genuinely social and can become stressed when isolated from other horses, whether in the wild or on a farm, the underlying instinct behind most of these collective nouns.

Example Sentences

A drove of horses was led along the country road at first light.
A herd of wild horses grazed the open range at dawn.
The ranch kept a working string of horses for each hand.

Other Names for a Group of Horses

Explore the individual collective nouns for horses in more depth:

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most common term for a group of horses?
Drove is the traditional general-purpose term, though herd is just as common, especially for horses living as a natural social group, like wild mustangs.

Is herd scientifically accurate for wild horses?
Yes. Wild and feral horses genuinely organize into family bands, usually one stallion, several mares, and their young, led day to day by an experienced mare rather than the stallion.

What’s the difference between a team, a span, and a pair of horses?
All describe harnessed working horses, but team is the general term for horses pulling together, span specifically means a matched pair harnessed side by side, and pair simply means two horses in a driving context.

What is a stud farm?
A stud farm is a breeding operation built around a stud, a group of horses kept specifically for breeding rather than riding or draft work.

What’s a genuinely surprising fact about horse herds?
In wild horse family bands, it’s typically an experienced lead mare, not the stallion, who decides where the group grazes, drinks, and travels each day.

How does a horse herd compare to a donkey herd?
Both are commonly called herds or droves, but donkeys are less herd-bound than horses and tolerate solitude better, a difference rooted in their distinct wild ancestry.

Related: Collective Nouns for Mammals