This is a post for all our horse-girl fans. The month of July gives us National ‘I Love a Horse’ Day. There are no less than 200 breeds of horses. From Arabian to Zangersheide, the human-horse connection goes back to 4000 BCE. Since their domestication, wealthy people bred and raced horses. In ancient times, the sport of horse racing was a means to show wealth. Although time has passed, the sport of horse racing remains a symbol of status among horse owners.
Anime gives us a lot of animal-human hybrid characters. Into this deep pool, there is no shortage of horse-girls. The plethora of characters affords us to put together a top ten list to celebrate ‘I Love a Horse’ Day. To make things a bit easier, we chose to limit our countdown to the Pretty Derby franchise. Our countdown focused on fan ‘likes’ posted to MAL. This is the result of our efforts.
As you review the post, please feel free to let me know if I overlooked your favorite horse-girl. Leave a comment below and let me know your picks.
10. Satono Diamond
- Birthday: January 30
- Appearance: Uma Musume: Pretty Derby Season 2 (2021)
Introduced in season two, Satono Diamond lands in our tenth spot. Uma Musume gives us the anime version of the true-life racehorse, by the same name. A world-class stallion, the real Satono Diamond won the JRA Award for Best Three-Year-Old Colt in 2016. In the anime, this young horse girl struggled to win the G1s. She overcame these obstacles, with some peculiar habits.
Our horse girl is honest and sincere. She has long brown hair, with a diamond-shaped marking on her bangs. Satono wears an ear ornament cuffing her right ear. She lives in Ritto Dorm and is the roommate of Kitasan Black. Satono is a fan of our sixth horse girl and shows up to her races to support her.
The Uma Musume brand has nearly a hundred horse girls. This filly is popular across both anime and mobile games. Across these platforms, Satono Diamond’s fans pick her as our tenth favorite horse girl.
9. Daiwa Scarlet
- Birthday: May 13
- Appearance: Uma Musume: Pretty Derby (2018)
Feisty best describes our next entry. Daiwa Scarlet is an idol, who happens to be a horse-girl. Like most of the series’ horse girls, Daiwa takes her name from a true-life racehorse. The mare won several titles before retiring from race horsing. Unlike her namesake, our ninth horse-girl is still in it to win it.
Despite her drive, Daiwa Scarlet is a bright and caring young girl. Her character goes hard into the mischievous character tropes. She has auburn hair, styled into long twin tails. Her hair sports two droopy ahoge. Daiwa has merlot colored eyes and her smile sports a fang. Rounding out her trope-ish appearance, she has a large chest.
Anime comedies just would not be complete without at least one over-the-top character. This is true of Uma Musume. Despite her antics, Daiwa Scarlet is a sweet girl.
8. Twin Turbo
- Birthday: April 13
- Appearance: Uma Musume: Pretty Derby Season 2 (2021)
Twin Turbo is one of the older racehorses on our list. Although popular with race fans, the gelding never won a race. Our list’s eighth favorite horse-girl embraces her living mount’s status and spirit. The anime’s Twin Turbo is a dynamo, with a strong desire to be the top of her class. Despite her efforts, our horse-girl must settle for being a plucky sidekick to the series champions.
An old quote states ‘Appearances are a glimpse of the unseen.’ This petite horse-girl embraces these words. She has scrappy long hair, tied into twin tails with sidelocks and an ahoge. Her eyes are two different colors, one purple and the other blue. Twin Turbo has distinct ears, which feature stripes. Bubbling under the surface, this girl is an over-the-top firecracker.
This is an anime that loves gutsy characters. Twin Turbo and Daiwa Scarlet are a couple of those off-the-wall types. Where Twin Turbo shines, she is the only horse without any wins to her name but continues to win the hearts of fans.
7. Kitasan Black
- Birthday: March 10
- Appearance: Uma Musume: Pretty Derby Season 2 (2021)
Inching closer to number one, the seventh spot goes to Kitasan Black. Like the others on our list, this horse-girl has a real-life counterpart. The true Kitasan Black was a twelve of twenty race winner. Over the horse’s racing career, the thoroughbred would earn the title of Japanese Horse of the Year for two years running. Saburo Kitajima, Kitasan Black’s owner, would tweet out a message for Uma Musume’s 3rd season.
Kitasan Black is a merry and peppy horse-girl. She is kind and thoughtful to others, which draws others to her. A ray of sunshine, she loves to sing but her aggressive tone is off-putting. Kitasan has black, shoulder-length hair, that sports a white streak across her bangs. She wears a red ribbon to match her eyes.
Kitasan Black has a faithful anime and racetrack fandom. In the Pretty Derby series, she is true to her heart. Her kindness and virtue land Kitasan Black in the seventh spot.
6. Mejiro McQueen
- Birthday: April 3
- Appearance: Uma Musume: Pretty Derby (2018)
Based on fan art sites, Mejiro McQueen should be higher on the list but here we are. A cute horse-girl, this lass was stated in season one but would share the lead role in season two. Like the other Pretty Derby girls, Mejiro McQueen takes her name from a true-life racehorse. As a matter of fact, her namesake is a Hall of Famer. He also earned the title of Best Older Male Horse in 1991.
She is from a notable family, yet Mejiro is not showy. Instead, she has a stately bearing. Coming from a noble upbringing, her drive is to uphold her family’s honor. This burden weighs heavily upon her, making her look worried constantly. With this aside, our horse-girl has none of the trappings one might expect. Her claim to fame is long-distance racing, where she is without a rival.
Like her mother and grandmother before her, Mejiro McQueen would win the Tenno Sho. This mirrors the feats of her namesake. Whether it is the horse-girl or real-life horse, Mejiro McQueen earned the right to be in our countdown.
5. Gold Ship
- Birthday: March 6
- Appearance: Uma Musume: Pretty Derby (2018)
Breaking into the top five, the next horse-girl in our countdown is Gold Ship. She is the big sis in Team Spica. Her namesake has a racing career of 28 races, with 13 wins. Retired from racing, Gold Ship was an erratic racehorse. His fickle temper would mean this horse was more likely to lose than win. Within the anime, Gold Ship is an ill-tempered slacker.
Our horse-girl has a heavenly look. She has long sliver-gray hair that goes to her waist. A hat tied by a head harness is her noted feature. Her eyes are the color of rosewood. As a jokester, Mejiro McQueen is the prime target of her pranks. Despite the energy she puts into her larks, Gold Ship tends to say clearly to apply that energy to schoolwork and race prep.
Gold Ship is an interesting and fun horse-girl. This includes her being a YouTuber, with her channel called PakaTube. There is a lot to unpack with this character, which is why I Gold Ship has a loyal fan base. Her qualities land our horse-girl at the halfway point in our countdown.
4. Silence Suzuka
- Birthday: May 1
- Appearance: Uma Musume: Pretty Derby PV (2016)
We reach one of the anime’s lead characters for season one. Silence Suzuka is a cute horse-girl, who is shy. Withdrawn, she finds it hard to make friends until she meets Special Week. The true horse was on his way to becoming a contender. However, the horse’s career came to an end after an injury at the 1998 Tenno Sho. The anime’s version of Suzuka would also suffer an injury but she would claw or hoof her way back to racing.
Silence Suzuka is a horse-girl with a pure heart. Hardworking, she is the fastest one on the track. Despite her physical skills, this horse-girl does not drag down others. She never seeks to drag down others. She is petite, with a long orange hime hairstyle. Silence Suzuka sports brown horse earmuffs and a white sweatband. Her eyes are green which gives off a detached vibe.
Of her quirks, this horse-girl has a habit of walking to the left. Given a large enough area, her stroll would end up making circles. Despite her mannerisms, Silent Suzuka is tied for the series’ best girl.
3. Special Week
- Birthday: Spring 2011
- Appearance: Uma Musume: Pretty Derby PV (2016)
Special Week is the prime character in the Pretty Derby series. Surprisingly, she landed third rather than first place on our countdown. Growing up in the country, she comes to the big city to become a racing horse. Special Week is a humble young horse-girl with ambitions to be the best. She is best friends with Silence Suzuka.
Like all the horse-girls, Special Week has a true life counterpart. Within the anime, this horse-girl is excited about racing. Her goal is to be the best and bring pride to her parents and hometown. Special Week is larger than the other horse-girls but this does not get in the way of her passion. She has reddish-brown hair, stylized in a bob cut. The color of her eyes is purple and they always seem to be full of life.
Special Week embraces the cute girls doing cute things. She is someone who will do whatever she sets her mind to do. The lead character, it is surprising that Special Week lands at number 3. In my scorebook, she is easily my top character.
2. Rice Shower
- Birthday: March 5
- Appearance: Uma Musume: Pretty Derby – BNW no Chikai (2018)
We are getting closer to the favorite horse-girl in Pretty Derby. The second-place finisher is a bashful and suspicious girl. Rice Shower feels that bad things follow her but the truth is that she just happens to be in a bad spot at the right time. The real horse would win a few races in his day, including the Tenno Sho in 1993 and 1995. Rice Shower’s 1993 win dashed the hopes of Mejiro McQueen to take the Tenno Sho three times in a row.
Being a wallflower, Rice Shower spends her time reading books. Her dream is to one day be a girl that makes others happy. This petite young lass has long black hair, which covers her right eye. She wears a hat, with a single blue rose. The rose may be a reference to her favorite book, ‘The Blue Rose of Happiness.” When she is not wearing her school uniform, Rice Shower dresses in a stylized goth-like dress.
The true Rice Shower would have their career cut short by a fracture. Fortunately for us, his spirit lives on in a little horse-girl. Rice Shower is one of those characters that tug on your heartstrings. This quality lands her at in a second-place finish.
1. Toukai Teiou
- Premiered: April 20
- Appearance: Uma Musume: Pretty Derby PV (2016)
Taking the lead, our top horse-girl is Toukai Teiou. This filly strives to be the next Triple Crown winner. She is a co-lead character in the series’ second season. She is a spirited lass, who pushes herself to be the best. Like all the horse girls on our list, Toukai Teiou has a true-life counterpart. Her peer’s feats would see him joining the racing legends in the Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame in 1995.
Toukai Teiou’s looks and personality are in keeping with anime’s athletic character tropes. Cute and petite, she has low-flowing amber hair tied into a ponytail. Her bangs have a white streak that recedes into the crown of her head. Toukai Teiou’s calm, sky-blue eyes hide her inner spark. She is glowing and is known to be sassy at times. Her idol is Symboli Rudolf, which is the horse who sired her in real life.
This horse-girl has a passion for life. She is honest and optimistic about the path set before her. These traits make her an inspiring character. For this reason, the fans count Toukai Teiou as one of their favorite Pretty Derby horse-girls.
