Horsey Horsey Nursery Rhyme

The original version of "Horsey! Horsey!" was written by Paddy Roberts, Elton Box, Desmond Cox and Ralph Butler and was first published in 1937 by The Sun Music Publishing Company in London. The most well known part of this children's sing-along song is its chorus. The Speks' version of the chorus is sung to the tune of the traditional Irish polka called “The Rakes of Mallow.”

A horse speeds up when its rider or handler shouts “giddy up!” and to reflect the horse’s speed, we sing “Horsey, Horsey” at a faster tempo each time the coachman shouts “giddy up!” We also add an extra voice at each tempo change. We play the second part of "The Rakes of Mallow" as the song's finale. Note how the music stops when the coachman shouts “whoa horsey!”

Click on the play arrow above to listen to our version of Horsey Horsey set to Irish music for kids. Go to our Homeward Bound page where you can share our nursery rhyme with your friends and/or get it as a free MP3 download.

Lyrics for Horsey Horsey

Horsey, Horsey don’t you stop
Just let your hooves go clippity clop
Let your tail go swish and the wheels go round
Giddy up! We’re homeward bound

Classroom Ideas for Horsey Horsey

Social, Environmental and Scientific Education: Horses are majestic animals. They have been an important part of society for thousands of years. What purpose has the horse served? Transport of goods and people, working in the fields, battles, racing, etc

English: Introduce the concept of onomatopoeia. This song includes words like "swish" and "clippety clop" which both sound like their meaning. Can you think of any other onomatopoeic words?