Who is the most famous horse in history? The answer is the horse that Alexander the Great rode in all of his major battles. How he acquired the horse is probably the most famous Alexander anecdote. Alexander was around 12-years-old when his father, King Philip of Macedonia, took him along on a horse-buying expedition. The most magnificent horse was a big, black stallion. Philip wanted to buy the horse, but he noticed the horse was very wild. His best horsemen tried to ride him and all were thrown to the ground. Philip told the horse-seller, “Sorry, but I won’t buy a horse that no one can ride.” At this point, Alexander stepped forward and said to his father, “It’s a shame you are going to pass on a great horse, just because your men can’t handle him.” Philip, thinking it would be a good lesson for Alexander to be thrown on his butt, told his son to give it a try. But before he got on the horse, Alexander offered his father a deal. “If I ride the horse, you have to buy it for me.” Philip chuckled and agreed. Everyone at the horse-buying fair stopped to watch the show. Alexander grabbed the reins and turned the horse so he was facing the sun and then he mounted him. Alexander had noticed that the reason the horse appeared to be wild was he was afraid of his shadow. When a man would get on him, the shadow got bigger and caused the horse to buck. He did not react that way when Alexander got on him because he could not see his shadow. Alexander rode the stallion towards the Sun until he was comfortable with his rider. Alexander returned to his father at a gallop to the cheers of the crowd. Philip was proud of his son and supposedly told him, “O my son, find a kingdom equal to and worthy of thyself, for Macedonia is too little for thee.”
Alexander named the stallion Bucephalus which means “ox-head” because it had either a brand or a scar in the shape of an ox’s head on one of his thighs. He had a white star on his forehead. Alexander rode Bucephalus in his first battle. When Philip invaded Greece to conquer it, he faced a Greek army at the Battle of Chaeronea. Philip commanded his foot soldiers and he allowed his 18-year-old son to command the cavalry which was called the Companions. The decisive moment in the battle was when Alexander led the Companions in a charge that broke up the enemy formation. After his father’s death, Alexander was now king. He invaded the Persian Empire. At the Battle of Granicus, he led his cavalry across a river to assault the Persian cavalry. Bucephalus was always at the front. Alexander used his lance to kill the son-in-law of the Emperor Darius the third. He turned in his saddle to stab a noble in the chest, but that left his other side open. Just as Alexander was going to be killed by a Persian sword, his friend Cleitus severed the enemy’s arm, saving Alexander’s life. At the Battle of Issus, Alexander and Bucephalus tried to cut their way to Darius, who was in a chariot. Darius was able to escape. In his last battle with the Persians, the Companions charged through a gap in the Persian line resulting in a victory that gave Alexander control of the Persian Empire. He then headed eastward into India. At the Battle of Hydaspes, the Macedonians faced an Indian army that included war elephants. Most horses were afraid of elephants, but not Bucephalus. Alexander won the battle, but Bucephalus was old and passed away. He was 30-years-old. Alexander gave his horse a grand funeral and established a city called Bucephala.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucephalus
https://www.livius.org/sources/content/plutarch/plutarchs-alexander/alexander-and-bucephalus/
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