An equine craze has overtaken Twitter / X by storm, and it seems like everyone has suddenly gotten into horse racing. Not the real horse racing with jockeys, bookies and losing money that was supposed to go to rent, though.

No, what got people obsessed is a clique of virtual colorful horses bumping around a maze like DVD-logos, racing each other to be the one to bite into a stack of carrots lying at the end. The races usually last about two minutes, and the winning horse earns a victory screen with its name on it.

So what about these races that got people so hooked that they have been making hundreds of memes, pieces of fan art and even GOAT montages for their favorite contestants?

Let's explore the explosive fandom and rapidly expanding lore of Horse Race Tests.

What Are Horse Race Tests?

Horse Race Tests, or HRT for short, are recordings of a virtual horse race competition run by Twitter / X user @snakesandrews, and it's much more engaging than it might sound at first. The core idea is quite simple: There is a maze with rooms and crannies connected by tunnels, with uneven and jagged walls lining the route.

Up to seven horses of different colors all start moving through the maze, bumping into the walls and each other, each bouncing around akin to the Bouncing DVD Logo. Their progress is slow, and often an unlucky bounce sets a horse flying in the wrong direction, causing it to lose precious time and let others take the lead.

e1m2t3 pic.twitter.com/KMLoJ58v5P

— I hate Mondays (@snakesandrews) April 19, 2025

The final goal is a stack of carrots at the end of the maze, and after bumping and bouncing around for a few minutes, one of the horses inevitably reaches it. The lucky horse is declared the winner and gets a beautiful victory screen with its name on it.

What Is The Lore Of Horse Race Tests?

What makes the races extremely engaging is the competitive element. Each race starts with a 10-second delay, during which the viewers get to predict the winner. After the first few videos were uploaded, people started picking their favorites and rooting for them, hoping that their horse would win the next race.

The budding fandom quickly got its favorites and underdogs. The Orange Horse by the name of Jovial Merryment has been winning every other race, while Pink and Cyan are yet to get just one victory.

@Cat_the_worm on X

Also, the horse's name is unknown until they win their first race, which adds more drama for fans of those horses who have yet failed to grab the carrot and are only known by their color.

After three weeks of intense competition – there's been a new race every day except Mondays – Horse Race Tests fans developed enough lore for a dedicated wiki. We'll give you the general idea of what the collective fanon has been gravitating towards:

1) Jovial Merryment (Orange Horse) is the GOAT and the main villain of Horse Race Tests. Winning over half of the races he's been in, Jovial Merryment has gained many fans who celebrate his impressive career, and as many haters who love to see him fail so that literally anyone else can be in the spotlight. There's also been some steroid accusations, but nothing has been proven … yet.

'We'll hold Jovial off!!'#horseracetests pic.twitter.com/A99wzPwWjM

— Lumpy (@LumpyTouch) April 19, 2025

2) Resolute Mind Afternoon (Red Horse) is a new face in the game. Red joined the races later than the other horses and managed to win one so far, beating Jovial Merryment and the rest for the coveted stack. She's been giving off that "young and hopeful" energy, and people totally went with that.

@K3llogs_ on X

3) White and Cyan are the underdog yuri couple of the series. Both couldn't score a single win, and @snakeandrews finally put them in a 1v1 match so at least one of them could get a taste of victory. Their doomed yuri took its first hit when White reached the carrot first, thus earning its name, Superstitional Realism, while Cyan is yet to win against another horse. Her fans are not losing hope that one day she too will be victorious.

@mewdokas on X

4) Door Knob (Brown Horse) to Horse Race Tests is what Soos is to Gravity Falls. He might not be the brightest, the fastest or the most talented, but he's got a good heart. Door Knob has no haters, and he's also the real veteran of the competition, having appeared in more races than any other horse.

@Prof_McQuack on X

There's more to be said about Downtown Skybox and his legendary wins, Bullet'n Board, currently second in wins after Jovial, and Yellow and its unlucky streak of losses that followed its memorable win in Test Race 2, but we'll leave that to Know Your Horse to cover. But before we move on, here's the name and color of each horse that appeared in the original race series:

• Orange Horse: Jovial Merryment
• Blue Horse: Bullet'n Board
• Red Horse: Resolute Mind Afternoon
• Pink Horse: Comely Material Morning
• Grey Horse: Downtown Skybox
• White: Superstitional Realism
• Brown: Door Knob
• Cyan
• Yellow

What Are Horse Race Tests Memes And Fan Art?

So people have obviously cared a lot, which means that we got all sorts of memes and fan art of every horse that has appeared in the competition so far.

Jovial Merryment has been one horse who inspired most memes so far, ranging from GOAT montages celebrating his impressive victories, to the most spiteful edits and memes painting him as a roided fraud.

@lttlebiggdrums on X

Meanwhile, each of the other horses formed a fanbase of their own, each pumping out massive amounts of fan art to support their beloved quadrupedal champions.

Many works depict interactions between two or more horses: White and Cyan are star-crossed lovers, and a recent incident of Orange and Yellow getting hot and heavy in a cranny inspired the most salacious of rumors. There's been lots of gijinkas going around, because horses, too, deserve to be cute anime girls.

@mangolord086 on X

Who Is Snakesandrews, The Person Behind Horse Race Tests?

So, who's the person who gave us this wonderful gift? Snakesandrews, real name Blake Andrews, is a game designer who also teaches game design at NYU.

Before starting Horse Race Tests, Andrews made over a hundred games, the first of which, called Breaking Bread, was released in 2013. You can find it and many more of their creations on Glorious Trainwrecks.

Are There Stats For Horse Race Tests Available?

Sure! You can find the frequently updated spreadsheet tracking every contestant's performance, curated by user @olliefug, here.

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For the full history of Horse Race Tests, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information. You can also learn more about Jovial Merryment here.

The cover image uses a photograph by @MrWonkoBonko and artworks by @ReallyHungree and @Lutraviolet on X.