“The ridiculous story about the “red horse,” and “the black horse,” and “the white horse,” and a lot of trash that has been circulated about and printed and sent around as a great revelation given by the Prophet Joseph Smith, is a matter that was gotten up, I understand, some ten years after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, by two of our brethren who put together some broken sentences from the Prophet that they may have heard him utter from time to time, and formulated this so called revelation out of it, and it was never spoken by the prophet in the manner in which they have put it forth. It is simply false; that is all there is to it.” — Joseph F. Smith¹

The White Horse Prophecy, often attributed to Joseph Smith and reportedly recorded by Edwin Rushton in 1843, is a controversial document with mixed credibility. It claims that the United States Constitution would hang by a thread and that the Latter-day Saints, symbolized by a "white horse," would rise to protect it. While the idea that the Constitution might face a crisis is supported by other reliable sources and aligns with Joseph Smith’s teachings, as echoed by Brigham Young, much of the prophecy is considered dubious. The prediction that the Latter-day Saints would gather in the Rocky Mountains is consistent with Joseph Smith’s known prophecies and historical events, lending some credibility to this aspect of the prophecy.

However, other elements of the prophecy are likely later interpolations. The use of different horses to symbolize various groups, such as the pale horse representing the United States, is not found in Joseph Smith’s other teachings and appears to be a later addition or misinterpretation. Additionally, the detailed apocalyptic predictions, such as England and France uniting against Russia, lack support from other historical or scriptural sources and are likely fabrications added after Joseph Smith’s time. The prophecy was publicly denounced by church leaders, including Joseph F. Smith in 1918, and modern research suggests it was likely written after 1890, long after Joseph Smith’s death. This casts significant doubt on the prophecy’s authenticity, indicating several elements reflect later embellishments rather than original teachings from Joseph Smith.²

1. Joseph F. Smith, Conference Report, 57-58, archive.org

2. Don L. Penrod, “Edwin Rushton as the Source of the White Horse Prophecy,” BYU Studies 49, no. 3 (2010)