"Horses" has been considered by music critics to be one of the greatest and most influential albums in recorded music history. It has been included in various lists of the best albums of the 1970s and of all time. In 2003 and 2012, the record was ranked at number 44 on "Rolling Stone"s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, later placing at number 26 on a 2020 updated list. "NME" named it the 12th greatest album of all time in a similar list published in 2013. In 2006, "Time" named "Horses" as one of the "All-"Time" 100 Albums", and "The Observer" listed it as one of 50 albums that changed music history. Three years later, the album was preserved by the Library of Congress into the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."