An experienced veteran; also, a reliably popular attraction. This term originated in the mid-seventeenth century, when it literally meant a battle-scarred military charger. By the nineteenth century it had been transferred to experienced officers, such as the Confederate General James Longstreet, who was nicknamed the War Horse, as well as to veterans of political and other struggles. Using the second meaning, in 1990 a New York Times music critic wrote, “The first half of the orchestral program consisted of warhorses.”