warhorse vs workhorse

warhorse

noun
  • Any horse used in horse-cavalry, but especially one bearing an armoured knight. 

  • A regularly revived theatrical or musical work, as with Hamlet or a Beethoven symphony, or as excerpts thereto. May imply that the work in question has become hackneyed. 

  • An experienced person who has been through many battles, situations or contests; someone who has given long service. 

workhorse

noun
  • A horse used primarily for manual labor; a draft horse. 

  • Anyone or anything that does a lot of work; something or someone who works consistently or regularly. 

How often have the words warhorse and workhorse occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )