Trey Fanjoy, who had directed Swift's previous music videos, returned to film the "White Horse" music video for Swift. On the video's plot, Swift said the theme was infidelity. Because this was also the theme for the music video of her past single "Picture to Burn" (2008), she wanted "White Horse" to convey a different aspect of it: whereas the former stars a girl to whom someone was unfaithful to, the latter depicts a girl whom someone was unfaithful with. Swift explained the concept: "This girl falls in love with this guy and he's perfect. [...] Then, she comes to realize that he's been leading a double life. He was already in a relationship years before he ever met her."
