No "they" didn't, nobody ever said that horses were the ultimate form of transportation, and long before Ford came along the Railways were already whisking people along in greater safety and speed than horses.
I want to add to this, people actually hated horses with a passion, especially in cities. They were a transportation necessity, you couldn't move heavy goods without them ... but they would defecate absolutely everywhere and most cities weren't terribly organized in terms of cleaning up the poop. Which means they reeked of horseshit constantly. As noisy and polluting as cars were, people considered them a godsend.
