T-SQL - While Vs Cursor

Example 1:

SELECT * INTO #t1 FROM dbo.HorseBase
DECLARE @id int
DECLARE @t2 table (id int)
WHILE (exists(SELECT HorseNumber FROM #t1))
BEGIN
SELECT TOP 1 @id=HorseNumber FROM #t1
INSERT INTO @t2 SELECT HorseNumber FROM #t1 WHERE HorseNumber=@id
DELETE FROM #t1 WHERE HorseNumber=@id
END

DROP Table #t1

Example 2:

DECLARE @r int
DECLARE @number int;
DECLARE @t2 table ( [name] nvarchar(200))
SELECT ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY [Name] ) AS number,[name] INTO #nn1 FROM dbo.tbl_Entity
SELECT @number=MAX(number) FROM #nn1
SET @r=1
WHILE (@r<=@number)
BEGIN
INSERT INTO @t2 SELECT [name] FROM #nn1 WHERE number=@r
SET @r=@r+1
END

DROP TABLE #nn1