sentence.
Weird flex but okay?
Iāve had barn favorites before, really the only concern is people giving too many treats. All the extra eyes on her is a good thing.
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I second this.
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I have my own stable of four in my backyard. The barn favorite is my primary horse, huge personality, absolute joy to work with and ride. But the other barn favorite has been my go-to horse for almost 20 years --he is a stoic gentleman who will do exactly as asked. He also has beautiful brown eyes and knows how to work the room. And then thereās the third barn favorite --a gorgeous dark bay sent down from my DD training program --heās not well right now, but is the ideal patient --good about meds, always calm and willing to accept pokes and prods. Finally there is the last barn favorite --a pleasant dun who carried my granddaughter to many ribbons in her 4-H career. Heās a sweet horse ā
Lots of barn favorites.
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When my mother was ill, Iād take the 3 hour drive down to my sisterās (who Mom lived with) and spend the weekend at least every other weekend.
Iād leave a note on the barn blackboard with her phone number saying āIāll be down there this weekend, if anything happens to me, hereās the phone numberā so my horse wouldnāt be abandoned.
I came back and saw additions to my note
if something happens, Iāll take Crossbow (my horse) (signed) Cheryl
if something happens to Cheryl, Iāll take Crossbow (signed) Deb
if something happens to Deb, Iāll take Crossbow
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Depends what you mean by the barn favorite.
If itās āthis horse is such a good egg, never gives the barn staff any trouble, a pleasure to ride with the owner in the ring, pleasure to ride when the owner is away, no trouble to other horses in the field/vet/farrier, liked by barn owner and other boarders,ā yes.
If itās ālittle kids hang on horseās leg in stall/when owner is grooming, kids give a million treats/fantasize about horse being theirs,ā mildly annoying.
If itās āgossipy boarders, trainer, and barn owner constantly talk about how horse is too good for the owner or says owner doesnāt manage horse as the horse deserves,ā absolutely not.
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Like @Foxglove , my Faves live at home.
They each have qualities that earn them the 
*Hackney Pony has no job except acting as 2nd in Command to the Walker. Before that he was companion to my WB.
But he was the first equine I ever had I could look straight in the eye (@ 13h) & his brain never stops working - I can see wheels turning & sometimes smell the smoke.
*TWH was a gift from a friend when I lost my WB. Sheād ārescuedā him, bought from an Asshat whoād had him on the MI Shore-to-Shore ride, underweight & saddle-galled. Then used him for horsecamping & trails for 6yrs.
He has a sweet nature & though a mild challenge to ride in a Dressage lesson (his 2Ā¢ says Too.Much.WORK!) on trails heās a SteadyEddy.
*VSE was my OldLady Folly. Bought as a 2yo after a dozen or so Driving lessons some 10yrs in my past. Amish Bootcamp sent me back a safe Driver with a motor. We both love Cones & he easily keeps up with the horseās on Carriage Club drives. 18h worth of personality in a 34" body.
Theyāre ALL my favorites for different reasons.
Anyone visiting is magnetically drawn to the mini. The Cute Factor is overwhelming, to both the non-horsy & horsepeeps.
But the Walker & pony have fans too.
Non-horsey neighbor visiting her Bestie for his Bday:
Surrounded by Cityfolk (Iād had him about 2mos):
Looking to The Boss for orders:
My former vet meeting the mini:
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My horse was the barn workers favorite. Unfortunately it lead to her riding him to turnout leading other horses with all of them only in a halter. I was livid when I found out after the fact.
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Interesting. Thinking about this it could only ever even be a thing in a barn where all the horses were under full board, or where most are owned by the same lease/lesson program
My barn is self board, and everyone loves their own horse to the extent they donāt have favorites among other peopleās horses.
Barn favorite to me would suggest ground manners or gregariousness or so old and cute they were a barn mascot. Nothing about riding.
It would be very annoying to buy or lease a horse that multiple small lesson girls were so emotionally invested in that they became intrusive or resentful. But if ābarn favoriteā just recognizes that my horse takes apples without biting off your hand, loves attention, smiles on command, and wonāt kill herself in crossties, that seems ok
If random barn people are interfering with your horse in ways that are counterproductive to your management like feeding treats you donāt want or engaging with her inappropriately you can and should certainly shut that down fast.
Often the newest, youngest or smallest horse will attract more attention for a while.
Honestly to me itās a meaningless phrase and my eyes glass over when I see it in ads. For OTTB I take it was code for āwonāt actually kill you on the groundā but otherwise itās up there with ācurb appealā and āiconicā as meaningless sales phrases
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I have a barn favorite (I wouldnāt say the favorite) and he says this is not a problem you should worry about. 
Mine is a favorite because he has a huge personality- heās very social and expressive- and he has excellent manners. The barn staff like him because heās easy to be around and very rarely makes himself a pain in the ass. Kids love him because he will eat funny things, do funny things, and let them hang off the side of him. Their parents love him because heās safe- I didnāt do this on purpose, but a 4-year-old led him out to turnout this week, by himself, with me looking back over my shoulder and saying āmake sure that lead rope is off the ground!ā a few times. (I was originally leading my horse with the kidās help, but the other horse headed to the field was acting feral and I needed to take that one from his person before someone got hurt. I donāt usually abandon small children to 1200lb animals.)
I thank my lucky stars that he is so safe, but it does make me a little nervous sometimes. Most people donāt go messing around with other peopleās horses, and our short stirrup and younger students donāt really handle him without somebodyās supervision, but it does make me worry that because everyone is so used to him being childproof, they let their guard down and someone will get hurt.
Other than that, Iām grateful that the barn staff like him so much. He likes the attention, and of course I think he should be everyoneās favorite. But it keeps more eyes on him, and since heās a gentleman of a certain age, I deeply appreciate it.
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Never have a favourite anything.
That will be the one injured or dies. 
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I had a barn favorite - cutey pattootie appendix mare whose stall was right at the cross tie area and had a hang your head out window so multiple little girls were giving her treats to the point I had to post a sign of no hand fed treats. But like SuzieQ said she was the one who became so unsound within a year of ownership that I had to put her down. I miss her.
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Iām at a combo barn. Although I donāt think sheās everyoneās favourite because sheās always going to come second to other ownerās own horses, sheās a Very Solid Second Place because of her giant personality and her ability to take as many candies as anyone can stuff into her gob without becoming a menace. Itās also 100% impossible to not see her giant personality. Ignoring her communications is impossible.
āSheās not a horse. Sheās a big dog.ā is something Iāve heard from multiple people. A very large, very well behaved, very cuddly dog who knows how to get everything it wants without putting a single paw across the line.
That said, sheās probably not the BOās favourite. Despite giving regular cuddles and gossip sessions and being easy to handle 99% of the time, she has her annoying quirks.
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Thankfully havenāt had to deal with lesson kids yet. Itās like 90% your first point and 10% my previous trainer insinuating heavily how much she would want my horse for herself, other people making remarks about buying her if I decide to sell, etc. Itās a very very small thing but just makes me mildly uncomfortable! Iāve said some iteration of, āsheās dying with me whether thatās tomorrow or 30 years from now but thank youā several times now.
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I donāt think I have the favorite or a favorite, but I have the cute Fjord who is easy to deal with. I know my barn owner appreciates that. I might post a picture I have with the neighbor kids playing with her; she is easy to deal with and I know that people appreciate that.
Ah. Your real question is not about a horse being a barn favorite in the sense we usually understand that.
Your question is really about how to.deflect toxic undermining questions from your former trainer (former for good reasons I expect,).
As for random barn people, Iāve certainly heard people say āI want to buy that horseā as a compliment of admiration and perhaps envy who have absolutely no intention or cash to buy the horse.
I donāt see why this would make you insecure about ownership or your own ability, any more than if people were saying āI really want your bag/ shoes/ hair.ā Just be genuinely proud you have a nice horse and take it as a compliment.
As for your former trainer, if these comments are part of a larger program of subtly undermining your confidence now that youāve moved on, thatās kind of par for the course and you need some tactics for disengaging. Lots of trainers get toxic after you move on from them.
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I bought a horse the trainer had brought in on trial for me, as well as on trial for others to ride during the trial period so we could see how she did with other people too.
After I bought her, people loved her so much they apparently still found ways to ride her when I wasnāt there. So, I had to move her home - she was too much āthe favorite.ā
So yeah - I agree with this:
When you donāt trust the barn/trainer, it might not be good to have āthe favorite.ā
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I donāt know to much about having the barn favorite. I am only familiar with boarding with and showing against the barn favorite.
I had a barn favorite who received the nicest compliment from the barn owner āif he were a man, Iād marry him!ā
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I bought a beautiful young Morgan stallion and trained him. Then had him gelded and moved to Golden Gate Park Stables. They had lessons all day long every day except Monday. And all those little girls after school and weekends came-with parents.
Our privately owned horses were stalled in a square surrounding the open air riding ring and the school horses were along the outside (for some unknown odd reason)ā¦
Anyway, early on i noticed that there was a ācoffee-clutchā that no longer sat at the picnic tables, but were in front of my horseās stall! The mothers all were just smitten with my beautiful black morgan gelding. Heād won them over. Now, he was young AND a Morganā¦ with just a beautiful beautiful look to him. He was sexy too. Would snuggle up his head close and blmmm-hmmmp deep in his chest at you. One of the mothers told me she had a dream about him. LOL. When i would arrive and move him out of his stall to groom and tack upā¦(over by the picnic tablesānear the tack room) they would follow me over. THeyād even brush him i i let them. One lady bought him a wool show sheet- black with turquoise trim and lettering with his name, Flight , embroidered on it for Christmas one year. He was a barn favorite.
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