Along with the blank stare response, you could also ask them if it was a joke. And if they say yes, ask them to explain it to you. “I don’t understand, could you please explain?”
Most people will balk at having to spell out why something inappropriate is funny to them and your point will be made.
I get a lot of this. I ride horses and I have a tongue piercing so they assume I’m good at everything lol. I find it best to not engage but I also have a pretty thick skin so the comments don’t really bother me.
Oh man, the response depends on the situation. If I’m in a group and someone kind of randomly makes that comment, I may make a face and not respond and the conversation moves on. If I’m in a situation where “locker room talk” is the norm and among peers, I will generally respond that they will never find out how horse riding translates/“wouldn’t you like to know? You won’t”
I did have a situation where an otherwise good friend kept making comments and I started with my usual brush offs but I found I was increasingly not wanting to talk to him so I finally stated that horses are hard work and making those comments made me feel my hard work was dimiinished and that he thought of me more as an object and not a person who works are to achieve goals. That made him think - realize exactly what he was saying and he stopped.
For some people, the comment is because they are attempting to flirt, for others it is a way to look “big” infront of the guys. For some people because THEY think something is a certain, they feel other people feel the same way. That’s similar to some people not understanding why someone would want a boat instead of a horse…or if someone spends so much time on their own yard they must love gardening and want to do the same with the neighbors yard.
I have two options -
Jesus!
Thank you all! I love all the comments and the solidarity and I am drawing strength from this. Still on the fence re: HR but now feel stronger in pointing out the inappropriate behavior. I had said “not going down that road” more than once but message wasn’t taken. Maybe because in COVID era we can’t give a pointed look?
I have been sexually assaulted, I have been sexually harassed, and I have been raped. But I somehow can’t quite find my voice. I just tend to put head in sand. It helps to hear all you gals (and guys) weigh in. I don’t know this person is a true threat, but I do know I need to figure out a way to put a stop to it. Thanks to all of you
I love number 1. Points out how shameful such remarks should be.
Or jackasses.
that was exactly my thought.
I was that child. I was a very introverted and relatively mousy girl through school, so I just sat in humiliated silence while I was taunted, “ohhh thejenners looooooves horses, she wants to beeeee a horse, she wants to maaaaaarry a horse.” I knew that there was nothing an adult could do to stop it, my idiot mother’s response was just “boys teasing you means they like you.” 
When I hear an inappropriate comment, I usually say “did you know you said that out loud??” in a horrified/shocked/that special tone that I seem to have only heard from Southern women that is equal parts social horror at a fashion faux pas and high class snobbery, ex “my word did you see that So-n-So was wearing WHITE shoes AFTER Labor Day, my heavens.” Pointedly. Like you are embarrassed for them regarding their social slip up.
But I’ve yet to have to use it for myself, generally just to quash gossip at work that I happen to overhear. As an adult, I have never experienced what I experienced in school in regards to implying riding horses equals sexual prowess or fetishes. The fact that some of posters are unable to go through with the implication in these words is fascinating and perplexing to me though. We are adults. We should be able to use words like penis and sex without substituting words. Shrouding them in “you knows” is probably part of the issue. Using plain language can turn away a lot of these harassing comments from men (and apparently unhinged aunties, yikes) and gives the power back to you. Being embarrassed about penises or sex gives the power to the harasser.
I didn’t state it in plain detail just because it’s my impression this is a more conservative board. I have no problem being frank. 
I’m sorry you had to field that growing up, just like I am for this girl now. I really didn’t know what to say to her, except that it’s NOT “those boys just like you.” All I could really say was, if that imagery was crossing their mind, it says a lot more about them than it does about equestrians. If nothing else at least they’re outing themselves as walking red flags nice and early!
I did once explain, in clinical detail, how female anatomy and saddle design, both hunt seat and western, made sexual pleasure while riding highly unlikely if not impossible, while managing to imply that cluelessness about female anatomy was not an attractive quality.
That was fun.
But I don’t think I’d risk that technique in the workplace in the current environment; it might be viewed as encouraging the inappropriate conversation.
If this is at work, the blank, deadpan response is probably best for you. Do not engage, at all.
But, if this has happened more than once by the same person - I would definitely tell HR and/or your supervisor. While the person might pretend that they are joking, they know it is sexual harassment. It’s impossible to be in the workforce in 2021 and not know that.
My response:
I’ve heard the comments since I was a teen. I never responded to them with anything else. As I got older, the second one seems more appropriate. The funny thing is that in my 20s, they came from men that thought they were being clever. Some were even testing to see if I was interested in them. Simply ignoring them, made them try a different approach. If I did end up dating them, they would inevitably meet my horse and realize how stupid they were for their odd comment. Older men require the second response and get appropriately embarrassed. Dirty old men just cackle in response, but, whatever. I don’t have the energy to retrain them all.
One funny story, which shows how clueless and innocent I was in college…
I boarded my horse in a Virginia suburb and went to college in DC, where parking was nightmare, so I parked outside of the city. I only saw my horse on the weekends (pasture board with someone checking on her daily). Until I had a spot to keep my saddle and bridle, I had to carry them on the Metro to where I parked my truck. I got some serious smirks on the Metro, but the worst comments were from the parents of a friend in the dorm! They saw me on the elevator and threw a barrage of questions at my friend. She laughed so hard that it embarrassed them and then told me later. I appreciated her stoic defense of my character. It had never occurred to me that I would get such weird reactions, but, city folks, I guess.
Well, if that clueless person is male you could respond with “I ride geldings only.”
You might have to explain what a gelding is to them.
In detail. Perhaps with illustrations.
Maybe copy pictures from a veterinary textbook, step by step.
Or describe the last gelding operation you saw, and tell them how it can make an badly behaving stallion into a MUCH better riding horse.
Dang, I never thought about how widespread this is. Maybe we should all have a picture of an emasculator on our phones and whip it out whenever we get a stupid comment along with something like, “The horses I ride have had this done to them. It makes them more cooperative.”
Isn’t there a joke saying that says ‘save a cowboy, ride a horse’? Or does it go the other way around?
I know I have seen it on the back window of a truck and on a T-shirt ad on Facebook I think.
So, if there is a t-shirt and window decals I would say the thought is pretty wide spread.
LOL, yes, it goes the other way around: save a horse, ride a cowboy.
Big & Rich, Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy:
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