When I was a teen and rode my feral pinto pony in the suburbs I loved all the little children who would run out saying can I pat your horse she’s so beautiful is she an Arab?
Pony was the polar opposite of an Arab on every aspect you could define but she loved the attention and would halt as soon as she saw a child on a lawn.
My daughter half leases a horse but we are still fairly new to horses.
Our niece needed to stay with us the other day and came out to the barn with my husband to visit while my daughter was doing a free ride. Daughter (11 yo) was just riding/playing around outside with her horse about to go on a trail ride when they pulled up. This was a time when no lessons were going on so the barn was pretty inactive, a nice casual evening.
Niece walks with us on the trail for a little bit and asks “so do you you guys have a membership here or something?”.
I thought it was pretty cute- Im sure it was confusing why my daughter was just hanging out with her horse and not in a lesson or working in the ring. Most people of course have no idea you can lease a horse.
Funny. 
When I would take my gray OTTB mare to trail rides, more than once I had people say something like, "I like your Ap (Appaloosa). And another rider commented on my appaloosa. ?? I completely didn’t get it. She was a 16.1 typical-looking gray TB mare. I have an Ap/Trak now and they looked nothing alike.
My farrier could never get it through his head that Alex is a TB, not a QH. I finally had to bring out the JC papers and remind him that a few years ago, almost every horse that ran the Kentucky Derby was distantly related to him (via Native Dancer).
And of course, the old standby: “You have horses? Wow. You must be rich!” Yup. They eat air and poop money, don’t you know.
When I show pictures of the horse I’m riding to people they always comment on how big he is. He does have a rather large (and beautiful) face and is 17.3h. Sometimes it is followed up with “so is he a Clydesdale?”. I hate bursting their bubble, but he is definitely not that one breed that everyone who isn’t horsey knows.
I have to say the BEST was my interview for my new job (well been here 6 months so considering how long I spent at my last job 6mo is new). During one of the one-on-one interviews the interviewer said “so I heard you like horses” and I said yes and he said “my friend, uhm, does that… dray-saj-ee thing with the prancing horses”. I just politely nodded and said sometimes I compete in that too and stifled a bad case of the giggles.
I had a solid black percheron I rode dressage with and even horse folk would ask “is he a clydesdale?”. For a lot of non-draft savvy folk, all drafts are clydes. I blame Budweiser. We need booze that use other breeds for advertisements.
Being asked if I race my horses. That was back when I did have an off the track Thoroughbred. I said that i have a horse who used to race but is now retired from that. They asked why I kept a horse who couldn’t race.
People thinking that I must own a farm because I own a horse. I wish it was true.
Being openly laughed at for riding a Highland Pony.
Being asked if my Standardbred is a Clydesdale cross. Can’t blame Budweiser for that. There are a lot of Clydesdale crosses in Australia.
I like when people see a jumping pic and ask how you got the horse to stay up there for the pic. Happened to me twice. :yes::lol:
My coworker saying she didn’t realize horses could have personalities.
I was at a barrel race years ago and this woman I didn’t know came up to me and told me that she loved my horse and she fed her every day! I told her that I didn’t appreciate her feeding my horse without permission, and what in the heck had she been feeding her anyway? She then proceeded to tell me that we were neighbors, and that she had walked over to the show grounds to watch the barrel race, and why hadn’t I just ridden my horse over instead of trailering her? Totally ignoring the feeding question. By then I had figured out that she was a kook. I lived 50 miles away…
She kept jabbering on and wouldn’t leave me alone and I heard quite a bit about her life. On the way home, I passed the house where she told me she lived, and there was an elderly brown horse in the pasture next door. My mare was a very loud colored paint.
Lol, that’s a new one!
The funniest things about my horses I usually hear on this board … in reality people around me usually are very normal but here somebody suggested that I should rehome my sound, well performing 3rd level showhorses for free :). I still wonder whether she planned to be the first one in line to take them out of my hands 
Someone today just asked me, those are horses, do you ride them?
I answered yes, we train them and use them working cattle …
Before I could finish, he said do you need to train horses, don’t they just know what to do?
What do you answer to that, but yes, we train them so they know what to do.
“He’s big.” Seriously, every single person (horsey and not) who meets my horse says this every single time. Thank you Captain Obvious, I hadn’t noticed!
My step dad came in from the barn one day and told me I “better go out and check the barn because the horses were barking…”
I’ve heard this a lot. Some form of “wow, I didn’t realize they’d have individual personalities like dogs!”. I blame the fact that most of these people’s exposure to horses has probably been pony rides and nose to tail type “trail rides”, if that. You should really see how their minds explode when you talk about cows’ personalities. It was a huge culture shock for me to move away from a farming and ranching community and realize how little most people know about horses, livestock, and farming/ranching in general.
My cousin: We’d really love to bring the girls [his spawn] to ride your horse. [Wife] and I told them they can have riding lessons.
Me: If you’d like to come meet her you guys are welcome anytime, but [demuring] she’s a little too feisty for kid lessons and she’s currently laid up with a tendon injury so riding won’t be on offer.
Cousin: Why would you keep a horse like that around?
Me: [sigh]
Me: I’ve got a riding lesson that Thursday, so I might be a little late picking you up from the airport.
My dad: You take riding lessons? You’ve been riding for a couple of decades. Why do you need riding lessons? Is your horse that crazy?
Me: [sigh]
My horse: [Calling down the aisle to me after hearing my car pull up and my footsteps starting down the aisle.]
Non-horsey friend: I think your horse might know you’re here. Can horses tell people apart?
My uncle: Ever taken your horse to a rodeo?
Me: She’s taken me a few times…
New saddle fitter: [Looking over my little off-breed dressage mare’s conformation] German riding pony, right? You don’t tend to see those around here much.
Me: Ha. I like you.
Ask and you shall receive. This winery has a “Percheron” pinot noir.:
http://illahevineyards.com/
Also has a wine that is delivered by a mule-drawn stagecoach. Gotta love Portland.
I hear this one a lot, too!
My one coworker loved hearing stories about my herd, but she was mindblown at the idea of them having personalities. She even had to come see for herself if their personalities were real. She grew up riding and currently owns dogs, so I never understood why the idea of animals having personalities was so new to her!
I’ve been asked how many pony carnivals my pony has been to? Why is he so round? Why doesn’t he grow bigger? Did I stop feeding him, as he has a pile of hay in front of him? Can he fit in my car? Why are his ears so little?
My personal favorite is when I hadn’t saddle broke him yet, just driving and parents kept asking if they could sit their precious child on his back, just for a minute. They didn’t want to put their kid on the 17 hands gentle giant but were trying to use the pony that only drives. We had open house and had my pony doing cart rides and the other horse doing horse rides. People are insane.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
