Ridiculous things people say about your horses

[Mondo]

“People are genuinely surprised that I still take lessons when they know I’ve been riding and competing for years.”

This is such a common occurrence that I thought I would share my standard response:

I still need lessons the way football players still need a coach. I mean, jeez, they got all the way through college, you’d think they know how to play by the time they get to the NFL, right?

One time my non-horsey uncle was visiting from out of state. When the topic of my horse came around he asked, “What kind of horse is it?” I said, “Thoroughbred.” “Yeah, but what kind of horse?” “You mean what breed?” He nodded. “He’s a Thoroughbred.”

“No, no! I mean like is he a Tennessee Walker or what?” (heavy sigh) “He’s a racehorse.” “Well, why didn’t you say so?” :sigh:

[WildLittleWren]

Some of these are absolutely hilarious! I get asked a lot why I work with problem horses or horses at all when they could kill me in an instant. Well, so do cars, but you still drive, right? And people who ask how I can stand to get so dirty and sweaty…because I enjoy horses and no, it doesn’t bother me a bit

[NoSuchPerson]

I’ve had horses in my life for 50 years. My mother still says things like, “Well, when you get rid of your horses, you’ll be able to travel more.”

More than one person, even a couple of horse people, have looked at my mule and said, “Wow, that horse has really long ears.” And then, when I say he’s a mule, they express shock and surprise that I ride him. And that he can canter, “just like a horse.”

[ChasPonyCat]

Off shoot of someone’s comment that people are like, “oh, you have horses, so you must be rich!” Well yeah, I’ve gotten that one plenty. But I’ve also had people ask for specific details of how much it costs each month to have the horse. It’s not like horses being expensive has to be secret information,but I don’t really want to break down my budget for random people either.

I get that it comes from a good place and they are just being curious/friendly, but it’s still odd to me.

[LesleyW]

From other horse people in my barn: “Wow, your mare has such unusual markings on her legs. The spots are cute!”
Sigh - they’re old cryo marks from the track, and they’re anything but cute.

[2DogsFarm]

@beowulf

SO thinks it’s amazing that horses can communicate their displeasure with how behind schedule their servants are. I think it’s funny and cute too.

@beowulf MY TB would literally snatch the flake of hay from my hands when I was (in his opinion) late with delivery.
No attempt to bite, just a clear indication that if he could he’d have gotten it himself! :mad:

For my horses:
*People always ask when my mini will get bigger. :rolleyes:

*When I had my buckskin WB & Hackney Pony - both geldings - a guy from the Iberian breeding farm down the road came riding down the road, saw them in my pasture & asked how old the “foal” was.

[paulosey]

I get a kick out of people who are astounded to hear I am still taking lessons after riding for 40 years. Don’t I know how to ride yet? I guess I am a slow learner!

[tabula_rashah]

You know how we all get asked by non-horse people if we race our horses? This is how that conversation goes with me

• Yes, but not how you’re thinking. I don’t race on a track, I do endurance racing
• What’s that?
  -It’s out on trails and can be anywhere from 25 miles to 100 miles in a day
• Oh that’s really far. Do you win?
• No I don’t go to win I just go to see if I can finish the race
• huh, why?
• My mare will go forever but she’s not very fast about it and I just want to get mileage.
• You should get a faster horse so you can win

[OTTBs]

Reading about all the entitled people who think they can invite themselves to ride your horse, I realized I experienced the opposite. My dad and I went to look at a car in a town known for having horse properties when I was about 17. It was dark out so I didn’t see the horses, but Dad said the flashlight the woman gave him smelled like horses. On the way home he said the woman had said I could come ride her horses?! Woman knew nothing about my riding ability, so odd. Must have had some dead broke horses, I guess.

[Rackonteur]

@16 Hands

I once had a boyfriend’s father argue with me that thoroughbred was not a specific breed, but meant any purebred horse because in his mind, it meant ‘thoroughly’ bred, whatever that is.

Some years ago I had a friend who was feeling really down about his age, his life, himself. He was calling himself some put-down terms, and at one point he said “I’m just an old horse.” Now, this guy was NOT a horse person. But when he said he was just an old horse, I shook my head and said, “No. You’re a Thoroughbred.” You could see him straighten his shoulders and just sort of change his whole look, standing tall even while still sitting down.

This coming from me, Rackonteur. Now, if I’d told him he was a Saddlebred, or a Standardbred, or a Walking Horse …! :lol:

[PeteyPie]

I have had several people ask me, when they learn I have Thoroughbreds, why I don’t put them in the Kentucky Derby, because you know, I could make A LOT OF MONEY. Hey, you never know!

Well, actually I do know… What I don’t know is where to start with the explanation about my aged broodmares – the youngest is 17, the oldest is 26. In their heyday the best of them were moderately successful claimers.

[Sunsets]

@shiloh

The guy that was absolutely perplexed by why I would spend money on my cat’s medical bills. This same guy owns a boat that apparently is a tub of holes that he has poured thousands upon thousands into and has not had a single enjoyable day in the thing.

.

Sometimes you have to compare horses to other expensive hobbies to make non-horsey people understand our obsessions.

When a new friend of mine, who worked as an insurance adjuster, asked how much money/month I spend on the horse and I told her, she said “Oh! Just like a boat. Super fun, but hella expensive to maintain!”

I thought about it for a second, and then said “That’s exactly right”.

And then there was my Dad, who wanted to know why I kept taking lessons since “you already know how to ride”. He didn’t truly understand the search for perfection until he took up golf. “How’s that swing progressing, Dad???”

[stejpeck]

Several years ago, one of my horses untied himself while I was in the bathroom and wandered off through the yard, across the street, and onto a neighbor’s lawn. While I was walking down my driveway to retrieve him, my neighbor wandered up leading the horse and said, “Oh, hi! I was just bringing him back over- I knew such a majestic creature shouldn’t be roaming loose!”

It was a very weird, very funny thing to say, especially since the horse in question looked as if he had been assembled from spare parts.

[sabinomare]

Once a few years ago, I was in our local feed store chain browsing their saddle pad selection, which albeit is small but still there. Lady and her daughter, a 20-something, were looking across the way at the western bits.

Lady smiles at me and asks if I have horses. I say, “yes, I have two.” She proceeds to tell me her daughter has a two year old and they’re looking for a bit for him and asked me how old mine were. I wasn’t really feeling chatty, but I thought I would indulge her and tell her that my mare was 18 and the gelding I leased was 21.

Then, she asked me if they were broke. I stared at her blankly while in my breeches and tall boots, clearly on my way to go ride, and my response was, “uh… I’d hope so, yeah, they are.”

[TheMountainsAreCalli]

“Do horses know their names?” or “Are they as smart as dogs?” are questions I get a ton. The askers are usually shocked to find out how intelligent they are, or remark incredulously as I call each horse’s name, and have them turn their head toward me in response. Where do people get the idea that horses are dumb?

[Bozilla]

When people learn I have a horse they often ask what kind of horse she is. So nice of you to ask! She’s a Saddlebred. “I don’t have any idea what that is. What does that mean?” I have wonder if they know the name of any horse breed. I just explain that there are many different horse breeds, bred for different purposes just like Golden Retrievers or Pomeranians.

When I first started lessons at age 30, my Dad asked if I did the kind of riding where you go up and down.

Most people are incredulous at the notion that you can lease a horse. I was too when I first learned about it. It’s been a great arrangement for me for 4 years now.

[Sunsets]

@rockonxox

A few months ago there was an incident with the carriage horses in a big downtown area. One of the coworkers brought it up and I said something about cars shouldn’t be honking at the horses and I’d be pissed if someone did that while I was out on a ride. She responded with “really? I shouldn’t honk at them… who knew”. A few others nodded in agreement with her and I was flabbergasted. Some actually said that they have honked and waved at the riders when they see horses because they thought it was friendly.

My 40-something friend has been riding since she was a teenager. Her mom purchased her first horse for her. You would think that Mom understood horses but…

Friend and I are schooling in her ring, and Mom is playing with Friend’s daughter in the backyard of the farmhouse. We see them approach the ring, looking kind of shifty. Friend rides over and takes a closer look - Mom and Daughter are armed with water balloons. Friend (who is riding her Very Dramatic Spooky Gelding) shouts “Seriously??? YOU WERE PLANNING ON THROWING WATER BALLOONS??? AT HORSES WITH RIDERS UP???”

Based on her reaction, I think that Mom had never really considered the likely outcome of such a stunt.

[Credosporthorses]

I had a lady argue with me that my branded zangersheid was most definitely a Clyde cross because he has socks and a wide blaze. Uhm okay lady…

[Dr_Doolittle]

@Sunsets

My 40-something friend has been riding since she was a teenager. Her mom purchased her first horse for her. You would think that Mom understood horses but…

Friend and I are schooling in her ring, and Mom is playing with Friend’s daughter in the backyard of the farmhouse. We see them approach the ring, looking kind of shifty. Friend rides over and takes a closer look - Mom and Daughter are armed with water balloons. Friend (who is riding her Very Dramatic Spooky Gelding) shouts “Seriously??? YOU WERE PLANNING ON THROWING WATER BALLOONS??? AT HORSES WITH RIDERS UP???”

Based on her reaction, I think that Mom had never really considered the likely outcome of such a stunt.

:eek:

What the serious f*ck!!! Exactly HOW completely devoid of common sense ARE people? Um, with all due respect to your mom, who clearly didn’t know better…

Still.

My non-horsey DH (who has become much more horse savvy and experienced after 26 years with me, and owning and having to learn to handle several horses – against his will!) says that “clearly if you do these sort of things around prey animals, they will react to it in some unpredictable way out of fright, potentially putting the rider in a dangerous spot.”

He would know not to do this even before he was experienced with horses, I just don’t know what people are thinking, sometimes.

I guess because of TV and watching westerns (where the horses are basically “vehicles”), they assume horses are just machines, and don’t react to anything?

Oy vey