Stop it with the "heart horse" thing. No, really. Stop it.

[french_fry]

I can’t even articulate how many face palms the phrase “heart horse” inspires in me. Particularly since it’s almost always used to imbue extra emphasis on the specialness of your situation or lend credence to a terrible decision, i.e. “I’m eating cat food and racking up credit card debt to pay for my heart horse, but it’s all worth it because (rainbow sparkly heart emojis) HEART HORSE.” Or, “My trainer said he’s going to kill me one day but I won’t give up on him because (insert Black Stallion fantasy emoji here) HE’S MY HEART HORSE.”

“Well, that (terrible decision I made) was different because he was my heart horse.”

Just stop it. We humans have a pretty unlimited capacity for love. There will be another one and you will love him/her. Otherwise, what’s the point of being in horses at all?

Mean old hag of COTH, over and out!

[LSMarnell]

Sorry, I totally disagree with you & will continue to use the term. I have had 6 horses. ONE was my “heart horse.”

My current horse is over-the-moon-amazing, but he isn’t even in the same league as my “heart horse.”

[CrowneDragon]

I admit that when I hear this phrase I think “I have X horses but I really only love that one.”
Maybe I just don’t “get it”.

[soloudinhere]

I don’t get it either, and I certainly don’t get making stupid financial/life decisions over said horse.

[chism]

You know. I am the antithesis of a sentimental or touchy feely person (ask my friends, lol), but I totally get the 'heart horse" thing on a certain level. I’ve had probably a dozen horses in my lifetime, and I loved them all (some more than others certainly, and actually one was a prick and I didn’t love him at all), but there is one who I connect with on some level that’s different than the others. He’s not the most attractive or talented, or expensive…and he’s been a disappointment as a riding horse, but he and I just click in an emotional way that’s different than the the others. That would in no way change the care he receives versus the others. For me…it’s sort of like a relationship with children… you love them all equally, but some are just easier than others and more in tune with your own personality.

FWIW…I don’t agree with making stupid emotional decisions at all.

[Ambitious_Kate]

French fry, I’m with you on this. Its a self indulgent phrase, used to justify self indulgent behaviour, usually. Just thought I’d say I agree.

[red_mares]

Ranks right up there with “Oh, But it’s my passion” which is also usually used to justify self indulgence at the expense of others.

[JFJ]

I get it, I’ve had horses that I really felt I had a strong bond with. However, what I don’t like, is seeing people talking about getting rid of their “heart horse” because they are no longer rideable. Granted, I have my own farm and I can keep a lame one AND another one to ride. But I also gladly took in one of my favorite show horses ( from when i worked as a groom) when he was lame and ready to retire. I didn’t care if I never got to ride him again, I loved him and wanted to give him a home for ever. There is more to loving a horse then just riding.

[HungarianHippo]

Amen.
I was sick of it already but decided I had enough when a COTHer described a yearling that she had just met as her heart horse. And therefore just HAD to buy it despite not being prepared from a training expertise or safe stabling standpoint. Upon hearing that pavlovian Heart Horse signal, legions of COTHers nodded and smilied and encouraged. As I said at the time, with inflation what it is, and given my need to identify my love for my horse as more special than yours, I am the owner of a Central Nervous System horse.

[Laurierace]

I feel sorry for those of you who have never had one. I have been blessed to have two in my lifetime. No need to be bitter just because you are sitting on the outside however, there is still hope for you.

[Frivian]

Lol, maybe I’ve never had a heart horse, but I don’t get it. I love my horse. I want to own him for his whole life. I have had other horses. He’s my favorite one out of all the ones I’ve ridden… but “heart horse”? I don’t even know what that means.

[Alagirl]

I ca deal with ‘heart horse’ as long as it’s not coupled with stupid.
Stupid of the human, not the horse.

But yeah, and seriously, if you can still afford cat food, you are still upidy! Ramen, and only Ramen…and Salvation Army rejects for clothing…

The ‘Forever Home’ kind of curls my toenails though…especially when listed as requirement in the giveaway section…:no::no:

[NoSuchPerson]

[QUOTE=Ambitious Kate;7764276]
French fry, I’m with you on this. Its a self indulgent phrase, used to justify self indulgent behaviour, usually. Just thought I’d say I agree.[/QUOTE]

Just chiming in with another “I agree.”

[mortgagemyhorse]

WTF is a heart horse? A horse you love more than the others? Like a heart boyfriend?

[french_fry]

[QUOTE=Laurierace;7764310]
I feel sorry for those of you who have never had one. I have been blessed to have two in my lifetime. No need to be bitter just because you are sitting on the outside however, there is still hope for you.[/QUOTE]

You’ve gotten straight to the heart (pun! it’s funny because I don’t have one!) of it. I am a cardboard shell of a human with no emotional capacity just because I don’t claim to have had a unique, speshul bond with a one-in-a-million heart horse.

On the contrary, I actually feel sad for people who truly believe they will only be able to love one horse as much as their “heart horse.” I feel confused and sad for people who think horses experience the human definition of love in return.

[CrowneDragon]

[QUOTE=Laurierace;7764310]
I feel sorry for those of you who have never had one. I have been blessed to have two in my lifetime. No need to be bitter just because you are sitting on the outside however, there is still hope for you.[/QUOTE]

Good to hear there is hope for me yet. I’ll keep killing time with my current herd in the mean time.

[Mike_Matson]

Based on the topic and emotional tone, I’d say this thread is going places.

[Appsolute]

I am not a “warm fuzzy” person, and I don’t make stupid financial decisions surrounding my animals - even the ones that are very special to me.

You see, I have had horses for 29 years now. Have owned a number, leased others, ridden many.

I smitten with my current horse - raised her from a foal, she is my “dream horse” if you will.

But - I had a heart horse. An OTTB named Gage. I owned him from 1992 to 2001. I still feel differently about that horse than I have about the others that came before, and after him. We clicked on a very deep level, and I had a lot of adventures with him.

In August 2001 he slipped in turn out - and shattered his long and short pastern bones. I called the vet immediately, and explained that they needed to come euthanize him. Vet examined him, we briefly discussed “options” including costly surgery. I was a cash strapped college kid at the time - and knew going into that much debt was not an option.

Even for my Heart Horse.

Its been many years, so I can talk about it calmly now - but it really tore something from me to lose that horse. I have put other pets and horses down - but nothing has hurt like losing Gage.

[lachelle]

For me, the term “heart horse” could be compared to a soul mate in a person.

You can date plenty of guys, but when you’re with the one, you know he’s the one. Maybe that’s a little cliche/unrealistic way of viewing things, but that’s how I see it. I think it’s possible, and fairly normal to feel that way about an animal too. My last horse was a really cool guy, and I loved him. I loved all the horses I’d ridden/leased/worked with up until that point. But my “resale project” that I bought 3 years ago is just on a totally different level than any other animal I’ve worked with. I’ve never used the phrase “heart horse” but I have used the phrase “horse soulmate” which I guess is the same thing.

Not saying that your “heart horse” is any reason to make yourself or your family go without basic wants/needs…just saying I understand the term and why people use it.

And I think it more-so applies to people who cannot afford a string of horses, and so they are limited to owning one horse at a time. I think if I had multiple horses who were all as well behaved and pleasant to deal with as my current horse, maybe I wouldn’t feel so connected to him?

[french_fry]

Slight tangent: I don’t believe in soulmates either so this one is going over my head, sorry!

It all just seems very limiting. I love my SO and can’t imagine my life without him but in the event that something does happen to him and I would have to carry on without him, it is statistically likely that I would find someone else. It is even more statistically likely that he would find someone else if something happened to me!

I don’t want my SO to be miserable and pine for me for the rest of his life if something happens to me. That’s just such a bizarre line of thinking in my world.

In the same vein, I can’t imagine being like, “Welp. That was it. I will never love another horse the way I loved my heart horse. I guess it’s all downhill from here!”

/unpopular opinion