I personally find my life a lot more pleasant when I spend less time getting worked up over frivolous things.
Then again, everyone is different I suppose. If that’s what makes you happy…
Anyhow, this wasn’t a discussion along the lines of “I personally do not use/like this term because of x, y, and z (eg: people using the term to justify poor decision making)”
It was “Stop it, no really stop it, because some people use the term to justify poor decision making.”
Perhaps you should focus on motorcycles, automobiles as they are completely replaceable as is your SO apparently.
I would say God help people like you’ But you are so self- absorbed you think you already are God.
Your SO despite whatever flaws he may have deserves better.
Perhaps you should focus on motorcycles, automobiles as they are completely replaceable as is your SO apparently.
I would say ‘God help people like you’ But you are so self- absorbed you think you already are God.
Your SO despite whatever flaws he may have deserves better.
[QUOTE=sascha;7764752]
I think those of us that don’t “get it” actually get it and the term just rubs us the wrong way, like being dragged through a thorny hedge backwards … wearing a sheer Velcro suit. :lol:[/QUOTE]
Why? Because she finds the term corny? I think it’s too cutesy-wootsy as well. I get the idea, though - I have a dog who probably fits the concept as it’s used here.
And yeah, I get after my husband about calling himself “Daddy” and me “Mama” when he talks to our dogs. We don’t have children, and we do refer to the 2 canines as “baby dogs” when we talk to them. But “furkid” and “furbaby” are nausea inducing.
[QUOTE=Rosem;7765027]
Perhaps you should focus on motorcycles, automobiles as they are completely replaceable as is your SO apparently.
I would say ‘God help people like you’ But you are so self- absorbed you think you already are God.
Your SO despite whatever flaws he may have deserves better.[/QUOTE]
You actually cherry picked my quote to remove the part where I said I would want my SO to remarry if something happened to me just so you could tell me I have a God complex! (And that my SO should leave me, of course.)
I knew I was starting a contentious thread but :lol: :lol: :lol:
There are not enough LOL emojis in the world.
[QUOTE=Mara;7765030]
Why? Because she finds the term corny? I think it’s too cutesy-wootsy as well. I get the idea, though - I have a dog who probably fits the concept as it’s used here.
And yeah, I get after my husband about calling himself “Daddy” and me “Mama” when he talks to our dogs. We don’t have children, and we do refer to the 2 canines as “baby dogs” when we talk to them. But “furkid” and “furbaby” are nausea inducing.[/QUOTE]
Uh, I believe she would chose the term vs. the thorny hedge as she alleges and would like to help show her the error of her thinking. If we are getting pissy over semantics I say put your money where your mouth is so to speak.
Whu? I didn’t say I’d choose. I said hearing the term is like being dragged through a hedge backwards. That’s not a choice I’d make voluntarily. If I HAD to choose, I’d choose the expression and then stab myself in the ears.
Please, can somebody laugh now? This is a ridiculous and kind of hilarious topic.
Well if nothing else, it was a good distraction for an otherwise fairly dull day!
I kinda think the OP was trying to amuse. Heart horse, hon-ey, sea kittens, that sort of thing. We all know there are critters we love and then some that we super, super love.
As for the comment about “Your baby” at the vet’s office; we had a vet at our office who always called an owner’s pet “This kid” when talking to them about the animal’s condition. As in “What we are going to do for this kid is take that tampon out of his stomach.”
He said it that way so he didn’t make a gender mistakes when explaining. Loved that DVM!
[QUOTE=Alagirl;7764908]
Gonna rip me a new one while you are at it, because I HATE the term ‘pet parent’?![/QUOTE]
Never ripped OP one, never heard the term pet parent. Shrug. Get your panties twisted up all you want.
[QUOTE=Rosem;7765027]
Perhaps you should focus on motorcycles, automobiles as they are completely replaceable as is your SO apparently.
I would say ‘God help people like you’ But you are so self- absorbed you think you already are God.
Your SO despite whatever flaws he may have deserves better.[/QUOTE]
Really??? I guess I’m also undeserving of my SO because apparently it’s heartless and self-absorbed to be realistic about the fact that one’s life doesn’t just fall apart/end because they lose their partner. She didn’t say she wouldn’t be upset and grieve - just that when we lose a loved one life goes on. Which it does. Sheesh.
On the heart horse note - I don’t think I had ever heard the term before COTH. I don’t really use the term but I get the sentiment as I have what I think is the true definition. I’ve owned him for 23 years, almost 3/4 of my life. He took care of me in the saddle for most of my childhood and he taught me how to really ride AND train a horse (he was a gaming horse when I got him, over the years I turned him into a successful lower level eventer). He was my shoulder to cry on when I was 12 years old and being bullied to no end and the only beings I’ve known longer than him are my human family members. To me that is what “heart horse” should mean. I agree however that it’s very often (if not a majority of the time) thrown about to justify poor decision making, behavior problems etc.
[QUOTE=UlysMom;7764980]
I, honest to God, have no idea why this is even a thing. I guess in my world there are just more important things to worry about. All y’all can feel however you want. How about instead of ripping each other apart for something so incredibly asinine, we just all go out and ride our horses, both the heart and heartless ones. Peace. :-)[/QUOTE]
well, it is a thing, because it is a thing…
Yeah, I talk to my cats, say ‘mom’ or ‘dad’ to them about myself and DH…I have been kidding when I told the human kid about his furry siblings. yes. But when the chips are down, the rubber meets the road and all that jazz, the kid is human, the cats are not.
Just had a conversation with a lady, about a friend of hers of some sort, going on and on about how animals are just as important as children.
Uh, nope, lady. I hope I am long dead and gone before that becomes mainstream and law!
it’s like that Kudzu in the south…or Chinese wisteria: you blink or stand still the stuff with engulf and strangle you…
It’s very sentimental, and some people just don’t do sentimental.
I like “horse of a lifetime”. However, even that phrase could be used to justify buying a horse off the internet/selling your kidney because he’s purty.
[QUOTE=french fry;7764384]
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[/QUOTE]
Saved for posterity
BTW-How long would you wait to replace your SO? From what I read living things seem to you to be interchangeable parts. One breaks/dies get another to replace it.
Even cheap goldfish deserve a respectful period of mourning before replacement if you love them.
I don’t think you have much of a choice about pining for someone for a very long time if you truly loved them. They are quite irreplaceable, whether it be a human or a special animal. Of course you have to move on and find happiness again, but the empty space can never really be filled.
[QUOTE=5;7765110]
Saved for posterity
BTW-How long would you wait to replace your SO? From what I read living things seem to you to be interchangeable parts. One breaks/dies get another to replace it.
Even cheap goldfish deserve a respectful period of mourning before replacement if you love them.[/QUOTE]
Maybe she’s never lost anyone she really loves. That’s what it takes to really get it.
This is SOOO COTH!
“Your horse/cat/dog/SO is totally replaceable” is very different than, “You will love again,” FWIW.
Just throwing that out there!
You know, you never know what other people are going through. Throwing something out there knowing full well that it would likely hurt people’s feelings is just mean. It’s almost like you were taking a poll to see how many other mean people are out there too. If you don’t like the word, don’t use it. I personally don’t like the abbreviation DH and instantly translate it to Dick Head in my mind. So I don’t use the term. I don’t feel the need to belittle those that do however.
Laurie, you are very emotionally entangled in this thread despite me reassuring you that I did not mean to demean your relationship with your horses. I’m going to break it down even further.
Do you resemble any of the below?
“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.”
“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.”
If not, my OP was not about you. Feel free to breathe a sigh of relief and go about your day.
[QUOTE=french fry;7765128]
“Your horse/cat/dog/SO is totally replaceable” is very different than, “You will love again,” FWIW.
Just throwing that out there![/QUOTE]
I agree with you about the difference between the two statements. But likewise, there is a difference between a loved horse (dog, cat) and a heart horse (dog, cat). I will love a horse again but I may never have another heart horse. I dearly hope I do and am open to the possibility - but I may not. Heck, I’m in my 60s and only plan on owning two horses at a time. Already own one I love but who is not a heart horse and I will keep her for life - so the likelihood is I won’t have another heart horse because I probably won’t have that many more horses in my lifetime. Even so, I was luckier than most people because I had one.
I miss him every day.
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