Calling a horse 'it'. Do you?

I call horses "it" if I don't know the sex, or if it's badly behaved. "It took off with her yesterday." That said, I have never called my own horse "it." I guess she gets special treatment.

I was once at a yard as a working student -- it was a summer job while I was at uni -- where for three months, the trainer/barn owner never once referred to Gypsum by her name. She was always "your mare" or "the mare" (she was the only female horse at the place). I thought that was odd.
 
I don't like the term 'it' if the person knows full well the sex of the animal. I find it is usually people who look upon horses as a piece of equipment that they need for their sport, that use the term. But if you don't know the sex of the horse it's fine to call it 'it'. However, even though I don't particularly like it, I accept it and don't get wound up by it. Being a professional horse person, I have to be accepting of all kinds of views and so long as the horse isn't being cruelly treated, then it's no skin off my nose.
 
If I know the gender then it is automatic to say 'he" or "she", if I don't, then it is an "it" and it doesn't bother me at all.

Full fledged frothy, flinging toys out of the pram type episodes are reserved for other times, like some dumb oik parking on my grass BESIDE the gravelled parking area. Why? Just why? grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
 
Several pros I have known who had a string of horses regularly called their own horses "it." `Far, far more frequently than any one-or-two-horse ammy owner I have met. That always sounded a bit odd to my ears. The first yard I kept my horse at when I moved to the UK was a pro eventer's yard, and they used "it" more than they used "he" or "she." I thought it was really bizarre at the time, to be honest, but now have met a few more people, all pros, who do the same thing. It's not worth going ballistic over.
 
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I'm guilty of calling horses *it*. Any horse, my own included. Particularly, when they've done something particularly bad, like destroy another field fence or insist on parking me in a hedge on the way to said field, then yes, sometimes I'll say that I hate *it* right now. Although most of the time I love *it* to bits.

It isn't something I do consciously, but it is something that I've picked up over time. It doesn't mean that I care any less about them, I spend the vast majority of my time worrying about my boys and they want for nothing!

And I'd certainly rather someone call my horses *it* than wrongly call them girls/she/her!
 
As someone else said - I call mine far, far worse than 'It' sometimes ;)

I get far more worried when owners start referring to their 'babies' .....................
 
I call mine 'it' when they have misbehaved or done something to annoy me! I do notice when people call their animals 'it' and I think It sounds uncaring. I also have the issue of having pretty geldings who everyone calls 'she' and a pretty manly looking mare that everyone calls 'he' :o I don't like to call other people's horse 'it' as I think it's rude, so I just ask what 'it' is :)
 
Hoof_Prints said:
I call mine 'it' when they have misbehaved or done something to annoy me!
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Same here. Usually I go out to catch "it" when I've seen him covered in wet muck/he's broken out of where he's supposed to be. I wouldn't tend to call other horses it though, for the reason mentioned in the OP.
 
I try not to if I know the gender.
It really annoys me when I have said "he" a million times and they still say "it"!!

Though, I call people's kids "it" until I know the gender.
 
I agree it can come across as a bit detached, and some people use it in a derogatory way - if it's behaving badly it's 'it', if it's going well it's 'he'!

But yes, I don't really care - I don't think the horse minds! If I know the gender I call it he or she, but if I don't 'it' will have to do!
 
GinaGeo said:
And I'd certainly rather someone call my horses *it* than wrongly call them girls/she/her!
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Two of our geldings are quite pretty, and going back over old dressage sheets we noticed that about 50% of the time they were referred to as 'she'. ;)
 
Don't think it bothers me, but then no one has ever referred to my boy as 'it'

I do refer to him as 'the horse' quite often to people that don't know him/aren't horsey
 
Doesn't bother me one bit to be honest but I will generally use "he" or "she" if I know which it is. But will use "it" if I dont know. I don't use it for my own boy in fairness but its not really a conscious thing.
 
mine usually get call a wide variety of it with any number of prefix letters I sometimes write about them as it if I dont want to malign ones behaviour as Iwould hate to think someone would take a small rant as derogatory to any one of them Thus keeping them anonymous
 
I really dislike the term "it" unless used for something inanimate, it just seems (in my mind) to be so uncaring and I love horses so much it wouldn't sit right with me to call one "it". I wouldn't fly off the handle about it but it certainly would grate with me.
 
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