Horse prejudice.

[2 Dragons]

Welsh sections Ds are fire breathing dragons -- I haven't come across one who bucks that stereotype yet.

My boy isn't - known by my yard friend as Mummy's boy and my daughter calls him Toothless (after the dragon How to tame your dragon.)

 

[eahotson]

The 'dumb-blood' stereotype -- Plenty of horses who fit it perfectly, and plenty who don't. Once worked on a dressage yard with about a dozen Hanoverians, who were total thugs and miserable to handle on the ground. When the trainer saw me doing a little bit of groundwork with one to stop it from running me over, he laughed and said, "These horses cannot be trained like your horse." Yes, I thought, because you can't be bothered training them.

Arabs are flighty -- I knew lots of Arabs in Colorado. Most were rock solid trail horses but some of the show bred ones could be quite bonkers.

TBs are nuts -- The ones I've known who came out of racing with their brains fried and with soundness issues certainly can be, but the one who weren't damaged by racing are amazing, calm horses who are used to everything.

PREs are hot -- Well, mine isn't, but n=1.

Drafts are slow and phlegmatic -- I've known some quite sharp ones.

Cobs are placid, beginner friendly horses -- I've known some sharp cobs too. Used to teach a lady who had one such horse. She'd bought it because she thought it would be novice-friendly, being a cob, but the mare was hot as a hot thing. She was a turbo-cob, lots of fun if you knew how to ride. Owner was one of these very uncoordinated, unbalanced beginners, and the mare was not forgiving. She'd buck off the rider when the rider got too wobbly and hung on her mouth. It was not a good partnership.

Highlands are slow and calm and good beginner horses -- Mine is not but I've met other ones who check that box.

Welsh sections Ds are fire breathing dragons -- I haven't come across one who bucks that stereotype yet.

I have a lovely very sensible Welsh d.He is old now and retired.

 

[toppedoff]

I've been told I'm short sighted not buying a grey. After all if a horse can do a job why worry its coat colour? But I don't think I'm prejudiced when saying I do want to buy a coloured or grey/palamino/dun.

It's just what you like. Like I'd hate to have a brown car or a yellow coat. It's just personal preference.

I don't dislike cobs either, I just prefer ISH ir WB'S

oh i love greys, especially on TBs for some reason there is an on going theme with the racers i like.. most are greys lol

 

[Hepsibah]

Best one I experienced was someone saying my OH's Cleveland Bay was "common". Their horse was a TB.

 

[ycbm]

Don't understand why you could not say your horse was a standardbred. Seems strange when there is nothing really that should alienate a standard bred as something of distaste or something to avoid oin a livery yard.

The prejudice against the traveller community who breed most of them.

 

[HollyWoozle]

Sent a lady on a riding holiday who refused to ride the Lusitano allocated to her because he was small and brown, not big and grey like some of the others. It was something along the lines of “I didn’t come all this way to ride a pony”.

Whilst I respect people’s wishes and she spent good money to ride Lusitanos, I can 100% guarantee he would’ve been the best horse she’d ever sat on. He is a purebred Lusitano who competed to a national level. Shame she never gave him a go!

 

[Cloball]

I've ridden some delightful standies, temperament second to none. Did get some funny looks when I was looking and I suggested I might like one. I think they are quite acceptable in the endurance world.

Someone said last week that my Fell looks like a small heavy horse!

Someone did ask me if mine was a shire from a photo, I need to stand next to her for scale. She is hotter than a hot thing in the school

@HollyWoozle a small brown Lusitano sounds amazing.

 

[Jenko109]

 

[Jenko109]

Excuse my shocking redaction skills

 

[SEL]

I've ridden in a lot of countries so met a lot of different types of horses. I'm not sure I've got a prejudice against any breed but I do still carry one against palominos after spending a short while riding one who would try and deck me at every opportunity.

I even passed on going to look at one which ticked my boxes when I was horse hunting last year.

Ridiculous really.

 

[rabatsa]

The one type that I do not see the point of is miniatures, be it horses or donkeys. Too small to be of any use other than pets and I am someone who keeps donkeys, just not miniature donkeys.

 

[paddy555]

There's also the horrible way they are shown in hand; any horse would look flighty if people were whooping and stamping and flapping plastic bags at them


View attachment 115542

I hate the way they are shown now. Looking at pics from the 50's, 60's 70's and the earlier years when they actually looked like a horse to the grotesque things now. Such a shame. Do we show other breeds in that way.

As for the plastic bags it nearly caused me to get hurt. We went to look at and buy a youngster from a very well known stud. The breeder showed off the stallions with the plastic bag flapping method.
I bought a yearling colt. Our stables at the time were deep littered shavings which came in plastic bags. I was obviously too thick to make the connection as to how he had been taught to move. Me and my bale of plastic wrapped shavings beat a hasty retreat from his stable.

 

[hollyandivy123]

My sharer got chucked out of a livery arena when another livery wanted to school her dressage horse.

The other owner said it was a waste of an arena and no point trying to school a heavy horse. She's an instructor and a dressage judge (unaffiliated).

does she have access to a mule........... that is bad bad form

 

[tristar]

I mean I was a bit insulted when someone called my fell pony a cob

i was walking down the road with a horse as a man passed he said, `thats a nice quiet cob`

i had to chuckle, the horse is tb x arab x pre, stallion, hot and lively, and a bit of a sex maniac.

 

[hollyandivy123]

i could be wrong but dont cobs go for alot in the USA?

yep and throw covid i was on a couple of random facebook pages for sanity,

if you pop i picture of a field full of cow ponies (precovid) and point out how much in the UK or Ireland, the Americans get a bit snippy

they are not "cow" ponies.........the breed is "Gypsy"

Gypsy Vanner​

Cost: $4,000 – $30,000

Purebred Gypsy Vanner horses turn heads wherever they go. Originally bred to be the perfect carriage horse for Irish travelers, these horses came to the US in the 1990s and now perform in a variety of disciplines.

Because these horses are fairly new to the United States, they can be costly and hard to find. Registered unbroken foals and youngsters tend to start around $4,000 on EquineNow.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

There's also the horrible way they are shown in hand; any horse would look flighty if people were whooping and stamping and flapping plastic bags at them

As for Arabs not jumping - this was in H&H recently, a story from 1968
Arabs can jump but people seem to have forgotten that they do!
View attachment 115542

Some of the in hand Arab's are nuts because they have been chased with bags and whips from a young age so alot are never ridden.

I used to show Arabi in hand never had to chase him he naturally liked to show off and was still level headed to do ridden classes as well, not many Arab's can do both and alot of it is down to some of the handlers and what they do to them.

 

[toppedoff]

Some of the in hand Arab's are nuts because they have been chased with bags and whips from a young age so alot are never ridden.

I used to show Arabi in hand never had to chase him he naturally liked to show off and was still level headed to do ridden classes as well, not many Arab's can do both and alot of it is down to some of the handlers and what they do to them.

off topic but i love your horses name, Arabi!

 

[Time for Tea]

if you are an intelligent horse what is the point of going round a course of jump after jump when they all look the same and you end up back where you started?
you can see arabs have a point about jumping.

They are quite happy to jump something that gets in their way on a ride. It would be silly not to.

what I do find strange in general is people's lack of interest in slightly different breeds. If someone had a different breed I would be asking to go see it. I might not want one but I would be interested to find out more.

Absolutely, variety is the spice of horsey life. You don’t have to want to own one, but it’s so interesting to see the way different breeds move and behave. How they’ve been bred and developed to do different tasks. They all have their own beauty.

 

[tristar]

I took my ID to the vets for a lameness problem & was told to bring the cob out which I was rather upset about

i asked a top vet what breed he thought a youngster was, he said, `well he has an irish draft back end`

i was chuffed because it was a 7/8 bred anglo arab x pre.

 

[Flame_]

I love that people think they don't want arabs (usually having never, or barely ever, ridden one), it keeps the prices down. You have to pay double for a far less easy, useful horse, lol.

I'm a total snob, I don't like anything that isn't light, easy and keen on carrying itself.

 

[toppedoff]

I love that people think they don't want arabs (usually having never, or barely ever, ridden one), it keeps the prices down. You have to pay double for a far less easy, useful horse, lol.

I'm a total snob, I don't like anything that isn't light, easy and keen on carrying itself.

what sort of breeds do you like?

 

[Surbie]

I've had many, many disparaging comments about my horse, who is a mix of cob and draft we think. However, just once, when out hacking with a friend, we were stopped by a pair of women who thought he was incredibly beautiful and just wanted permission to take a photo and stroke his nose.

I was riding with a stunning grey PRE, who they ignored. I have hugged that moment for years. Usually the grey had all the admiring comments and Archie got 'well he's big, isn't he'.

 

[toppedoff]

tbf, as a preference if i were to get a cob i like the ones that are mostly black than white

 

[Flame_]

what sort of breeds do you like?

Sorry, arabs mostly. Also a fan of sporty section Ds, they're about the only "cobs" I really like. Er, I suppose more a type than a breed, really - like show hacks, I love the light little mounted games ponies. There's a trend for heavier and with more bone and personally I prefer the opposite.

 

[Lexi 123]

What’s bugs me is the amount of people who consider pure breed Irish draught that has a green book a cob especially if they are not gray . Just because they are bigger boned.

The worst case of horse prejudice is when I was a livery on my old yard. If your horse is not a fancy warmblood or Connemara it was treated differently behind your back. Cobs were treated terribly because they associated with a certain type of person.

​

 

[Kunoichi73]

what I do find strange in general is people's lack of interest in slightly different breeds. If someone had a different breed I would be asking to go see it. I might not want one but I would be interested to find out more

Every time anyone on here posts about their horse and it's breed/type, I end up googling it and deciding that's what I really want! So currently I want an appy, a TB ex racer, a cob, an arab, a standardbred, a PRE, an icelandic, a clydesdale, a fell and a dales - to name a few. As a child I did really want an appy, an arab or a fell. I understand people having favourite breeds, but I really don't understand hating on/looking down on other people's choices.

 

[toppedoff]

Sorry, arabs mostly. Also a fan of sporty section Ds, they're about the only "cobs" I really like. Er, I suppose more a type than a breed, really - like show hacks, I love the light little mounted games ponies. There's a trend for heavier and with more bone and personally I prefer the opposite.

mm yeah i quite like those too!

 

[Cloball]

I love that people think they don't want arabs (usually having never, or barely ever, ridden one), it keeps the prices down. You have to pay double for a far less easy, useful horse, lol.

I'm a total snob, I don't like anything that isn't light, easy and keen on carrying itself.

I would love an Arab one day I do appreciate the prices currently being trained up by a native pony mare who thinks she is a TB with leg warmers.

 

[MuddyMonster]

My old Arab chap was a twit if he didn't have enough to do. Pretended he was frightened of traffic, which he wasn't. He just found the drama amusing.

That's also my native

He's awesome when ridden or exercised 5-6 days a week with lots of decent length hacks and things to make him think. He can find all sorts of trouble without regular work!

Got on him for the first time in 10 days today - spooked at my friend at the mounting block, the logs (it was a forest ride so plenty of those), people walking and all sorts of things. He looked so pleased with himself

I get 'Oh, he's sweet' a lot. What they usually mean is at 13.3/14hh and a rather unassuming native that is generally quite confident & polite day to day (& has a few tricks) they all tend to assume he's easy.

I wouldn't let most people from my yard ride him as you do need to actually ride him to get a tune out of him (or go the route you want when out and about) & they'd be surprised how much character he has and an impressive turn of speed

 

[saalsk]

Him " 'ere, your horse has no 'oofs on. "

Me. You are quite right sir, my horse is barefoot.

Him. " er, are you some sort of environmentalist and don't like farriers cos of global warming ?"

Me. *surprised pikachu face*