Language used around horses.

[pistolpete]

Following on from @Cloball’s comment about language used around horse behaviour. I would dearly love it it we could stop with ‘he’s taking the mickey!’ She’s takes the p!ss’. We need to start learning about more about the reasons why horses act the way they do and understand them so much better. They want an easy life like us most of the time. Is that wrong? Food for thought.

 

[bluehorse]

Completely agree. Constantly referring to horses as an ‘it’ turns them into objects, and we feel less responsible for having to be kind and sympathetic. ‘Kick it’ ‘it’s being a s**t’, ‘make it’ ‘don’t let it do that’. This is the language often coming down through professionals, the pony club etc. How are people supposed to learn to look at why their horse is behaving as it is rather than just stopping the behaviour through force. No wonder horses become ‘bad’. It’s the only way they’ve got of protecting themselves.

 

[Identityincrisis]

Completely agree. Constantly referring to horses as an ‘it’ turns them into objects, and we feel less responsible for having to be kind and sympathetic. ‘Kick it’ ‘it’s being a s**t’, ‘make it’ ‘don’t let it do that’. This is the language often coming down through professionals, the pony club etc. How are people supposed to learn to look at why their horse is behaving as it is rather than just stopping the behaviour through force. No wonder horses become ‘bad’. It’s the only way they’ve got of protecting themselves.

I’m not a total bumny hugger, but believe they should be treated with respect and compassion. ‘It’ is one of my biggest bug bears, it is totally unnecessary. My gelding is often referred to as ‘she’ as he looks like a girl but that doesn’t bother me, I would be upset if someone referred to him as it

 

[poiuytrewq]

I know someone who always refers to her horses at it, really grinds on me!

 

[pistolpete]

 

[pistolpete]

I’ve learned a lot about behaviour from Ben Hart. Not everyone’s cup of tea but it made sense to me.

 

[FieldOrnaments]

"just being mareish" & "typical mare"

Duck off

 

[little_critter]

I’ve learned a lot about behaviour from Ben Hart. Not everyone’s cup of tea but it made sense to me.

Ben is brilliant. I really like what he does.

 

[Wizpop]

Following on from @Cloball’s comment about language used around horse behaviour. I would dearly love it it we could stop with ‘he’s taking the mickey!’ She’s takes the p!ss’. We need to start learning about more about the reasons why horses act the way they do and understand them so much better. They want an easy life like us most of the time. Is that wrong? Food for thought.

I do wonder if it’s sometimes a good excuse to say this rather than having to stop and consider if the horse might be in pain???? Easier to just say he/ she is being “naughty”

 

[Ambers Echo]

Offensive language used to describe horses is one of the (many) reasons I hate Shiteventersunited. I agree a lot of 'naughty' answers are applied in the place of thoughtfulness arounf the why of a horse's behavior.

But I also think we need to be careful to understand what a person might mean by 'take the mick' - it can be shorthand for 'seeking to evade' or 'using learned behaviour'. Not all unwanted behaviour is pain, confuson, anxiety or worry. Sometimes it's 'occasionally on this ride I have manage to grab a bit of grass, so I think I'll chance my arm again'. Which was Lottie after a hack with grass at nose height. ONE hack where I let her do it, and she tried to eat for the next 2 months! She did know she was not meant to. But she wanted to, so kept trying.

 

[pistolpete]

I’m aim is undoubtedly a big factor to consider and is often complicated to prove or eliminate completely. But there’s also many other factors to consider. What else influences behaviour? So many factors!
Weather
Hormones
Age
Environment
Herd mates
Amount of turn out
Nutrition
Just a few!

 

[pistolpete]

Offensive language used to describe horses is one of the (many) reasons I hate Shiteventersunited. I agree a lot of 'naughty' answers are applied in the place of thoughtfulness arounf the why of a horse's behavior.

But I also think we need to be careful to understand what a person might mean by 'take the mick' - it can be shorthand for 'seeking to evade' or 'using learned behaviour'. Not all unwanted behaviour is pain, confuson, anxiety or worry. Sometimes it's 'occasionally on this ride I have manage to grab a bit of grass, so I think I'll chance my arm again'. Which was Lottie after a hack with grass at nose height. ONE hack where I let her do it, and she tried to eat for the next 2 months! She did know she was not meant to. But she wanted to, so kept trying.

So the grass grab could be called intelligent learned opportunism?

 

[Ambers Echo]

Love that! Yes it could. But if I said 'she's taking the mick' that would not mean I don't underdstand her, or my role in training her to grab grass, or that I am annoyed with her.

 

[Ambers Echo]

Dolly was a master at intelligent learned opportunism!! Bless her pony heart.

 

[Mari]

I hate to see ponies & horses referred to as a machine. They’re not a jumping machine or a rosette machine.

 

[little_critter]

Dolly was a master at intelligent learned opportunism!! Bless her pony heart.

My pony mare was a terror for grabbing grass and every spring I (full grown adult) had a serious challenge to try to stop her.
She was flipping clever and I could see her working out counter offensives! (Including unseating me so she could eat in peace, that one genuinely took some working out. She had the upper hand for a while)
Definitely a learned opportunism. She wasn’t starved, she had learned what worked to get the grass she liked.

 

[pistolpete]

My pony mare was a terror for grabbing grass and every spring I (full grown adult) had a serious challenge to try to stop her.
She was flipping clever and I could see her working out counter offensives! (Including unseating me so she could eat in peace, that one genuinely took some working out. She had the upper hand for a while)
Definitely a learned opportunism. She wasn’t starved, she had learned what worked to get the grass she liked.

Intelligent calculating!

 

[Sugarplum Furry]

Somebody I used to share a yard with, a decent rider, had a very nice ID mare. She regularly called the mare really vile names and was generally quite derogatory about her, and every time she went out on a hack the mare would come back to the yard without her. Every single time. The mare was then sold to another woman, and her sharer, on the yard, they loved her to bits and had a good few years of fun and success with her. I'm positive that the mare might not have understood the previous owners vocabulary but she absolutely understood the vibe.

 

[pistolpete]

Somebody I used to share a yard with, a decent rider, had a very nice ID mare. She regularly called the mare really vile names and was generally quite derogatory about her, and every time she went out on a hack the mare would come back to the yard without her. Every single time. The mare was then sold to another woman, and her sharer, on the yard, they loved her to bits and had a good few years of fun and success with her. I'm positive that the mare might not have understood the previous owners vocabulary but she absolutely understood the vibe.

I love that story!