Referring to other people's horses

E

Erehwemos

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 November 2008
Messages
2,993
Location
Wiltshire
Visit site
Seeing as I am bored at work, I have been trawling back through the last couple of days' worth of posts
tongue.gif
I read most of the 'Should horses be referred to as 'it'?' post, and it got me thinking....

I dont wish to re-open the debate on 'it', but what do people feel about other people's ways of referring to your horse(s)?

For example, I know I get incredibly narked by some people on my yard never using Ellie's name, but instead saying 'your mare was mucking around in the field/ your horse has been making a lot of noise this morning / are you riding your horse today...' etc etc, you get the idea. It annoys the hell out of me - Ellie has a name, ffs! Dont get me wrong, sometimes there are moments when this is appropriate, but when people do it all the time, it's like they think that my horse isnt deserving of her name - she has to be an object
crazy.gif

To me it's a vaguely subtle way of getting at someone (i.e. it was YOUR mare who was making noise) - maybe I'm just overly tetchy, but I know that whenever I talk to someone, I would either speak of their horse by name or, to people I am close to, I may say, 'How is your girlie/boy/lad?' My instructor calls Ellie 'the little mare' but that to me is different to 'your mare' all the time.

It's one of those little niggles I have that probably doesnt irritate anyone else.......
blush.gif
 
I do tend to call my friends' horses by their names - for a start it is easier than saying the Spanish for mare or gelding!! I have one friend who has two mares and I always refer to them as 'The Girls' collectively or by name singularly.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I do tend to call my friends horses by their names - for a start it is easier than saying the Spanish for mare or gelding!! I have one friend who has two mares and I always refer to them as 'The Girls' collectively or by name singularly.

[/ QUOTE ]

See that, I have no problem with at all! It's this YOUR horse thing, I hate it
crazy.gif
 
Your gelding/mare can come across as acusatory (sp)

I refer to horses by their names or how is your boy/girl.

My horse at home is called Jake, Mr Jake, his nibs, Sir, pony and hoss. At the moment I am mostly calling him hoss.
 
I agree MizElz - it's something I really dislike too - although it does seem a bit irrational I suppose. But my horse has a name - use it.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Your gelding/mare can come across as acusatory (sp)

I refer to horses by their names or how is your boy/girl.



[/ QUOTE ]

Exactly!!! I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so!
 
If I don't know the horse's name then yes I refer to them as 'your' horse but other than that I tend to either call them their name or 'your girly' 'you boy'.

Mine got called by their name unless they did something stupid then they got called all sorts of names.
wink.gif
 
At the dealers where I bought my horse they had forgotten her name. All discussions and references to her were about the grey horse. I've now owned her over a year and I still refer to her as "my grey horse" more than her actual name. It just kind of stuck in my head.
 
My friends refer to my horses by their names but i don,t think i would be offended if not so close friends refered to them as your mare or gelding even if they knew their names. I would definately be offended if they called them "it" or "that".
 
I sometimes refer to them as 'your horse', or by their names..sometimes 'your boy/girl' too. I don't mind what people call my horse (no irony intended there). His name is fine, 'your horse' is fine..'crazy ginger' 'nutcase' hehe..they're all fine. I do see your problem with 'your horse' though, it can sound quite impersonal and accusatory
 
I think you have hit the nail there. Impersonal and accusatory.

I find people tend to use this kind of way to talk about your horse because they have a problem with the you, the owner. It may not have totally come out yet but IMO it's a sure sign of something in the post!
 
I have a terrible memory for names, but I agree that 'Your horse' does not come off right, so I try to say how is your lad/little man/girlie instead and hope no one notices I don't remember the name!
 
[ QUOTE ]
I think you have hit the nail there. Impersonal and accusatory.

I find people tend to use this kind of way to talk about your horse because they have a problem with the you, the owner. It may not have totally come out yet but IMO it's a sure sign of something in the post!

[/ QUOTE ]

Ooo eck, if that is true (and I agree, that is how it comes across) then I'd better run away quick, coz at least 4 people do it!!!
blush.gif
frown.gif
grin.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Oooh sorry! IMO experience that's always been the case though!

[/ QUOTE ]


Haha LOL! Well we're moving tonight so it doesnt matter
wink.gif
Of course, if people on the new yard start to do it, THEN I know I've got problems.....
tongue.gif
 
LOL! I completely agree with P, which is why I used to tease my mother saying "YOUR horse is being very naughty today!", "Can't you control YOUR horse?!", "MY horse would never do that!"
smirk.gif
whenever Will was getting over excited and silly about stuff (he was an Anglo Arab
smile.gif
) The large part of the joke being that he was originally my showjumping horse, who I gave to her to ride as her hack when he was a little older
smile.gif
 
Most people call the Spooky Pony by his name, often in squeaky tones of excitement as they rush over to pet him...well, the latter is mainly the kids at the riding school. One of my RIs calls him a "sh*t pony" or "that brown thing" or "that hairy thing" fairly frequently...
tongue.gif


I tend to refer to horses by their names if I know them. I'll often ask the rider, "how's the pony today?", even if it's 17.2 tall...ridiculous, I know.
 
I'll often say 'how's the horse/pony' but then, I also often refer to my horse as 'Horse' or 'Pony' (he gets called both despite being 15.2 nearly...) probably out of habit as someone I know used to call my last horse 'The Pony' (she was also a horse... if only a small one!)

I think one day I'll get a 17hh horse and call it Pony... why? No idea!
tongue.gif
 
People always refer to my horses as 'your bay/sorrel/paint/mini/pally/appy' as appropriate even though they know their names, same with Zeus, he is always 'the stud'

It doesn't bother me, if I know a name I use it.
 
I find "your horse" more acceptable than "It," but agree the phrase can be very accusatory.

Personally, I have terrible trouble with names
blush.gif
so at the mo at college I am having trouble learning 30 new people's names, let alone their horse's names (some of whom have 5-6 horses) so am constantly phrasing questions to get away from mentioning names: "How was your competiton on Saturday?" and "Did you have a nice ride last night" and at a push "How is your horse/your boy/ your bay after yesterday's fall?" instead of "How is XXXX?" I tend to know their horse's breed or colour before name
blush.gif
Then again same with the people: I know "The lady with cheeky ponies, Highland girl, Riding school girl and the boy" but not their real names
blush.gif


Pet hate is more along the lines of people who know horses well, be it their own or horses they see every day, still calling them "it". Shows a lack of respect for the horse, I think.
mad.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]

Pet hate is more along the lines of people who know horses well, be it their own or horses they see every day, still calling them "it". Shows a lack of respect for the horse, I think.
mad.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

Yep, that's the context I was thinking of. Everyone at my yard knows the name of everyone else's horses - there are only 10 or so of us and there is no excuse for not knowing names! The 'your horse' thing just bugs the life out of me because it just always makes me think how little they must like her/me/us
crazy.gif
 
I don't like it when one person in particular refers to my horse as a pony when she knows he is a horse, It seems silly I am sure but it narks me as I know its an inferiority thing!
 
I have no problem with people who refer to my horse as "your horse" but I think I would object to "it" as I would only use 'it' to refer to a horse I really did not like. I often refer to my horse as "my hoss/that hoss".
 
To be honest I couldn't care less what other pepole call my horse, I'm really not that much of a precious prima donna
 
We have a livery at the yard who ALWAYS says "how is MY horse?" or "what has MY horse done this week?"
even his owner doesn't use his name, that really bugs me!
 
The your horse and it thing just doesn't happen on our yard. My fella (real Name Mr Patch) gets Patch, Mr Patch, Mr P, P, and, by the lady that turns him out, Patchy Galupo. All fine by me.
 
9 times out of 10 I will call a horse by their name. Sometimes if I get asked how my boy is doing I might reply with 'how is your boy/girl?' if someone said this to me (or something in a similar context) I wouldn't have an issue I do think there is a difference between that and 'your horse'.
 
Just thinking aloud but if somebody referred to your offspring as "Your child" I think that would be quite different to asking about your "little boy" etc.

Sorry probably not a good example.
 
I try to use their name if i know it, otherwise your boy/your girl/ your horse.............
I went to a sports horse dealers with my friend earlier this year when she was horse hunting, the woman there referred to them as an "it", as in "this is a polish warmblood, it jumps, hacks out" bla bla bla, and I asked what the horses name was, she said "oh I don't know it will be on it's passport". I didn't really like hearing that, but as my friend said in places like that they have so many coming and going that it must be hard to remember them all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top