What the most common misconception about horse ownership (from non-horsey people?)

I have a young work collegue who up until recently was convinced that I Live on a farm, it seems that having a horse was all the evidence he needed, he was really surprised when I told him that I live in a 2 bed terraced house.

A question that annoys me is "can I ride your horse?" I'm not running a free riding school if you want to ride put your hand in your pocket like I have to!

I told an ex-boyfriend that riding is hard work & keeps me fit, he actually laughed - he quickly became an ex!
 
Whenever we have Shetlands for sale - and the reason why we still have them all ... "Can you deliver the pony with all its tack and ribbon on it for my daughters birthday? My address is xxx council estate, the pony will be ok in my garden as its small and is £50 ok?"

At the races - "is it going to win?" To which my standard response is - if it runs fast enough.
 
Another one from my mum;
'so, you need to be with her when she learns the dressage test?' in reference to me saying I needed to run through a test to make sure I knew it, she thought that the horse learnt the test and you just sat there whilst the horse did it. She later announced that she thought when horses are looking about in the field that 'they were practicing'.
 
twiggy2 said:
Another one from my mum;
'so, you need to be with her when she learns the dressage test?' in reference to me saying I needed to run through a test to make sure I knew it, she thought that the horse learnt the test and you just sat there whilst the horse did it. She later announced that she thought when horses are looking about in the field that 'they were practicing'.
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My mum, watching Charlotte at the Olympics, declared that the horses were really good to learn such complicated tests. She genuinely thought the horse learned it all beforehand.... (Not sure why she thought a rider was needed on the day!).
 
I don't remember the logistics now as it was some years ago, but my ex was in a syndicate of 8 who owned a wonderful little racehorse. She always tried, won a couple of hurdle races and went on to breed another game little horse. She is 26 now and lives with my sister. However I digress ...

Whilst she was in training, I answered the phone one day to a very distraught syndicate member who had just spoken to the trainer. Apparently she had not been on the gallops for a few days as she had mud fever. This poor chap was expecting the worse with visions of tropical diseases and the horse delerious with illness. He absolutely could not get to grips with it being a scabby rash on her legs, and yes, it does sound very scary to 'normal' people in retrospect.
 
twiggy2 said:
Another one from my mum;
'so, you need to be with her when she learns the dressage test?' in reference to me saying I needed to run through a test to make sure I knew it, she thought that the horse learnt the test and you just sat there whilst the horse did it. She later announced that she thought when horses are looking about in the field that 'they were practicing'.
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Love this 😂😂😂
 
My 84 year old mum, calling me on the phone especially : "I'm out with Mary (her best mate) and we are next to a field some horses with hoods over their heads so they can't see! We don't know what to do, we are ever so worried about them, so I said to call you because you have horses and you'd know..."
Erm...flymasks, mum.
 
Is he a racehorse? Well no - he is a 14.2 cob/Irish Draught with a very large head and short hairy legs :D:oops: It was kindly meant.

My dad could never understand why I bought a horse before we had a 'proper' dining table and chairs. Apparently this was entirely the wrong way to carry on in life! To be fair he did offer to contribute to the cost of buying my son's loan horse. Sadly the owner would never sell - though my son still rides the horse!
 
The funniest said to me was out hacking & met a group of walkers & a pompous chap asked if my pony was male or female & when I said male he said "aha thought so & clearly pregnant" & turned to his companions said smugly "not a lot of people know that is is the male horse that carries the young " ............ I said I thought he was getting confused with sea horses but he was adamant he was right !
 
Celtic Fringe said:
Is he a racehorse? Well no - he is a 14.2 cob/Irish Draught with a very large head and short hairy legs :D:oops: It was kindly meant.
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I was asked the same when long reining kira, my hairy footed 14.2 pink welsh cob. I was a bit baffled but I think the bloke was serious 😂
 
Highflinger said:
The funniest said to me was out hacking & met a group of walkers & a pompous chap asked if my pony was male or female & when I said male he said "aha thought so & clearly pregnant" & turned to his companions said smugly "not a lot of people know that is is the male horse that carries the young " ............ I said I thought he was getting confused with sea horses but he was adamant he was right !
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Good on him for his seahorse knowledge though 😂😂😂
 
Just the other day, stopped in the street, as a casual request/expectation: "can you help turn on the xmas lights" (i.e. turn up with a fully illuminated pony and antique carriage, to carry Santa and the mayor through heavy traffic and a cheering crowd, followed by a salvation army band, and with the local amateur dramatics alongside the pony shouting through a megaphone , in the dark). They seem to have forgotten that, having done it once, and without being told about the band or the megaphone, I said never again.

Er - no. That's the day that I hear you have deferred the fireworks to, not that anyone has actually told me. That would be the really loud public fireworks, which will be set off next to my horses. He seemed surprised, and a little put out.

I didn't get as far as explaining that even if I said yes, driving the pony (on the public road, in the dark) whilst said fireworks were going up might not be such a great idea.
 
One evening I said to friends that I didn't want to have a late night as I had a dressage competition in the morning. "Oh, dancing horses," he said. More dad dancing shuffle, I replied.
 
Pointing out the vets where I take the dogs to my mother "how do you park the lorry in the drive? It's a bit small and how do you get your horse through the door?" No the vet comes out to me for the horses. "you're lucky, the GP doesn't do home visits any more" Yes but I pay a fortune for the vet to come out and the GP is free!
 
Clydiegirl said:
My driving instructor asked me what I do with my horses, "do you race them?" nah, no point, they're faster than me 😜 . I have a 2 year old cob and a 2 year old drum, not sure either would be much good at racing😂
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I would love to see pics of your drum!

People always assume that I have more than one: ‘Off to do the horses?’ is the constant question, or ‘How many do you have?’ One, especially a fully feathered cob in this weather, is quite enough, thank you! My glasses ended up covered in dried mud dust after a vigorous grooming session (during which time, he tried to hide in the corner, logic being, he couldn’t see me, so I couldn’t see him!)
 
OldNag said:
My mum, watching Charlotte at the Olympics, declared that the horses were really good to learn such complicated tests. She genuinely thought the horse learned it all beforehand.... (Not sure why she thought a rider was needed on the day!).
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Someone said to me once," how clever the horses are to start dancing when they hear the music." I thought it was a lovely thing to say!
 
My dad often lectures me on how expensive horses are. I usually remind him that children cost more and if I swapped the horses for kids he'd be expected to do some babysitting!

I occasionally get comments about how my hairy cobs should wear a rug in the winter and be stabled 24/7.
My mum always comments on horses with 'spindly little legs. Horses should have proper legs like yours do'!
 
Another vote for the "you're rich/posh" assumption!

I don't even own a bloody horse and I'm berated every day by my colleagues who love to loudly declare "did mummy take you to the equestrian centre this weekend?" No, mummy did not - boyfriend did!

I'd play along at first but it's not gotten to the stage where they seem genuinely bitter that I can "afford" to ride horses and they won't let it go. Very odd, really.
 
Just reminded of the time I went to go and buy a bike helmet and I mentioned to the staff member at Halfords how feeble the bike helmets look compared to my riding hat. The guy serving me said it's because when you ride a bike you are more active than when riding a horse so you need the air vents to keep you cool. I burst out laughing and said "you've never ridden a horse, have you?"... he hadn't.
 
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