The other day EN posted 10 Questions People Who Don't Ride Should Stop Asking. They did a good job with that one. They had me laughing because everything was so true. It reminded me of a couple weeks ago when The Other Half said that he had to explain to the other guys he works with what sheath cleaning is. Don't even ask me how the subject came up. He said he explained it to everyone's horror and they were walking around trying to comprehend what he told them for the rest of the day.
My other favorites from that post: When will you be back from the barn? Why do you blindfold your horses in the summer time? Where do you put your horses in the winter? Do you want to do something this weekend besides go to the barn?
Just yesterday someone I had lunch with said "So, where do you keep your horses?" I said, "At our house." He just stared at me like I ignored his question. He said, "No, where are they??" Again I said, "They are at my house..." Blank stare. "They are at my house, like...on the property, we have a HORSE property. There's a human house AND a horse house!" It still didn't register all the way. Not sure where he thought I should be keeping them?
Of course every one knows the worst question you can ask me about my drafts, "Is he/she a Clydesdale?!"
What are some of your top questions that people ask you about your horse(s)?
A few years ago a friend asked why my horse had tan lines when he had been trace clipped. And this year I've explained to a few people why we clip horses and then wrap them back up in blankets all day long.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to think of a few others. I did just explain to a parent that the sound his daughters horse was making was not, in fact, the saddle. Just a sound all geldings and stallions can make. No, the sheath is not on a horse's back.
Ha! I forgot to add that one! I have a picture in my office of Wes and I and he has a clip. People have pointed to it a few times and say "Whoa, what kind of horse is that with that kind of two tone coat?!"
DeleteOMG that's funny about the sheath!
I suspect my neighbors think I'm a horse molester because I've started a new dangerous sport called "tag tearing" in between sheath cleanings. I can just imagine them looking out their windows saying, "What's she doing to that horse's privates?" Ha ha.
ReplyDeleteMost of the people I know have absolutely no interest in horses, which kind of irks me. I wish they'd ask stupid questions, but instead they act like they don't exist.
I can only imagine the things that run through non-horsey neighbors when they see things going on like sheath cleaning.
DeleteMaybe those people don't even know where to start asking questions and are intimidated by that?
I have a paint gelding of 13h2 and a mini gelding 76cm and i often get asked if the mini is the paint's foal!!!!!!
ReplyDeletePeople ask me if Mochi is Klein's baby when I have them out together! Some of them don't know what to make of it when I tell them Mochi is actually a year older than Klein!
DeleteI've gotten the blindfold question more times than I can count. There's also the ever popular- why are you making the horse do all the work?
ReplyDeleteEgh...me too. "What those things on their faces?! How can they see like that?!"
DeleteI always get questions about my horse's "sneakers" since they wear boots out on the trails. I also get a lot of questions about why Nilla has such long ears and I have to explain she's a mule and about half the people then don't even know what a mule is. I did have an interesting encounter in Yosemite with an autistic teenager whose dad asked about Nilla and before I could even answer the kid started lecturing him on how she was a mule and what mules were and how they were good trail animals and etc, etc. It was amazing.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome and impressive!!!!!
Delete