Me: "She's registered as a German Riding Pony"
Person: "What's that?"
Me: "Basically a small Warmblood."
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| Tiniest Warmblood Ever |
Here's where the conversation can get weird.
Actual comments from different people:
-"But she's so small"
-"Are you sure she's registered?"
-"But she is actually just a palomino, no?"
-"Oh, like a sport horse?"
-"But she doesn't have a brand"
-"But she's so tiny!"
-"I thought they were fancy? Like for dressage?"
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| Please try to grow up right now and look more like a fancy dressage horse. You are not meeting Random Person's expectations. Thanks. |
Apparently, my world is not ready for the concept of adults riding ponies. Or Warmbloods coming in smaller sizes. Or people opting not to brand.
People seem to think I'm being tricky or trying to be pretentious to make Sophie sound fancy or something. Unfortunately for me, the first thing most people seem to ask about horses is their breed and that seems to lead to interesting conversations in which I try not to be offended.
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| Trying on B's dressage bridle last week. So cute :) |
Do I just go with Quarter Horse? Maybe Welsh pony? Sophie IS of course part Welsh B.
No, not Welsh. Did I ever tell you about the time someone informed me quite seriously I have it wrong and 14hh Bridget (registered Welsh D) is actually a Clydesdale? Or, remember her stall sign that said she was a Welsh x Gypsy Cob? :D
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| Pictured: super rare, tiniest Clydesdale ever. (Time out to be serious for a second: she's been on very limited grass for a few weeks and I'm so happy with her weight again.) |
Quarter horses it is. A chunky bay one and a "tiny" palomino one. Everyone knows what a quarter horse is.
Of course, this post is totally tongue in cheek. I do get slightly annoyed with the more persistent people because honestly, neither of my horses are a rare or especially unique breed and Google is a thing if they want to fact check me. Mostly though, it's kind of funny.
Has anyone made interesting assumptions or guesses about your horse? Tried to educate you about it? Please tell me I'm not alone!
People are so funny when it comes to breeds and what they know and what they think they know... German riding ponies are popular here - there are a few stallions locally. My friend actually has twin palomino GRP x QH that are yearlings! When she says that they are GRP crosses, they ask, "crossed with what?" and when she says quarter horse, they look at her like she has 2 heads. lol I guess it isn't a common cross they are expecting.
ReplyDeleteSo funny...here it's the opposite, they look at me like I've got two heads because I don't own a QH
DeleteI had a ride manager of one of the endurance rides I frequent once ask if Q was a mule as she made a distasteful face while she looked Q up and down. That same woman, two years later, asked me again (not remembering me) what Q was. I told her she was a Morgan X Arab at which point this woman squealed in delight and word-vomited how much she LOVES that breed combination and only owns them and she thinks Q is just the most beautiful horse ever. 🤦
ReplyDeleteThat's hilarious! I would have had a hard time keeping a straight face :) Going to go out on a limb here and suggest to everyone that if you MUST guess a breed, mule is probably not the one you should lead with.
DeleteMine are routinely mistaken for anything BUT Arabs (which is what they are) because a) they stand still on a loose rein and b) have some bone.
DeleteThey sound lovely. There is an older mare where I board who is about 14.2hh with a ton of bone. She's gorgeous and I'd bet she was quite something in her day!
DeleteTiniest Clydesdale, haha!!
ReplyDeleteCandy has been mistaken for a Morgan, an Arabian, and an Anglo-Arabian. None of those are super far off her actual breed (Thoroughbred), but people's guesses always make me laugh!
The clydesdale guy was super serious about it, to the point of telling me Bridget's sellers lied to me. He knows because he grew up on a farm and everything :) I read Guiness on Tap's post about her TB this morning, so funny how everyone thinks TB type = young, race fit TB
DeleteIrish was often mistaken for an Arab- he still flags his tail a lot but not as much as then. I once had a person ask me if Steele had the andalusian gaits. And I was confused but said yes. She then said 'that's too bad'. why would I buy an andalusian if I didn't want one that moved like an andalusian?
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I've heard similar with the Welsh D and had the same thoughts...also why they think it would matter to me if they don't like what I do ?
DeleteI get annoyed about this with Katai’s too. I’ve just taken to saying “oh she’s some mix” but people always feel the need to tell me what she is. At least this way they don’t act like I’m lying to them or trying to trick them lol
ReplyDeleteI've tried that too, lol. There's no winning. I think people desperately need to assign a breed to them.
DeletePeople think Opie is a Morgan, and I'm just over here like, "Nah, midget Thoroughbred, sorry?" I think you should just start telling people her official breed IS a Tiniest Warmblood.
ReplyDeleteI like this. The inspection is done. I have several people who have judged her to be the tiniest warmblood they've ever seen. Surely that's enough? :)
DeleteI have Icelandics. People love to tell me that they are not Icelandics because they are not fuzzy. Weird how experienced horse people forget that ALL horses shed in the summer, even the fuzzy ones.
ReplyDeleteThe "experienced" horse people are sometimes the worst, lol...just enough knowledge to have opinions and be dangerous!
Deletelol some people, i swear... maybe just tell them she's a velociraptor x labrador cross and leave it at that?? haha...
ReplyDeleteA scarily accurate description as we struggle with my extra friendly pony growing into a mare and testing boundaries :)
DeleteI've had people stand there and argue with me about what Spud is.
ReplyDeleteNo, he's a falabella.
Uhm, he certainly is not.
He's definitely a Shetland.
No.... no he isn't.
I can't imagine ever being that ignorant/confident in my opinion. Besides he's quite obviously a Cutest Tiny Equine :)
DeletePeople crack me up about breeds! No one ever guesses Niko's breed (Westphalian) and more than half the time they don't even guess some type warmblood until the second or third try!
ReplyDeleteFor whatever reason, breed is everyone's go to thing they must ask. Which is funny, because you get past that and only a teeny percent of people seem to recognize bloodlines, or even more than a few common breed registries :)
DeleteI once had to walk away from a person who insisted (in a fairly aggressive fashion) that I was wrong, wrong WRONGWRONGWRONG about Caspian, and that he wasn't Andalusian at all, or maybe TWH, but actually a polish arabian.
ReplyDeleteShe knew polish arabians, and my 16.2 1350 lb grey was a polish arabian and I was lying to people when I called him anything but.
So crazy. I got that last night with Sophie...lady was quite aggressive that there is no way she is registered as any sort of a warmblood.
DeleteToo bad she busted me ;) This weird habit of being a totally normal human except for compulsively lying about my horse's breeding catches up with me again! Lol
Becky, did that person actually meet Caspian? 1350 pounds, massive bone, dreamy topline. She knew some Polish Arabians that were lying to her, that's the only answer. Mag is polish and I'm slowly learning to recognize them. True: Big ol' legs, ridiculously small ears and heads.
DeleteI RODE CASPIAN: ) Wish I had a photo. He was so big, I was nervous.
T, how dare someone accuse you of lying - Wiki clearly states GRP "new-to-America breed" and "tiny warmblood": ) I must ask myself, how many people actually lie about their horse's breed. Seriously *spit*
Well, when you're selling a horse, yes. My Mara was advertised and directly spoken to me by the owner, "Full blooded Arabian horse." *LOL* The moment I met her I said, "You're wrong." And of course she had no proof. WTH with the sellers who lie.
I sold a horse a while ago and the buyer said I was the first person who was honest in my ad, as in when they showed up he was the height/age/breed the ad stated. That's so crazy to me!
DeleteDante's brand did not stick, he gets mistaken for a thoroughbred everytime I ride lol
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that's actually what happened with Sophie. Her passport and registration says she's branded, but I don't see one. I think her breeder said she opted not to brand her foals anymore, though. Who knows? I'm a softie and prefer them without, anyway.
DeleteI had a AQHA/APHA mare who had a dished bald face and everyone (and I mean EVER-Y-ONE) would insist to me she was half arab. Um, nope. Registered with both breeds. Promise. No Arab here.
ReplyDeleteDoc gets called a Trakehner occasionally, but most people can pick out a Saddlebred at an event hah!
My friend has a gorgeous paint with a dished face - same thing, I've seen people insist he must be part Arabian, no way he's full QH. She shows AQHA so I'm pretty sure she knows his breeding inside and out :D
DeleteHilarious! I have had this happen more than once with my Arabs. My last Arab mare, a real looker, had a VISIBLE freeze brand on her neck. I was constantly explaining to curious folks that no, she was not a mustang. I would point out how her brand was very different. I would show what each symbol meant and so on. I also explained that I had her paper from the ARABIAN HORSE ASSOCIATION. Besides that she was quite striking and very clearly "looked" like an Arabian. People would still insist that I was wrong. She was "obviously" a mustang, and nothing I said could dissuade them of the fact. Sheesh!
ReplyDeleteOne dressage clinician I rode with was absolutely convinced that my grade/unknown parentage 15.2hh pinto must be from this particular dutch warmblood line. It's definitely not true (that line was tobiano pinto, while Kachina is overo, so totally different genes), but I took it as a compliment that he thought she had warmblood movement.
ReplyDelete(Also yes, I am catching up on weeks of blog reading that I missed right now). Loving all your pony stories and photos!