Do you ever get the "oh you cant be serious" look

[Happy Valley]

I live in a very "big horse" and cattle rich area. I am so tired of getting that look. You know, what I mean. Snide comments, too. What do you say to someone who thinks your horses are misfits? I reallly want to know, as I am about to be rude to a rather prominant cattle breeder.

Stacye

 

[bluerogue]

Yes. One of my dad's friends used to have race horses, and every time we see him he asks about our "midget ponies". I have finally given up correcting him. After the fourteenth time of telling him they were mini horses, and not any type of midget ponies, I'm not going to try correcting him again until I have some photos to show him. He's a really nice guy though, and we've known him for years, so I tend to forgive him.

 

[jleonard]

We were sitting in class the other day, learning about the Mongols, when someone said something like, "their horses wern't like ours, right?" The teacher responded by saying that they were not like thoroughbreds, they were short and stocky. One of the "brilliant" people in my class piped up and said, "So they ride those midget horses then." Our class then went on to call minis pigmy, dwarf, and everything else. I find it sad that I live in the horse capital of the world and the people around me have absolutely (sp) no knowledge of horses!

: Good luck holding back. I know how frusterating people can be!

: I sometime just want to yell when they say things like this, which happens quite often!

 

[Ashley]

If it makes you feel any better my horses get call dogs, and I live in a area where minis/shetlands are pretty common.

 

["City Slicker"]

when some people see my boy, they do call him a horse. when the pics come out

they are just amazed how refined he is! I show this pic and the first thing they say

he must be a great horse to ride, till they see him in person!

yes he does get called a pony sometimes, but not too often!

and WE live in the CITY!

 

[minifarmgirl]

My cousin was visiting last year and made this comment as she turned up her nose...."yeah, they're cute..but what can they do for you?" I was like DUGH!!! .... I guess because they're not egg producing chickens( she has chickens) or something to make money from they seemed worthless to her. So I say..."you love your dogs right? What do THEY do for YOU?" Well that shut her up LOL. :lol: I don't take offense....not everyone can have the same interests.....that would make life pretty boring LOL.

 

[Frankie]

I have got to admit it use to bother me. But there are not very many minis in my area, so now I take it as they just don't understand. I now look at it as an opportunity to educate someone about the mini. Taking that approach, after just a few comments, I have found most people will listen and understand more. They seem to feel better about it as well. People often do not understand what they do not know. So just help them to know.

 

[Margaret]

We used to get that attitude, until we started driving our pinto mare that we sold.. She was amazing and would pull a 4 wheel cart with kids in it -around the block occasionally. Since we live in a big horse area we would have to pass quite a few big horse folks along the way, before the kids came back home. We realized that as soon a larger horse and rider approached to pass, that their horse got scared to the point that they would get weird, and some would throw the rider. The horses were deathly afraid of the "mini, and cart look". So we got to the point where we would pull off to the side of the road, and just wait for rider to pass, so that they wouldnt get thrown.. After that I would tell the kids to just "freeze" on the opposite side of the road when ever they saw a rider comming.. Some would still get thrown trying to pass us. Needless to say we get a little respect now although we dont drive minis much around here anymore.

 

[Minimor]

Margaret, that reminds me of something I said to my mom awhile back. There are a few very irritating people that ride in this area, & I commented the one day when one group went by that I wish we could have been out there with a team of Minis. If we'd come trotting down the road toward these riders, guaranteed we would have spooked their horses. Being the riders these people aren't, a couple surely would have ended up on the ground. What are my minis good for? Scaring your saddle horses silly & getting you dumped off would be my answer to some people.....

I remember at one show, to get from the Mini barn to the trailer area we had to go through the QH barn. As I went through with two yearlings a fellow was standing in a stall door looking in at his horse. He heard the clip clop of little hoofs & turned around to look. He saw the Minis & rolled his eyes before turning back to his horse. I wanted go walk over & smack him upside the head just for being so irritating.

I do get a lont of people who figure that Minis are useless because they can't be ridden. But, when someone says this I just think "wait & see" because I know so many people that used to have big horses (I still do, but now prefer the Minis) that now have Minis because they either got hurt & frightened by a big horse, or they simply cannot handle big horses any more, whether due to age, injury or whatever. Many of these people never figured they'd get into Minis. So, those that now look down on Minis for being 'useless' may someday discover for themselves how wonderful they are to have around.

I used to have a friend who wanted a Mini, but her husband told her no, because they aren't good for anything, at least if you have a big horse you can ride it. That was just FUNNY in this case, because this gal has a number of big horses she never does a thing with--some of them are crippled, and those that are rideable she is too scared to ride. So, she has all these big horses she cannot/will not ride, and her husband wouldn't let her have a Mini because it cannot be ridden. Makes perfect sense.

:

 

[Margaret]

I really think the big horse people will start to come around more- to "accepting the minis", as they are just as much fun, and way more fuel efficient too.

:

 

[Miss_Fortune]

One girl called mine "hay burners" until she saw that my 2 year old gelding was better behaved then her 10 year old gelding.

 

[Sue_C.]

We just enter in the open driving classes, and whoop their big horse's butts. :new_shocked: :lol:

 

[KrisP]

I've said anything from "what do you do with your dogs?" to "Isn't it neat that there's something for everyone, the world would be a really boring place if we all liked the same thing" :bgrin

And a dear, dear friend of ours would ALWAYS tease me every time I he saw me, he'd say "hey, there's the PONY LADY, OHHHHHHHHH WAIT, they're NOT ponies :bgrin :bgrin " How I miss him, would just LOVE to hear that hollered at a farm auction one more time.

And one time about 12 of us decided to get together and show them, lol, went to a local show and got ready around the corner then all came out at once to head to the ring right through all the big horses, LOLOLOL, almost started a stampede! All the big horses FREAKED seeing all these little WELL BEHAVED beggers coming around a corner at once! Price of the class per horse $5.00, reaction of the big horse owners and horses, PRICELESS!

krisp

 

[HJF]

Oh my gosh! When people make those "smart remarks" about minis to me that's it. It happens ALL the time. At big horse shows other people ask what breeds I have..I say Miniatures and Quarter horses. Then they come off with "What the heck is a miniature good for?" A lot of other comments have been much worse..that's why I would just prefer being around mini people so you don't have to deal with it!!

 

[Loess Hills]

We keep pictures in our truck, and I carry them around, just in case someone asks. Yes, people can be deragatory until they see how beautiful they are, and all the wonderful things you can do with them. "A picture is worth a thousand words"!

 

[Wally]

I live in a very "big horse" and cattle rich area. I am so tired of getting that look. You know, what I mean. Snide comments, too. What do you say to someone who thinks your horses are misfits? I reallly want to know, as I am about to be rude to a rather prominant cattle breeder.

Stacye

I have only small horses, Icelandics, Shetlands and Fjords. I am not a small person, but I get the same thing, "you are too big for your pony" "get a proper horse" you name it I've heard it.

I know that big horse riders often cannot handle the small quick thinking pony brains, I just smile to myself knowing that these small minded folk are just not confident in thier own minds, I have nothing to prove. I bet these men have big dogs too!

: Small horses can out move and out think big horses .....and a lot of people too. We have small horses because we need the mental stimulation they give us that a big horse cannot!

:

My friend is a very large, scary, hairy biker, he has a teeny tiny Yorshire terrier he takes with him on his bike. He has nothing to prove, he is confident in who he is.......and nobody would ever take the mickey out of his little doggy! :lol: :lol:

.........BTW, when I am out on my Icelandic and a big horse rider joins up wityh me for the ride, the big horse cannot keep up. That tends to shut them up.

My friend used to drive her pair in trials, she was up against pair horses. They used to give her a 5 minute start........she beat the lot, then one year they took away her head start........she still beat them!! :lol: :lol:

 

[chandab]

.........BTW, when I am out on my Icelandic and a big horse rider joins up wityh me for the ride, the big horse cannot keep up. That tends to shut them up.

I read this and it reminds me of my FIL. He has Percherons and Fjords that he drives. He likes to go on the wagon trains they have around here during the summer. Sometimes he takes the Percherons, sometimes the Fjords. When he takes the Fjords, he can not be in the lead; the Fjords just go to walking and they'll out walk every other team on the train. They'll slow down to fit in if they are behind another team, but if they are out in front they'll walk the legs off the other teams. Man, can they move out and they are so well-behaved.

 

[NMMack]

And one time about 12 of us decided to get together and show them, lol, went to a local show and got ready around the corner then all came out at once to head to the ring right through all the big horses, LOLOLOL, almost started a stampede! All the big horses FREAKED seeing all these little WELL BEHAVED beggers coming around a corner at once! Price of the class per horse $5.00, reaction of the big horse owners and horses, PRICELESS!

krisp

OMG this is Priceless!!! I would have done bodily harm to see this!!! LOL!!!!

:

I never seem to have this problem in our area, we live in a very Mini intensive area. But when the guys at work try to give me a hard time about having Mini's, I just wink and say, "What are they good for?? They make Momma Happy, and if Momma Happy, Papa Happy, and Papa is VERY happy!"

:

I figure that I don't have to justify their existence, or my loving them to anyone as long as they make us happy!

Life is too short to worry about other people's ignorance! Instead of getting upset with them, just give them a huge smile, and a look like, "You don't know what you are missing..." and leave them wondering!

:

Nancy

 

[LeahMurray]

. . . I am so tired of getting that look. . . What do you say to someone who thinks your horses are misfits? . . .

Stacye

I just grin and say, "Well, without these guys, none of the BIG horses would eat: these are the draft horses that haul round bales AND fresh water every morning to the field horses."

I've also been known to say with a dead straight face, "They are MUCH easier to watch tv with than the Morgans." or "My Clyde doesn't fit on the foot of the bed anymore." or "Couldn't get that dang quarter horse house-broke no matter what!" or "Couldn't afford a new trailer, so I went with something I could haul in the mini Cooper." or "He used to be an American Paint, but I left him out in the rain with my Shetland sheep, and they ALL shrank."

I have a rather sorry reputation for having a smart mouth -- ya think??? -- but it does usually disengage their mouths long enough for the brains to kick into gear. For those whose brain gears are already stripped, I can usually come up with something they do that is just as illogical, and tackle that with a smart lip and sharpened tongue.

My husband got the answer, "They cost too much to let me buy any more house pets." He never asked again what they were good for.

My adored father was the hardest to convince: he has the same kind of smart mouth I do (gee, do you think there might be a connection here?), and his comments were sometimes hardest to take just because they were SO on target that they stung more. And he doesn't like horses at all, or any other kind of livestock, having grown up a city boy to the bone. One day in response to some of his stinging remarks, I said, "They are the only males I know who have the sense not to talk when their mouths are full of anything brown." This took almost three whole seconds to register with him and then he changed the subject, and never went back to ribbing me about it again! LOL

Sometimes a memorized smart-butt answer will do more to end the ribbing than anything you can possibly say to hand back the pain.

Leah M.

 

[MiniHoofBeats]

I'll tell you my story..

Up until recently I used to be teased for having the "short ones in the barn" - just to explain, my step mom has big horses and she has a friend boarding her big horses at our place, where I also board my mini's. I used to get this all the time, of course they thought my mini's were cute too and by no means picked on me in a harsh way. BUT, just 2 weeks ago, our friend who boards here had a very unlucky mishap...one of her horses, which has no respect for people (always in your face and pushing you away) got over-excited when she brought out the grain, swung his butt around and slammed our friend face first into the frozen ground. Broke her nose, broke her cheek in 3 places, multiple fractures in her cheeckbone and along her bottom jawline...it didn't take her too long to mention "Steffanie really must be onto something with the smaller horses!"

(She kept a very positive attitude and just had re-constructive surgury last Thursday, she's doing great!)