Horsey Guff - English

R

Relkeel

At the Start
Joined
Oct 21, 2003
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Have you ever wondered why people from a "horsey" background insist on using wafflely sayings like; "he will make a nice chaser in time", when all they really mean is; "He is big"?

I suspect they use this flowery guff to try to make it absolutely clear that they know much more about horses than suburban "oiks" like me.

Anyway, I admit that when it comes to horse flesh, I am a (in their parlance) a "backward type", but luckily I have, over the years, been able to compile my own special "Horsey Guff to English" dictionary of sayings...

He's an old fashioned chasing type - He is big
He's a scopey type - He is big
He's a stuffy type - He is big
He is an embryo chaser - He is big
He's a big, backward type - He is a big and stupid
He is a late maturing type - He is big
He is a close-coupled type - He is small
He is a compact type - He is small
He's a nippy type - He is small
He's a lovely type - He's a lovely horse
He's a leggy sort - He has legs
He is carrying a bit of condition - He is not fit

What's your favourite? Have I missed any?
 
Oh, and how could I forget...

Anything he does over hurdles is a bonus as he won't come into his own until he jumps a fence - He is big
 
Agreed. "Carrying a bit of condition"; He's fat.

Along the same lines as Irish Stamp, "He's a thinker".

EDIT:

A colt entered with fillies possibly on heat; "Hasn't got his mind on the job". Ted Walsh would just blurt out 'He's horny'. Gawd bless him. :D
 
I'd love to see these expressions extended to human beings.

I'm close-coupled and carry a little condition. I am likely to come on for any future outing. I forget what it's like to be coltish even if my mind is on other things.
 
They frequently are DO in racing environments :laughing: esp the bit about carrying condition

Very amusing Relkeel but I feel you are missing the finer points of some of these cliches, eg:

He's an old fashioned chasing type - big, with a very big heavy head
He's a scopey type - He will grow like topsy, back him next year
He's a stuffy type - it's very hard to get the condition off him, loves his grub
He is an embryo chaser - He's too unfurnished and weak to win a race this year over hurdles
He is a late maturing type - He may never win a race
He is a close-coupled type - He is short in the back so doesn't have much scope over a fence
He's a nippy type - He is small - and prob flat bred, likely to get beat over a distance
He's a leggy sort - He has legs so long they might get in his way/get broken in a fall
 
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