In Which Steel's Pet Is Peeved. · 7:49pm Nov 10th, 2015
Pardon me while I rant about something for a bit.
I see this in comments on different stories far too often.
Ponies don't have feet, they have hooves.
You meant legs, not arms.
Ladies and gentlemen and alien visitors checking random pages of the internet, let me set you straight.
Ponies have arms, and feet, and toes.
Now, you're looking at this and I can already see you reaching for your phone to call bullshit, but it's true. Those legs up in front? They're called arms. You can also call them forelegs, because they are that as well, but it's not incorrect to call them arms. It all depends on context.
This is important because when Rarity holds Fluttershy in her arms and stares deeply into those gorgeous cyan eyes, I have no wish to use the word forelegs in place of arms. It looks awkward and reads horribly.
Likewise, when Pinkie has to get up on her tippytoes so she can reach up to kiss Twilight because she's gotten taller and oh gosh one day she'll need a stool, I don't wish to use the word hooves there.
Now, that being said, when saying Rainbow rocked back on her hooves in shock because Applejack got right up in her face and angrily kissed her, using feet or toes in place of hooves doesn't help the sentence and actually makes less sense.
Don't look at me like that, I am a shipping author.
Oh, and one final point.
Ponies know what hands are.
They interact with species that have these appendages. They are aware fingers exist. They don't have them, but they are at least aware of what they are and what purpose they serve. There are many examples of items that ponies use that have likely been manufactured by hand-bearing species.
Sorry, had to get that out of my system.
YES
YES
SHOUT IT LOUD
Just remember Rainbow Dash doesn't know what hands are. :V This is just her, though, because she's a little
Thank you for pointing this out!
3533948 Well, the solution there is to have her fly by Iron Will juggling. Then she will learn what they are.
3533963 Thank you for not peeving my pet.
3533988
You're welcome!
I try my best to not peeve pets.
I gotta disagree with you on toes. Yes they have them but calling since only the one toe isn't vestigal it's really odd. Also the example sounds insanely odd since you don't rock back on your toes, but your heels. Ponies have those for sure even if it's part of the hoof.
Feet is in fact very general so yes it doesn't matter unless it's a professional situation where the pony talking has to be specific it's not required. Arms sounds little odd but makes enough sense and is obviously accurate.
And yet at the end of Equestria Girls Rainbow Dash says, "What are hands?"
You know what I find interesting. You know that every creature in Equestria that has hands or hand-like appendages only have four fingers. And in Equestria Girls, they have fingers because that's how human hands are. It's not really conducive to this conversation, but I just thought it interesting.
3534028 She's still up on her tippytoes so she can smooch Twilight. Saying tippyhooves is silly and you should feel silly for even suggesting it!
And rocking back on your heels is... eh. I think hooves reads better in that sentence and I will die on that hill.
haha that's great ! maybe you should write a fanfiction about it to bring this point home
you know, like moot wings ?
THANK YOU! You just NAILED it!
3534039 Yes, but as PP pointed out, Dash is not the brightest.
I don't think I've commented on arms/feet but I've noticed them a few times here and there.
May I still flinch if I notice a story talking about a pony's hands?
3534198
Those twiggly little tentacle-things at the end of your hooOH CELESTIA what did I step in?!
3534043
Now that you've mentioned it, I'm finding Tippyhooves adorably silly.
3534043 Toes and heels work just fine. The front part of the hoof is called the toe. The middle section is the quarter, and the hind portion is called the heel. So rocking back on your heels or getting onto your tippy-toes is perfectly reasonable.
3534241
This all reminded me of something.
derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/2/7/236319__safe_twilight+sparkle_pinkie+pie_comic_artist-colon-taco-dash-slayer.jpeg
3534028
Technically speaking, a "foot" is "the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion". Thus, hooves are, technically speaking, feet - so are paws, or the toes of creatures like llamas. Referring to a horse's foot isn't wrong.
Note that the end of insect limbs are sometimes referred to as "feet" as well, despite not even being analogous anatomical structures.
On the other hand, horses cannot roll back on their heels - heels are an anatomical structure that horses actually do lack (or, more precisely, have, but it isn't something that touches the ground). Horses more or less "walk on their toes" from an anatomical perspective, which is something humans CAN do as well. But if you think about this, where is your heel when you do that? Raised off the ground. On a horse, it is a part of their leg - it is immediately below their ankle, and it doesn't touch the ground at all.
The only way a horse could rock back on their heel is if they broke their lower leg.
3534417 And I fail horse anatomy. Whoops.
3534043 It's just that rocking back specifically puts your toes off, or at least less on, the ground. It seems really backwards. Though as of the above that doesn't work and I don't really have anything other than hoof which is indeed iffy.
And I somehow missed that second example with Pinkie entirely but I love tippyhooves, especially as something Pinkie would say.
"Saying tippyhooves is silly..."
More funny than silly, really
And I just let the whole thing be regardless of if it's arms, forelegs, feet, hooves and all that jazz.
I am with you 1200% on this (typo, but I'll leave it).
This post.
media.giphy.com/media/AeWoyE3ZT90YM/giphy.gif
But... But I love the word tippyhooves... How can Pinky not get up on her tippyhooves for Twliight face lovin'?
You know, I'm not even sure if i'm serious or not.
Point of order: Ponies cannot "get up" on their toes, because they are always on their toes. Laying their feet flat is either impossible or very difficult.
3534994 Noted and amended to tippytoes, even if the tippyhooves thing does sound adorably Pinkie Pie.
3534241
Only if the story is not specifically tagged Anthro or human.
I don't know if I trust a chart that is using ponies as an example for horse biology. I mean It could be true, but from what I can tell ponies biology is a bit different to horses.
I mean, I don't care. Ive never thought twice about the word when I read it in a fic, I'm not enough of an asshole to correct tiny shit like that. I know what the author is trying to say and beyond that I don't think there is any reason to correct someone so..
3535062 I appreciate that, and just so you can confirm with something a little more scientific...
holistic-hoof-and-horsecare.com/image-files/horse-anatomy-02-large.jpg
As you can see, even on horses, it's called an arm.
3535118
Well there you go.
3534267
Oh well that's a cute art style. I wonder-
3534039 As others said, Dash can be pretty... not smart. ;)
Anyway, I use that chart, too! :) And you're 100% correct, too.
omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/horses/facts/12-019f2.jpg
Don't forget that image. But yeah, the fact that horses have toes is something really obscure, and not shown on the image provided. But they do have them ^_^.
This post... I agree everywhere