What do you think about ponies milking sapient cows

4666321 I see nothing wrong with that. It does not seem unlikely that the cows object, considering that they willingly stay on farms, which would preclude an agreement to give up their milk.

4666321

I suppose I hope the cows get payed.

4666340 Come to think of it, how would ponies milk the cows. They don't have hands and probably don't have the technology to do it (apart from maybe Film and Flam)

4666376 If they didn't then it would be slavery. Or the cows just didn't care.

4666383 Unicorns have horns.

4666383

This is probably one of those things we're not supposed to think too hard about, like how they are able to use doorknobs or spears, etc.

They can do it, somehow. Just accept it and relax.

4666383

They wrap their lips around a teat, suck real hard, and then spit into a bucket.

4666383

Come to think of it, how would ponies milk the cows. They don't have hands and probably don't have the technology to do it (apart from maybe Film and Flam)

Well you should be pretty concerned with how Pinkie breaks the laws of science all the time. Hooves can milk cows just as good.

Given how I think pony magic and cows interact, I'm sure most cows hold the attitude of, "Hey, it's better than being a thoughtless animal waiting to be beset upon by timberwolves."

4666393 In farms, dairy cows go spontaneously in the milking parlor. Being milked is not unpleasant for them, while not being is painful. Probably in Equestria cows have their calf with them, but a dairy cow is selected to produces several times the milk required by the calf.
If not paid, is possible that, between them and the ponies, there is an agreement like: "we build the stables for the night, we protect you from the timberwolves, we gives you medical care. You do whatever you want all day long, but you gives to us your milk surplus".

4666383
Wow. There really are people today who are still confused by the hoof/hands thing.

4666949 Well, I only discovered mlp 8 months ago, so I'm relatively new to the fandom

4667070
Oh. Well, welcome to the herd.

Watch enough episodes of MLP, and you'll notice that ponies use their hooves for a lot of things that it would be impossible to use hooves for. You'll also notice Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Apple Bloom will use their hair (mostly in the tail for the Apples, mane with Pinkie) to hold, manipulate, and otherwise interact with some things on occasion.

You're on your own for deciding how you reconcile that. As far as hooves go, for real equines, the underside of the hoof is not a flat hard surface. The hoof really is more like a big nail, and the shape of a horseshoe matches the leading edge of that nail. Just like the tip of your finger is partially surrounded by your own nail. Since four of the five "toes" of a horse are more or less fused together to form that hoof, the "tip of the finger" portion is a little more complicated than the tip of one of your fingers. That area is called the "frog" on a horse, and some fans theorize that there is enough of a movable portion to it in ponies that they can do basic grippy-stuff with it.

There is also magic. Unicorns can generically use telekinesis with their magic. All three races have magic in them. It would be fitting for something along the lines of "telekinesis without the tele-" to be possible for all ponies. Using magic with a range limited to your own body seems intuitively easier and simpler than using it at a distance, therefore unicorns are still "the mages" in that their horn lets them use that magic at range.

I'm sure other theories exist. But the show never bothers to explain it, and whatever explanation you come up with or makes sense to you, it is obvious that ponies can and do use their hooves for far more dextrous purposes than is immediatly obvious. It's just a thing.

4666321
I realise that this is a bit f an old thread, but I thought that I would throw my tuppence worth in.
As a former Dairy herdsman who has owned 3 horses and now works with race horses, I can tell you that in reality it would be the other way round, Bovines are much more intelligent than equines. Your average cow can do everything that a horse can do, you just cant make her do it .
There is an old agricultural saying - A dairy cow has two speeds, dead slow or just slightly faster than the herdsman can run.

4899101 Conspiracy Time.
Cows actually rule Equestria, but do it in secret.
Or Princess Celestia is a cow who has fake wings and a horn, rules really well, but lets twilight do all the physical stuff

4900126
All hale our bovine overlords!