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Lopoddity — Notes on Equus Terra
#pandoraverse #mlpmylittlepony #lopoddity
Published: 2019-09-29 03:15:55 +0000 UTC; Views: 189141; Favourites: 4766; Downloads: 780
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Description
some notes on earth ponies, the oft under-appreciated third of ponykind
Earth ponies are the strongest and hardiest of all ponies. They are the most widespread, found in every corner of Equestria, from Appleoosa to the Crystal Empire. They are the most traditional ponies, clinging stubbornly to their ideas of hospitality, honesty, and humility. They may be the doofiest little ponies of all.
oof too many wurds
the magical hooves idea was borrowed with permission from , their original headcanon is here: 3-23-19 B [BeautyVerse Magic: Earth Ponies]
may do more notes on earth ponies in the future, there's a lot i can say about these idiots
more in this headcanon series:
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Comments: 265
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This is why I developed such a soft spot for earth ponies--- this lore is wonderful! Very creative and I'm sure it must've taken a lot of time to put together. Great job!
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I don't think I've seen much recent work involving AJ and Rarity - it would be lovely to see a more in-depth perspective of their relationship including with Magnolia. 
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Plot twist: Granny Smith is actually some sort of a god disguised as a pony to pull pranks and have fun outside of their usual god shenanigans.
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Can you do one on zebras too? These are very creative and fun!
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Thank you bc this is exactly how I headcannon them too gosh dangit
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Please tell me you're gonna do Changling stuff! I'd love to see what you come up with about them~
(other than the 'World Bits' post ya made :>)
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“World Bits” is a series by , not me. :>
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Oh heck. I looked at the side stuff and thought it was under “More by Lopoddity”
I'm so sorry ;;
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Time traveler from the future here. And I'd just like to point out your note about Pinkie being aligned to the forces of Chaos magic has aged like fine wine.
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbHYvn…
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I LOVE this stuuuuufff I just...I love all three of them.
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this is absolutely amazing and i adore it, but....horses...aren't matriarchal....stallions lead the herd not the mares, there is a lead mare who is highest in the pecking order out of all of the mares but stallions still control the herd, though with MLP being 90% female characters a matriarchal society makes sense, still, real horses, not matriarchal
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False. :>
"Contrary to popular belief, the herd stallion is not the "ruler" of a harem of females, though he usually engages in herding and protective behavior. Rather, the horse that tends to lead a wild or feral herd is most commonly a dominant mare. The mare "guides the herd to food and water, controls the daily routine and movement of the herd, and ensures the general well-being of the herd."
Although one (or more) stallions hold breeding rights and protects the herd from predators (and rival stallions), it's the lead mare who controls the herd's movement. The herd moves when and where she does. She leads them to grazing and water, she drinks first from watering holes. The lead stallion, comparatively, brings up the back of the herd, nipping at stragglers and defending from danger. That'd be why the madam in charge gets the name "lead mare", or "boss mare".
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no. it's not.
i don't know if you've actually read this paper but it's not about mare's being dominant in the herd at all. it's a review of the history of wild mustangs and their cultural significance as well as the issues with having them on the land due to the damage they cause. all of the data was qualitative and gathered from interviews, from what i can tell the researcher cited Hubert and Klein 2007, which appear to be wildlife photographers, there is no objective data at all to support those claims, and flatly, the writer of this paper is much more versed in historical and economical issues around rather than their behavior and herd dynamics. in fact, i couldn't even find the paragraphs you cited in the paper, which may be my fault, but the only relevant line i could find is: "The social structure of FRH consists of harems of polygamous families. One herd (50-300 horses) consists of several harems, each protected by a stallion and led by the lead mare" (from "relevant biology"). the only source for that paragraph was Hubert and Klein 2007, which again, i think the writer of the paper is talking about these guys: www.klein-hubert-photo.com/en/… (they could be talking about other researchers but the only scientific paper i could find was on pollination)
the other person she referenced was Berger 1986, and i genuinely cant find anything out about that paper, the best i got was a paper apparently on child psychology which i couldn't open and a lot about a formula one driver of the same name. if you can find anything relevant about these sources please tell me.
TLDR: the source you cited doesn't prove your point - the relevant data to your argument is cited from wildlife photographers - not behavior experts - and the researcher and paper is talking >90% about ecological and economical issues around wild horses than their behaviors - i'm honestly far too tired to re-read this damn thing for the sake of an internet argument (i'm currently convinced no one in history has ever enjoyed reading or writing an academic paper, i just spent 40 minuets trying to download )
i'm probably coming across as super mad but i had to read and skim read this paper like 99 times i'm dying inside man, i'm way too frustrated to spend another 90 minuets writing why the matriarchal theory of horse behavior is incorrect so just have this instead www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUxTdS… , Rick is a bit abrasive but he knows what he's talking about and doesn't dress it up. i don't agree with a lot of his views but honestly there's no one better on youtube when it comes to horses.
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God damn it, I'm sorry. I attached the wrong link, and now I can't locate the one I had. It seems the link is dead? www.advs.usu.edu/academics/pdf… The study I sent before was indeed about feral herd movement, not social structure. Better, more relevant sources:
esc.rutgers.edu/fact_sheet/the…
www.equine-behavior.com/Domina…
www.successful-horse-training-…
"A herd of wild horses consists of one or two stallions, a group of mares, and their foals. The leader of the herd is usually an older mare (the “alpha mare”), even though one stallion owns the herd. She maintains her dominant role even though she may be physically weaker than the others. The older mare has had more experiences, more close encounters, and survived more threats then any other horse in the herd."
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Apologies, but your "Rick" seems like a misogynist, or at the very least, someone with a very, very apparent anger at the idea of women being in charge? To quote his description box:
"Horse herds are NOT social engineering PC progression experiments, like the ignorance being taught to kids today."
What? That.....is not the sort of objective statement I'd expect out of an animal behavior researcher. He also says:
"Somebody sent me this little....article. It's [published] in Scientific American but that doesn't mean it's scientific.....And it's published by Wendy Williams. Aww, Wendy. She's such a good writer."
....Are you certain you want to use this unscientific, very condescending youtuber as your source? He attempts to refute the article by giving his own experiences, but anecdotes are not data. He's just a guy that seems curiously angry about the idea of women being empowered (and I'm not reading too deep, he repeats this multiple times), and projects that beef onto horse social structure research.
It's kind of like if I was really surly about male over-representation in movies, and then made a meandering youtube video about how lions aren't the REAL bosses of the pride, it's actually the lionesses, all the scientific articles are WRONG and I am RIGHT because I SAY SO, all the MALE researchers are just MAKING STUFF UP to feel EMPOWERED. Rick insists that facts don't care about feelings or "PC agenda", then distorts fact to protect his own feelings. Hmm.
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god damnit!!!! no wonder i couldn't find anything lmao
i dont have the energy to read another (never mind multiple) research papers, but on the topic of rick gore....
i dont honestly agree with his political views etc. but that wasn't the point, even if he is a grumpy sexist old man that doesn't change the fact that he knows what he's talking about when it comes to herd and horse behavior (something im frustrated to admit that i cant adequately explain in writing), as i said he's pretty abrasive, trust me, im female and a feminist myself and i dont agree remotely with the stuff he says about "PC culture" and the left wing, but i've watched tons and tons of his videos on horse behavior and goddamnit he's the only horse behaviorist who seems to have his head screwed on the right way and isnt trying to sell you something.
if im honest most of the talk about women pc culture etc etc seems to be largely tongue and cheek or just to mess with the hoards of abusive comments and emails he receives (mostly from people who ride with bits, barrel racers, and showjumpers, as well as general horse sportsmen/women, all people he's voiced distain for), if you watch some of his other videos (like his storytime videos for example) he really doesnt have any generalized malace towards women at all, he's just....a kind of sexist old man, a sexist old man that happens to know a lot about horses. do i trust his opinion on horse behaviour and listen to his horse advice? yes! absolutely!! does that mean i agree with his politics and point of view on society and the left wing? no!
At the end of the day i wouldnt have referenced a "unscientific" "very condescending youtuber" if you hadn't linked me a subjective, barely relevant paper made with purely subjective interviews and opinions i wouldnt have brought him up at all (i understand that that was a mistake, but still, context for why i linked him)
i would have liked to link a scientific paper but....im so....sick and tired....of reading academic papers..... and honestly im not prepared to spend hours in order to win an internet argument
a side note but i wouldnt get too mad about what rick says lmao, he gets a kick out of making people who dont like him mad i think dskjdfa
I honestly think we should just agree to disagree here, we seem to be at a rather large impasse. i apologise if i came over as angry in my last reply, i was just pretty frustrated after reading that paper way too many times pfft
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I am also not interested in arguing this further. I seriously don't think pretending to be sexist for to rankle others is really any better than just being sexist. Either way, this person is acting like an asshole to get a morsel of attention, no matter how negative, which is something children do. It's a pathetic behavior to see in a grown man. And honestly? I feel like his misogyny will inherently taint his observations and advice. It's evident in his complaining about "barn witches" and "stupid women mommying horses" (by having them wear blankets in cold weather?). He loses credibility in my eyes, because if I can't trust him to not be a sexist idiot, how can he be trusted to not be biased in his observations of horse behavior?
But sure, whatevs, you go on believing whatever you want to believe, excuse whatever sexist bias you want, idc. It doesn't affect me, nor my art. Have a swell day
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Your welcome, it is wild how something like that can be misconstrued as feminist “propaganda” despite it literally just being a case of that’s how shiz is. But yeah your on the money😊
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Hey, lop! I was reading through your papers and such that you linked and it just absolutely reminded me of this awesome horse comic i found called Horse Age. That's exactly how it works in the comic. The lead mare is old and wise and they follow her, but the stallion keeps the mares together; drives off older colts and challengers; and protects the herd as best as he can. If you haven't heard of it before, i think you'd really like it!
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It amazes me how much realism you put to into these headcanons. I never knew about the whole alpha mare thing.
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So this mean Spirit wasn't the leader of his herd? well another chilhood film that lied to me
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I mean, a children's movie is the last place to look for realism, especially when it comes to animals. :/
But if you look closely, Spirit and his herd do seem to follow a true wild horse social structure. Spirit's mother, Esperanza, is the leader- all the other horses follow her. Spirit himself serves to protect his herd from predators and danger, just like a real stallion.
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I absolutely love this?? Like I find your ideas and headcanons so cool!
I absolutely agree though: Earth ponies are under-appreciated. They deserve so much more love.
Would you possibly be doing one for changelings in the future? Or were you only doing ones for ponies?
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you should do one for the dragons or the changlings! :3
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Do you think you'll do pages like this for donkeys/mules, zebras, yaks, gryphons and the hybrids between some of these etc?
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Sandwich go squish
Also, it's the thought that counts for AJ, Rarity appreciates it regardless
I like the idea of leaning into the magical prowess of Earth Ponies, based on my affection for the fic Earth Ponies Are Overpowered.
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Does the amount of magic in their hooves determine their strength (Like Big Mac, Applejack, but mostly that hedgehog pony comes to mind, Lily Longstocking or something)?
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