Gifts for horse dads
"Horse dad" can mean two different people: the father who owns and rides the horse himself, and the supportive partner whose wife/daughter rides while he funds the horse, ferries the trailer, and quietly accepts that the field is now where the family budget lives. Both versions deserve a Father's Day gift that goes beyond a generic mug from the supermarket.
Made to order · Free UK delivery · 4 to 9 working days
For the riding horse dad, the recognition is the same as any horse owner: the gift names the horse. For the funding horse dad, the gift can lean wryly on the funding role: a name print of "his" horse for the office wall is a recognised in-joke.
Prices below come live from the catalogue: each figure is the starting price of a product's first format, and the shop has the rest.
Ranked picks
- Horse Name Print: A3 print, or framed in black or natural wood. Office wall or hallway. Works for either type of horse dad.
- Horse Name Mug: For the desk at work or the yard kettle, used every day.
- Horse Portrait: The landmark-birthday piece: his horse made from a photo, on canvas, framed canvas, paper, metal or wood.
- The Grey Hunter: A charcoal-and-graphite study of a dappled grey hunter’s head. Reads as a proper piece of art rather than a novelty gift.
The two types of horse dad, and how gifts differ
Horse dad gifts address two quite different people. The first is the horse dad who rides and owns a horse himself: his gift brief is identical to any horse owner's: name the horse, recognise the bond, and the gift works. The second is the supporting horse dad: the partner whose wife or daughter rides, who does not ride himself, who pays the livery bill and builds the shelter belt and drives the trailer on show days while standing in the cold.
For the riding horse dad: the portrait canvas and name print are the obvious choices, using his own horse. For the supporting horse dad: the gift is slightly different in framing, a name print of "his" horse (technically the family horse, the one he has funded for five years) for the office wall carries a tone of affectionate acknowledgment rather than pure sentimentality.
Father's Day and birthday timing
Father's Day (mid-June in the UK) and the big birthdays are the obvious occasions. Each piece is made to order and standard UK delivery, which is free, takes 4 to 9 working days, so order well ahead of the Sunday itself.
The office wall and the hallway: where horse-dad gifts end up
For a riding horse dad who works in an office, the name print suits the desk or the wall: a personal statement in a professional context. An A3 print on the office wall works here, unframed or framed in black or natural wood.
For the supporting horse dad (the funding-and-driving type), a framed canvas of the horse suits the living room or hallway. The joke is that he funded the horse all year; he deserves a piece of art of it for the hallway.
If you meant the other kind of horse father
A fair number of people reach this page looking for breeding terminology rather than a gift. The short answer: a horse’s father is called the sire and its mother the dam; a stallion sires foals, a mare produces them. If it is a Thoroughbred, both parents are recorded in the General Stud Book — see what makes a horse a Thoroughbred, which covers why that register is unusually strict.