#they are animals bred for use and not leisure and that's the sentiment he grew up with as well

[normalbrothers]

tommy loves horses of course, and there's a lot going on there (re trauma), but he has a pretty utilitarian view on them most of the time; it's not as much of an affectionate relationship to the animals as i think fandom seems to believe. there's also rather a greater symbolic meaning in general to him than bonding himself emotionally to a single horse, the way it tends to be with most horsey narratives

#he *uses* them and i think it has something to do with his self image and - as i said - trauma #horses as vehicles as tools in war race horses etc etc #dunno where i'm going with this; i think there's some opportunity to do something w that in the movie #he surely was different here before the war and you can clearly imagine little tommy spending all the time at the stables #and talking more to the horses than to any of the people around or in general but yeah #his overidentification with something that he tends to objectify & then again not all his horse comparsions or metaphors are positive or #positively connotated either #& it's also a class thing even as there's an affectionate layer to this he wouldn't look at a horse and see a cherished coddled pet #they are animals bred for use and not leisure and that's the sentiment he grew up with as well