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Comical AI-Generated Horse Images: Grooming, Chores, and Tack Edition

A handsome, well-groomed horseman

As I discovered earlier this month, artificial intelligence has plenty to learn about horses. I had so much fun compiling my previous article about AI-generated horse images that I couldn’t resist exploring what other hilarious interpretations of equestrian life Adobe Firefly might produce. 

AI-Generated Images of Grooming, Chores, and Tack

If you haven’t seen the first article in this series, you may want to check that out. Then, enjoy this collection of images that displays Firefly’s amusing lack of knowledge about horse chores, grooming, and tack.

I created these images using the same method as before: I entered a horse-related prompt into Adobe’s free generative machine learning model and sat back to savor the results. The exact prompt used for each image appears in the image caption.

Can Adobe Firefly Accurately Depict Horse Grooming Tasks?

First, I wanted to learn whether Firefly could create a decent image of a person grooming a horse. The answer to this is a definite “no.”

Every prompt I entered that requested a specific task came back with a similar result—a person smiling placidly at their horse’s nose while cupping their hands around the horse’s muzzle. Aside from this same basic set-up, Firefly tried to fulfill my requests by adding various comical accessories.

“A person trying to clean mud off a horse.” – Mmmm, mud!
“A woman giving a horse a bath with a hose.” – The hose lead rope is a nice touch, but it looks like this lady is bathing her horse at a splash pad for children—wait, that might work…
“A woman scrubbing a horse’s coat with a soapy wet sponge.” – Has this lady seen the weather? Let’s rethink the word “coat” here.
“A woman standing by a horse’s tail and brushing it out.” – Oops—wrong end.
“A teenage girl cleaning out a horse’s front hoof.” – At least this one is trying to include feet—somehow.

Okay, horse people do smile at their horses’ noses a lot, and there are plenty of actual poses like this on the internet. But—as far as I can tell—Firefly thinks you can do pretty much any equestrian task while staring lovingly at your horse’s face.

How Well Does AI Understand Horse Care Chores?

Similar to the grooming pictures, most of the horse chore images Firefly generated feature joyful people and equines with amusing props.

“A person scrubbing out a dirty bucket for horses.” – I bet that floating feature is handy when the bucket is full of water.
“A woman stacking bales of hay in a large pile while wearing gloves and sweating profusely.” – I tried to give Firefly useful hints here, but that extra finger must be really helpful because she’s enjoying this too much.
“A person putting metal shoes on a horse’s hoof.” – Classic.
“Two young people cleaning manure out of a horse’s stall.” – Creepy disembodied horse head aside, this is a remarkably hands-on technique.

Does AI Understand Different Styles of Equestrian Tack?

Generative AI may be able to identify and depict tack correctly someday, but based on these images, I’m not holding my breath for that to happen anytime soon.

“A quilted saddle pad for a horse.” – I could see this catching on. The popcorn border is a nice touch.
“A quilted saddle pad for a horse.” – The pad itself is slightly closer this time, but no one should be riding this poor animal.
“A horse wearing a western saddle.” – The hat makes this a solid attempt, if not quite accurate.
“A horse wearing a fly mask.” – It’s okay, Firefly. I guess COVID-19 left everyone feeling a little confused.
“A horse wearing bell boots.” – This is way too much fun.
“A woman cleaning an English saddle with a sponge.” – I’m confused about this horse’s conformation.
“A horse wearing a fly bonnet.” – I can’t wait to see this in the jumper ring!

Impressive Tech—Even When It’s Wrong

Yes, these images are hysterical. But, the technology is also pretty impressive. Sometimes the program adds extra limbs or distorts facial features, but the overall realism is a big part of what makes these pictures so bizarre and delightful.

The program’s abilities are likely to improve dramatically in the coming years. In the meantime, I plan to continue enjoying generative AI’s awkward learning stage whenever I need a pick-me-up.

Do you need more horse-related humor? View additional articles in our Horseplay category.

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