In the space of a few short years, TikTok has grown from what was known as the “dancing app” to a legitimate social media platform that has one billion users with content for education and entertainment purposes. In a small corner of this app, you will find a dedicated community of fans for “Nippy the TikTok horse”.

Nippy is a 19-year-old thoroughbred gelding from Ohio, USA, and his owner, Heather Terdan, started posting everyday barn life videos on TikTok in 2020. Heather had no idea some of these videos would go viral, resulting in her account accumulating almost 250,000 followers. To date, Nippy and Heather have one of the biggest equine accounts on the platform. But what is it that attracted so many people to form a virtual bond with a horse they have only met through a screen?

Nippy’s viral moment came when Heather posted videos of him performing his own chiropractic neck adjustments by swinging his head around to his shoulder until a small click could be heard. With Heather showering him with praise and treats, Nippy then raised his top lip as though he was smiling.

“It just started with me posting videos of us riding and I really didn’t notice many views from it, but then I started posting videos of him cracking his neck,” explains Heather. “I would do carrot stretches with him and it evolved into him cracking his neck on his own. That went viral and he had multiple videos of this with millions of views. And ever since then, he was known as the “cracking neck horse”. I think the viewers found his personality to be just really cute and sweet. It kind of started from there, but I didn’t realise it would grow. I remember I had like 40,000 followers and then like, two days later, there’s 100,000 and I just thought, ‘what the heck!’

“It’s such a niche thing, the viewers just love it,” says Heather. “Like, my energy combined with him being goofy. I found a lot of people find those cracking videos satisfying, not just with horses, but with videos of people on chiropractors’ accounts. I’m very humbled and grateful by it, to impact so many people and make them happy. I’ve had so many people send me and Nippy gifts and notes. And I will just cry because it makes me so happy that he can make the day of hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

“The support I’ve gotten from the viewers about him has just been so wonderful. I’ve made so many friends through TikTok, some I’ve met in person, some I haven’t. But some have said, ‘I’ve started taking riding lessons because of your videos’. It just makes me so happy that those videos of Nippy have rekindled their love for horses again.

WHEN NIPPY MET HEATHER

“I have been riding horses since I was about six years old,” explains Heather. “It’s just been a lifelong passion of mine. I’ve always loved horses. I grew up near a local farm taking riding lessons and I wanted to do jumping. I was very lucky that my parents supported me through that. Long story short, I leased a couple of horses, and then I wanted to get my own, so we ended up purchasing Nippy in 2011. He was trained to race but had an injury, so he never officially raced.

“He was my first horse and he was actually supposed to be a project horse, like I get him and I put some miles on him. But I got so attached and if you’ve seen the videos you’ll know why. He turned into the most rewarding, personable horse I’ve ever had, and I just couldn’t sell him. When I first got him, he didn’t really have that much personality, I think he was kind of just used to doing his own thing and not really having his person. So it was just incredible to see his personality come out and he just loves it. He loves being the centre of attention.

“When I first got him, we started in the hunter classes. But he was better suited to do the jumper classes, so we did the jumpers for most of the time that I’ve owned him. Around two years ago, we started doing eventing. His first owner actually ended up getting in contact with me and found me through YouTube back in 2013. She had got him as a two or three-year-old after he was sold off the track, and she tried to do eventing with him, and he wouldn’t do it for her. She couldn’t believe he was the same horse because she said he was so terrified of everything, like the water jumps and all of that. She was amazed to reconnect with me and see that he was now doing eventing. We have also been doing a little bit of bridleless riding, a few performances here and there, but honestly, I just do what makes him happy. I have so much trust in that horse that he’ll do anything for me and he’s just such a good boy.”

WHAT A PERSONALITY! 

While most of the world knows him as Nippy, the loveable bay thoroughbred is actually called Monty. Heather explains the nickname grew from his habit of being, well… nippy. “When I first got him, he was kind of aggressive in his stall, just kind of unhappy. And he was like that at the other horses and people sometimes. And so I would say ‘Nippy!’ when I got mad at him. Now, he’s the most personable horse and I think he thinks it’s funny. [The name] kind of evolved into all these variations on that name – Nippy, Dippy, Dmippy, Nimpy. He’s just so funny to be around and the nickname just kind of came out when I was with him.”

As Monty/Nippy settled into his new home, Heather was able to draw out his personality for which he has become so well known. “It took him a long time [to open up]”, explains Heather. “When I first got him, he was very just closed off and I don’t think he ever had a consistent person that truly understood him. Not to say he had a bad life or anything, but I just think he needed that particular person to understand him. I even find that to this day, he just has so much personality that comes through. Every day he opens up even more.”

OPENING UP

A common problem many people have with new horses is finding a way to draw their personalities out. Some have bigger personalities than others, and although it may take some time, the process can be incredibly rewarding. “For me,” explains Heather, “it’s just consistency and building the trust. There’s no one answer to having horses open up. Each horse is different. They all have different personalities and quirks. It’s finding what they are most comfortable doing and bringing it out and making them feel comfortable.

“Recently I become a professional and I’ve been working with other horses and trying to help them out the same way I did with Monty. I think, as a whole with training horses, we need to be just more educated. We have resources and tools now, but I think it’s really good for people to be more educated. Even with people watching my videos with the things I do with Nippy, people notice the things I do with him like him letting me wash his face and the ground ties. Anybody can do that with their horses, you just have to find what makes that horse comfortable. And I truly think if horses are comfortable and trust you, their personality will shine every time.”

As part of her equine work, Heather trains and sells horses for clients. These new horses will occasionally make appearances in her videos, along with the regular favourites of Brevard, Peppy, Gucci, Dexter, and Opi the dog. The most recent face in the stable is a gorgeous palomino mare called May. “At the moment, she does have a very closed personality, but I’m pretty sure Nippy’s communicating to her and saying this is what you’re supposed to do. He’s an experienced horse and I think he’s telling her it’s okay. I find having a horse like him actually helps my training to teach other horses the confidence they need.”

Since Nippy’s videos went viral, viewers have been tagging Netflix in comments asking for a reality TV show starring Nippy, Heather, and their adventures. While this may just be a pipe-dream for now, Heather says she would love to explore the possibility. “I would die,” she laughs. “That would be so cool to have a short film or something. I have a background in photography, videography, marketing and digital design, so I think I could manage something myself and I have the experience.

“I really think because of Nippy’s audience, if a show was put together by Netflix or someone, it would do well. I think there would be a lot of interest. And we’d obviously make it more interesting than just cracking his neck, even if it was like ‘A Day in the Life of Nippy’ and maybe a history of where he started from. Even a PSA of ‘let’s do better for our horses’ and use it as an example to make them happy and give them a good life.”

CLINIC WITH BOYD MARTIN

Recently, Heather and Nippy participated in a clinic with eventer Boyd Martin who represents America in international competition but who was born and raised in Australia. “I had a clinic with him a couple of weeks ago, and it was so fun. Nippy was perfect, as usual. Boyd was a really nice, down-to-earth, good-hearted clinician that seemed to genuinely care about the horses and setting them up for success. I was thrilled to have met him in person because I adore him. I think he’s a fantastic rider and trainer.”

It’s unclear whether Boyd realised he was in the presence of Nippy the TikTok star, but as Heather says, she doesn’t draw attention to it in everyday life. “At the barn obviously, everyone knows because I go around the barn screaming and talking to the horses, but I try to be more on the quiet side if I don’t know somebody. It doesn’t usually come up in conversation. But when I’m out at shows, people know him and recognise him, and people will sometimes come up and ask ‘is that Nippy?’. So I don’t think Boyd knew but I wish I had asked him to do a TikTok with us because that would have been so cool, but maybe next time!” EQ

Check out all of Nippy and Heather’s videos on TikTok through their account: @heatherterdan.

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