How do ponies hold things?!?!

[cider float 2,536]

Adhesive body fluids. On a hot summer day things stick to your skin just like that they do the same. Dogs can also grab onto something using both paws just like that ponies do the same.

[Venomous 18,813]

They probably walk around with tape just in case they need to "hold" something.

...Like, that's honestly what I believe.

[prfan93 123]

They probably walk around with tape just in case they need to "hold" something.

...Like, that's honestly what I believe.

 

...Oh my Zordon, this just makes me laugh so hard.

 

Thank you for making my day so much better!

[sweetolebob18 724]

This has been a question since season 1.  Most frequent answer (in fan fics) seems to be some variant of "tactile telekinesis".  That is, they can make their hooves selectively sticky whenever they want to.

 

As Octavia's mastery of the cello shows, this can be fairly versatile.  Although, I remember seeing Apple Bloom writing by holding a pencil in her mouth.  So, obviously it takes practice & some are better at it than others. 

[hawkflame 3,308]

Didnt Canterlot Boutique show the letter being stuck to Pinkies hooves by tape in the beginning.

 

And how do non unicorns use scissors? We've seen scissors on the show, with finger holes and all. Hell, why do pony scissors have finger holes?

[Treble Bolt 1,122]

Well how do you explain the multicolored manes and coats? that's not close to reality...neither is hoof doing a hands job

 

It's just cartoon logic.....

[cider float 2,536]

Well how do you explain the multicolored manes and coats? that's not close to reality...neither is hoof doing a hands job

 

It's just cartoon logic.....

Yeah but it's funnier when people scramble around with ideas. 

[Kenshiro 13,492]

This should not hard be hold things by them because of using their joints more effectively than people

[best poni 1,518]

With their hoofsies! And also their magic.

Edited October 4, 2015 by Best Poni

[strange quark 42 3]

how do they hold things? two words......THE FORCE

YES ponies are secretly jedi

 

Edited November 6, 2017 by strange quark 42

[Le Trotteur Sauvage 13,049]

They occur to have a magic physic reaction on their hoof, maye some quantum invisible force... We need Eisenstein on this one !

[Foxy Socks 2,596]

Other than balancing, which is clearly disproven as there are scenes where they hold things that would make ot impossible. It seems apparent that they just have the objects stick to their hooves, and can probably make it drop at will too. Magic would explain it, but it is probably pretty weak and/or difficult to use as they often avoid it too.

[Lektra Bolt 2,337]

I feel tape is the most logical in world explanation since Lauren left the production team and gave up any influence. Mostly used by Pinkie, but it can be easily applied to others.

There have been a lot of hoof holding scenes that made me scratch my head.

There was the one time even the mouth holding became unfeasible that I remember, and that was when AJ used a hot poker to stir Zap Apple Jam or did something in it's vicinity. I forget now but it was an AJ episode for sure. It was clearly a metal rod, at least to me, and such things conduct heat. Unless it was a non heat conducing metal or had magic preventing as such. They didn't even show how this was held, probably due to being a hot object, and it was held off screen. A copout, but it got the scene done.

Use of scissors by EP with any sort of dexterity seems impossible without breaking the laws of physics. I'm sorry to all EP fans (and by extension fans of Babs), but except for Fluttershy's brother who is a Pegasus who have for a while now been shown to be able to use wings like fingers, there seems to be no way for Babs to be proficient in mane cuts. By design, scissors require two limbs or fingers to control. Unless she uses a gigantic scissors to put two hooves in which is unlikely, Babs is an example that breaks not only the rule Lauren set (no influence by the time Babs was created) and any sort of logical explanation that could be applied for EP in world. You can't control this with your mouth, as there's only one grip point there, and this is just an example of one real world gadget that requires two points of manipulation. Scissors being used by Earth Pony without the use of an extra gadget just baffles my mind. brain explodes

Although for a while I didn't know she expressly forbade sticky hooves until she gave up creative control, I've always had this rule in place for anything I have any kind of control or influence over. If I can help it, no sticky hooves.

Edited November 7, 2017 by Lektra Bolt

[strange quark 42 3]

Im tellin you the ponies are secretly force users they just never use their lightsabers after all what are the crystals made of in the canterlot mines if not kyber crystals or just silicates and rare gems im just waiting for a villain to show up and somepony say "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!" And just decapitate the bad guy with a lightsaber 

[Hierok 11,829]

I think it is magic. Just like flied is a kind of magic. 

[Adderbane 120]

I always thought that mlp pony hooves are more flexible than real horses, and they can grip some objects in the little groove at the back of the hoof.

[DubWolf 16,644]

With their hooves, silly  . How else do you think they’d manage to move things around  ?

 

[Aosera 28]

They hold it around or lift it with their magic. Despite having hooves its shaped in a way that can let you grab it like rubber hands.

[Thrond 3,257]

There are some things humanity was not meant to know. 

[Ichibi 1]

This post has been deleted

Edited June 1, 2021 by Ichibi
No delete button

[Ichibi 1]

On 2017-11-06 at 12:15 PM, strange quark 42 said:

how do they hold things? two words......THE FORCE

YES ponies are secretly jedi

 

 

On 2017-11-06 at 9:44 PM, strange quark 42 said:

Im tellin you the ponies are secretly force users they just never use their lightsabers after all what are the crystals made of in the canterlot mines if not kyber crystals or just silicates and rare gems im just waiting for a villain to show up and somepony say "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!" And just decapitate the bad guy with a lightsaber 

I mean the force is basically just space magic so technically ponies do use The Force

[JMTV99 1,348]

Beacause....cartoon logic?

[Happy Heart 308]

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/TdF8lbJjeMLFcmXAkYV3fUt-xQteTtgkRhyrhgtSHB0efzSkwlZwqOWHz2UCbc_ad2ppc9PNRMlQQmB0fGjdiHwti3uZEyfvJRaVcZ3a6HfoZ_t-Bz9ca_H0mTYyRYm7qhGxrlGl4F6zgC5CICEtgJgvyNnasDG5Fd4

 

 

 

Edited June 1, 2021 by Happy Heart

[BlackFaithStar 56]

Ah, this reminds me, I encountered one interesting theory on this while browsing TV Tropes the other day, I came across the trope page for "Fingerless Hands"
MLP:FIM can be found under the Western Animation folder, and here's what the first bullet point says:

Quote

• Horses can grab things with their hooves in a human-like manner, but this is usually averted due to the show's penchant for Furry Reminder. Most of the time, ponies use their mouths, wings, or magic to manipulate objects. Word of Saint Paul says any time this trope does happen is a writing issue that the storyboarders couldn't figure out a good solution to, such as one script requiring a character to use a pointer and speak at the same time. Fans that don't subscribe to the MST3K Mantra theorize that the in-universe reason is ponies being able to use a biological version of Granular Jamming.

The hyperlink in "Granular Jamming" leads to this image (which I can't shrink for some reason so it's under a spoiler):

Spoiler

There's also an Equestria Daily post which contains a vid explaining how the "jamming phase transition" of granular material is utilised in robotics.

This is the first take I ever saw on this theory and I found it intriguing, which is why I'm inclined to it for the most part.
But another theory such as ponies of all kinds being in touch with some sort of magic so it wouldn't be a stretch that they can generate a short-range telekinetic field with their hooves (rephrased from a comment on that Derpibooru post) sounds viable to me as well, which, then again, could be the Force all over again. Just adds to the fun of speculation, so considering other theories is also cool.

 

While brainstorming is fun and all, ultimately the answer to a lot of these in fiction is probably just cartoon logic.  No need to allow speculations on some inconsistencies to suck the fun out of a show , but maybe theorising regardless adds to the enjoyment of the show for some if it floats their boat. Sometimes it does, and then sometimes you need a break .

[Justin_Case001 4,858]

They hold things by the magic of 2D perspective.  Anything that we can't see from our vantage point doesn't matter, and stuff just sticks to their hooves like magic.