how do you know if your animal is a partner without sex involved

[sadzoo]

so i made another post about this but i don't sexually find horse genitalia attractive BUT i find every other aspect of them attractive and ALSO!! i have a sort of romantic mixed with parental DEEP connection with them , my general romantic attraction to other animals too like dogs is basically a deep parental but also romantic attraction
my question is , how do i know if my relationship with my horse right now is romantic or "normal"? i wouldn't really engage in sexual activities with him (unless he magically started talking and asked for it lol) but i still love him very deeply like a lot!! and i joke that he's better than a boyfriend and whenever i'm with him i forget all my sorrows!!
Anyway i guess i'm just confused and rambling , at the end of the day it doesn't really matter what it is as long as it's lovd

 

[BrotatoChip]

Yeah maybe don't try to put a label on it? Just do your thing and don't try to fit a definition. Once you feel you're in a comfortable spot with it, then maybe use whichever label is comfortable as a shorthand, but don't try to conform to an external standard for whatever that shorthand is. I think if you put the cart in front of this horse so to speak (lol) things can get to be performative and weird.

I feel the same thing about the asexual label sometimes but I came at it from the opposite way like I described and now I feel comfortable with it even though I'm probably coloring outside the lines by someone else's standard.

 

[AppleDash]

I agree with the suggestion that labelling isn't always needed, it just makes things unnecessarily complicated. I can have a deep connection without it resulting in anything romantic or sexual. For instance, I have no romantic feelings for or sexual fantasies of the gelding with whom I now form a partnership, yet I know I would be heartbroken if anything happened to him.