I'm not an expert in horses - strange thing for an Irishman to say, I know!!
No, it isn't. Lots of people aren't familiar with horses, even here in the Great Southwest of the US of A!
I was lucky: as a child, I lived not far from the race track, and in the summer, the stalls were filled. Rodeos were so common that every small town had an arena. Most of us kids learned to ride shortly after we learned to walk.