My barn does themes at local shows, so we go through a lot of names over the course of a season.
Some of my favorites have been:
Polar Vortex
Chapter 11
Pixie Dust
Rocket Science (as shown by the daughter of one of the men who worked on the Mars rover)
Oscar Meyer
Continental Drift
There was a pony at my childhood barn who went as Chocolate Ridiculous.
I was recently leasing a paint called Sawyer at home and was planning to show him as Paint the Fence. I love some of the clever paint names above…Benjamin Moore is awesome!
Following because I am trying to choose a name for my new hunter! He’s dark bay/brown almost black and has a sailboat shaped star. There is a hunter on our circuit named “O.M.G”. So funny.
I swear I saw an article on here about a white pony named Asparagus. I don’t know why but i found it hilarious and adorable at the same time. And desperately wish i could have a pony and name it asparagus.
My big chestnut OTTB gelding has the barn name of Clifford, as he reminds me of the the big red dog. His JC name is Foolish Comment, which just doesn’t seem to fit him so I am showing him as Giantsbane. For GOT fans they will know what that means… he is a little wild and goofy at times but lovable and loyal. Plus his sire is Giant’s Causeway, so I think its more fitting!
My retired jumpers dam’s name was Be Bright Lea… She was a grand daughter of Bull Lea… She had a filly named Tiara, who’s Sire was Triple Crown. So I always thought that was a cool way to acknowledge the bloodlines.
What about using the name of a sailboat maker? I went sailing on a Beneteau boat. Beautiful boat… and as an added plus they have a cool seahorsy logo!!!
When I showed as a kid there was a horse named - Feed Bill - not very hunter-esq but cute.
One of my current horses; his show name is one of my favorite songs - Unwritten.
I think board game names are cool too. I had a horse named Yahtzee. Friends horses and other ideas - Monopoly, Uno, Ticket to Ride, Stratigo, Candyland, Mastermind, Jenga, Catan, Guess Who.
I had a dark bay hunter mare that showed as Bittersweet (like the chocolate) as she was that exact shade.
I may be in the minority here but the name Strapless always makes me cringe. I dunno-- just does not have the same connotation for me of class and elegance that it has for others. When I first heard the name, I thought, dreadful, who would come up with that?
In general I like names that give some idea of the horses’s bloodlines, like you see in the jumper ring. I think it is a shame to lose that information when the horse is in the hunter ring.
Among the Stars; Showdown; Vintage Year; Up in Smoke; Not Always; names from the past that were some of my favorites. Much prefer these than the foreign lanquage ones!
I like the registered name of the horse best of all. Bad luck to change the name ( which is not really true) but why change the name>? You should be proud of the horses breeding (which names usually represent) and keeping the names on the papers gives info to breeders. If nothing else more credibility to the actual horse’s identity. Why hunters have to have cutsie names is just a mystery. Jumpers seem to be more likely to keep registered names. And , yes , I know that is not the purpose of the post but JMO. j
And sometimes the breeder gives a horse the same name as a very famous horse, so it’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t. My horse’s breeder named him Ravel 21—number got dropped when he was imported to North America. Woulda changed it except I bought him at 17 with a very long FEI record that I wanted to preserve, and it seems silly to change the name at that point.
Breeders choose some pretty horrendous names sometimes, and like it or not, hunters are a subjective sport. I think of names as being of similar importance to say, turnout—might not make a huge difference in the placing but it can certainly makes an impression on the judge, for better or worse.
i think Strapless is one of the best names ever. I come from the era of phrases as names and I know that isn’t popular for anything but ponies, but I still kind of like it. Don’t get me wrong, there are some fabulous one word names out there, but…
B’ah. Naming is a privilege of ownership. Think of all those lost dogs/cats in the pound with no names because they have no owner. When you become the owner, you get the chance to pick a name that suits you. And because we aren’t all the same, we all like different types of names. For instance, I really dislike most jumper names. They are blah to me. Hard to pronounce and no meaning. I do like name that call back to breeding when they are clever (love the Alla’Czar names, etc). I love names that are a play on words (Rollingwood has some great names).
Of course you can name a horse anything but first breed your own, name it or put farm letters after the name( which I personally do not like) and then sell it. Next time you see it the name is Lost a Sock or some other drivel. . The only name I ever thought awfull was a race horse “Shesa Mule”. I also dislike any Sheza or Heza things Lots of names I dislike but will still not change . If it is a good horse a name is squat!.
