The Daily Dumb

[goodhors]

We tend to stick with a shorter form of a registered name as a barn name. Bugatti was my husband’s 40th birthday horse. Couldn’t have a sportscar, but Bug was a VERY cool horse! Alyss from Alyssum, Lia from Liatris, Indy from Indigo. The one “odd” name was Lewis, purchased as an older horse. He had been bred by a well-known jokester, then sold as a yearling. He KNEW his Lewis name, responded to it, so we left him Lewis for his driving career with us. He was registered as Amewsing. Took me a bit to find the humor, I thought it was some family or Native American name! One other horse, 2yr old, actually had a Native American name, which was not easily yelled, nor shortened. Just didn’t roll off your tongue well, so she got a new name on her registration papers and in the barn. Short, distinct, sweet.

Being driving horses, they MUST know their name, not able to get it mixed up with the other horse names. Then they can respond individually when name is called. We want friendly names, easy to call, good connotations behind them. Same with the dogs and cats, nice names, easy to say, short and distinct.

We don’t repeat a name on a new animal. One friend has had 3 “Reds”, 2 “Rustys” which makes my memory hurt as she tells stories from the past and present!! Ha ha

[2DogsFarm]

@TheJenners

I just don’t get it other than an owner flexing ownership.

Late to the party, but (IMHO)that’s a bit harsh.
I’ve done both & no “flexing” was ever intended.
Perhaps my Pic Overload counts as a flex?

-Got my TB with the barn name Vernon from a track trainer who had bred him & intended to register with JC as Wings of Winter. Vern failed his 2yo speed test, never got registered & ponied for trainer for the next 4yrs. Then I bought him.
Coincidentally, the Ernest T Bass “Hey, Vern!” movie was popular that year.
So: show name was Hey Vern!, barn name stayed Vernon.
Failing as a 2yo:

Redeeming himself as my Hunter:

DH’s TWH came to us registered as Somebuddy’s Dream
Did not work for us
We never changed the registration, but Tom picked the show name Steppin’ Out, kept Buddy as a barn name
Doing their 1st Event:

My 1st TWH was registered as Cash’s Bay Threat (Coins Hard Cash & Triple Threat lines)
I kept Cash as barn & show name.
Camping at Brown County:

My WB was registered Jaybee Altair by his Australian breeder. Came to me from a FL trainer who bought him for resale & called him Buns for his buckskin color.
I renamed him Sam for my Dad who had died just before I got him. Show name: Don’t Tell Me, for a saying Dad used to shut down arguments with me or my brother
Hanging out:

Hackney Pony - a freebie from my shoer, gotten to keep Sam company was registered as Fox’s Brownberry by his breeder.
I renamed him Kouma, Japanese for pony. Full name (on the stallplate) Naraku Kouma = Hell Pony. He was a Wildchild when I got him
Hanging with Sam:

Current TWH was a gift from a friend when I lost Sam in 2015.
She bought him from a guy who was mistreating him on the MI Coast-to-Coast ride (horse had saddle galls & was 300# underweight). She horsecamped with him for 6yrs, called him Harley.
I kept that name, show him as He’s My Harley.
Ride at the fairgrounds:

Mini came to me as a 2yo named(not registered)by breeders: Wyndfyre’s Missing in Action aka Houdini for his baby habit of rolling under fences.
I changed it to Bugs, show name Wascally Wabbit for his white-lined ears
Doing what we do best:

[ThreeWishes]

Raises hand in shame lol. I changed my at the time 6 year old horse’s name. Coming from hunter land I’m pretty sure the name he came with was installed by the trainer who put 6 months on him and won the pre greens. It was Carson City. Just didn’t fit. He’s the kindest most jovial animal I’ve ever met. I swear he has a sense of humor. I named him Happy Hour. Aka Happy. If you knew me that name would make sense also . I also call him Choo Choo (I have no idea why. )
I can say that if I call his name from across the pasture from my truck as I drive up he gallops to the fence line.

[TheJenners]

@Mercedes2

Have fun judging other members of your equine community for something as petty as a name change.

Wow you’re salty

[TheJenners]

@anon40672407

I’m pretty sure I couldn’t stand to own a horse named “Dream come true”, so I’d have to change it back.

Right. She is a nice lady just somewhat innocent and childlike. It’s not a bad thing! She is a school teacher, and I bet amazing at it

[TheJenners]

@2DogsFarm

I changed it to Bugs, show name Wascally Wabbit for his white-lined ears
Doing what we do best:

Need to see these white-lined ears!

[BatCoach]

yeah - I’m a grown-up and have no desire to have a horse with a cheesy “My Little Pony” name. I would say that I do like to keep an OTTB’s JC name as a show name. It makes it easier to track the horses’ career for past connections, and makes performance bloodlines easier to research.

[Spudsmyguy]

My TB’s registered JC name is “Buds a Flyin’” and they called him “Buddy” I changed it to “Spuds McKenzie” aka Spud. He definitely knows his name, I can call him when he’s in the pasture and he always looks up. The other couldn’t care less.

I think I’ve changed the name on every horse I had except for my first TB Serenade Hy and my most wonderful mountain horse Woodrow, he came with the name Woody but needed a more dignified name so became Woodrow, which is close.

[MsM]

I have both changed and kept my horses call names. Interestingly, for those who have superstitions, the most unlucky horse was the one whose call name I kept! The horses that I had early on had already had multiple owners and the owner I purchased from had given them the current name. I think they came to recognize me more than their name. In a boarding situation the folks taking care of the horses dont tend to use their names a lot so it is understandable.

Current horse came with a call name the same as another horse at the barn. It didnt suit him anyway. That owner had him for less than a year and didnt know what others had called him apart from his registered name. He reacts when I call his current name, but I dont know if it is the name or me!

[RMJacobs]

I didn’t change names if I knew what it was, but two of my rescues came with no background at all. My then-10-year-old daughter named the light gray pony Salt (her black dog was Pepper), and I kept the rescue’s barn name of Sassy for my Paint mare (of course, her full name became Sassafras, to fit in with the food theme I had going). My neighbor then got a GSD puppy that he named Sahara, Sassy for short. It got a bit confusing at times.

My Hackney pony was registered, and had a name change long before I owned him. He became Get Crackin’ which suited him perfectly, hot boy that he was. I asked the seller what his barn name was, and she said “I just call them all horse.” Ugh.

I kept his registered name. His barn name with me morphed depending on his mood. When he was cute and affectionate, it was Crackers. When he was having a snit fit under harness, it became Crackhead. He showed absolutely no sense of self preservation at times. Somehow neither of us ever got hurt.

Rebecca

[SuzieQNutter]

Like others I don’t usually change their name.

Hubby bought a mare and called her Twiggy. I had told him a story about breaking in a gelding called Twiglet.

I said no you can’t change her name, what is her name?

Dolly.

Eep. Twiggy it is.

[shiloh]

aaaaahhhh…He is STUNNING!!! Grey is my fave color.

[ThreeWishes]

Thank you !!! He is my heart.

And honestly I understand the superstitions and pet peeves.
But for the horse who I care for like a King, spend an inordinate amount of $ on, and spend so much time 7 days a week on … if I want to call him Senor Fluffy Pants From The House Of Greyskull. Then that’s my prerogative!

[shiloh]

[SummerRose]

@ThreeWishes

if I want to call him Senor Fluffy Pants From The House Of Greyskull. Then that’s my prerogative!

A trainer I worked for named one of his Welsh ponies “Prissy Pants.” Seriously.

I think a name change by the new owners might have been justified. But it really did fit her very well …

ETA - I bought the horse in my avatar pic (and user name) from him. Gorgeous rose gray as a youngster. So the trainer unimaginatively named him Rosie. Yep, he was my gelding named Rosie (aka Rose).

[Ghazzu]

My homebred stallion is named Minglewood Blues.
His barn name was ‘Sprout’.
When I sent him off to be started, I got a phone call from the trainer to inform me he’s arrived safely.
Then he said, “It says on the notes you sent that his name is ‘Sprout’. That’s a baby name. I will not be calling him ‘Sprout’… I will call him ‘Blue’”
I said, “Hey, Paul, call him whatever you want.”
"Paul: “I just wanted to let you know, because if you call here to ask how he’s doing, nobody will know who you are talking about. You need to ask about ‘Blue’.”
I said, “Fine!”

When he returned home, he came with a nice Schneider’s sheet, on which was embroidered ‘Blue’."

[atr]

If I have to change a name, I try and come up with something that has some similarity in sound or inflection or first letter or syllable so it’s easier for the horse to learn it.

When I bought my most recent horse, our new barn owner was also in the process of buying a horse, which is basically for our trainer to go out and beat the world on.

They have the same registered name and are stalled next to each other. (No chance of confusion there! Not much–mine’s the small overachieving chestnut, hers is the royally bred gigantic black warmblood…)

She beat me to the obvious diminutive, so I had to come up with something else, as I rather hated the barn name he came with and wanted in any case to give him something of a fresh start. I actually don’t love his “new” name, but my husband picked it, and if that’s what it takes to get him interested, I’ll deal with it!

[PNWSunnyDay]

@RMJacobs

Crackers. When he was having a snit fit under harness, it became Crackhead

I called a pony “Cunty McWhiskers” last night when she was being cheeky in the crossties. Not planning on getting this engraved on a halter anytime soon, however.

[TheJenners]

@PNWSunnyDay

I called a pony “Cunty McWhiskers” last night

That is awesomely funny! May steal it for my pony tbh, this is how she greeted me this morning

[2DogsFarm]

I’ll see if I have one…
I knew he’d keep the white when I saw his dam. Same ears
Found one
This from Hoosier Horse Fair.
The sign was a happy coincidence