That reminds me of the old horseman’s saying that predicts that if you name your horse something like Beelzebub, they will come to embody that name, lol!
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I managed a farm that had a foal that could spin around like a wingnut, so they named her that. She took the name to heart unfortunately. We could never figure out why she was the way she was, her sire was pretty sensible and her dam was safe for young children to ride.
I’ve seen it happen both ways - horse either lives up to their less than ideal name (like Wingnut), OR is the complete opposite.
Hero was the most timid spooky horse, and Serenity has a screw loose.
This is why all my horses have human names. Fewer risks 
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I knew a Loki.
I suggested that his person get all new halter plates spelling his name Low Key.
They didn’t, and he wasn’t.
(Very cool horse. Politely called “quirky.”)
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I have a horse purchased with a registered name of Mastermind and I gave him a barn name that also plays on that theme of being very smart.
During a recent vet appointment every time the vet asked him to pick up a foot, he very politely picked up the wrong foot. Did this with every. single. foot.
Vet goes, “he’s not the brightest, is he?”
(He isn’t actually dumb, and he is young…but sometimes he has moments where his name is just especially ironic…)
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Maybe he’s actually brilliant, and just messing with you! 
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The one I think you are referring to is/was a successful racer and the name might have been French or something. These days using deliberate misspellings or foreign words is about the only way to get a name accepted by the JC.
ETA, no, Covfefe seems to trace to a mispelling lifted from a DT tweet, text or message that went viral.
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Yeah, it was definitely a political thing lol
On the name front, I have a superstition against naming any horse anything that promises success or a certain kind of temperament.
On the horse price front, I have had the amazing fortune to be riding a VERY nice hunter of late. Just flatting it, to help out the owner and the trainer. I own a quirky jumper and haven’t ridden hunters since I was maybe 14, but I am so in love with the quiet, balanced, rated ride that I was coveting a hunter of my own. This thread has convinced me that I belong in the jumpers. I can’t even afford the price of entry.
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I wonder if Nayel Nassar’s horse Lucifer had some evil tendencies.
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Well he broke Kent Farrington’s leg, so there’s that…
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An acquaintance had a horse named Stormin’ Norman who bucked her off regularly. She changed his name to Beau thinking it would make him a better horse to have a “cute” name. He still bucked her off. Surprise surprise
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I had to have an H name for breeding registry for a filly one year. When she shed out black bay I called her Ava. But the buck stopped to register her as Heavenly Ava … that could have been erroneous !! almost like an omen for the opposite, being a mare
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I once worked for a company whose name was a synonym of “specter” or “mirage”. It was a lovely name and I liked the logo… but I said from the start it was a mistake when we were choosing names and brand identities. Dissolved just over a year later… guess what the trade headlines all were? LOL.
I once had an appendix that came from a western background named Ranger and I just hated his name. I swear when I changed his name to Newton his training took a sharp turn and he turned into such a lovely lower level hunter.
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See, it’s risky to name them human names too. I picked up a horse off the track who didn’t have a barn name but his racing name was too suggestive to keep as a barn name. I named him Holden, after a character in a book I was reading about the American West in the 1800s. This character was enigmatic, a frontier tackler, intelligent, and later in the book had a bad side (oops).
Instead I think my Holden took a page out of Holden Caulfield’s book. We sometimes jokingly call him Buster Bluth. If any human could encapsulate Holden’s personality, it’s Buster.
P.S I have a Serenity also!! She has been a pure dream to bring along. I hope that never changes. Nothing rocks her boat, it’s such a drastic difference from Holden.
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Yeahhh… good luck with a 20k horse in today’s market. There may be a unicorn here and there, but essentially, you’re going to have an interesting lot if that’s your budget for a young one.
I bought a 5 yr old in the middle of the pandemic for $50k. It was beautiful and lovely… and ended up being more horse than I needed, but if I was going to look at that same horse today, it would easily be closer to 75-80k at the same training level at that same age. Unless you’re open to considering TBs, that price point left the building around 2018/2019.
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I disagree. I think this was more true last year and the beginning of this year, but I’ve recently seen a resurgence of truly nice (albeit green) horses in the $20k range. Are they going to be the winner at WEF? No. But those horses wouldn’t have sold for $20k 4 years ago either.
I bought my 5 y/o WB early this year when the market was insane. Pretty much the horse that OP described but a but a narrow 16.2h and not the hack winner (but not offensive). He was listed low/mids 5s.
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With all due respect… low-mid 5’s typically means 35-50. Not 20k.
Low 5’s itself is usually 20-25k, but when they start poking around mid-5’s… you’re talking 40-60k.
Yes, correct. Meaning that low/mid 5s is certainly not $75-80k (or even $50k, which is literally mid 5s).
I never said low/mids 5s was $20k. I said mine, similar to what OP is looking for, was listed at low mid/5s when the market was crazy, but recently I’ve seen more nice horses in the $20k range.
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