Tuesday, November 20, 2007

A Horse with No Name


These two equines have recently come our way. Bee is on the left - her pedigree name is RanSome Honey Bee. I don't know why she's RanSome Honey Bee, but perhaps it is a nod to some of her ancestors. Horse people do that a lot; it's sort of like Prince William of England is really named William Arthur Philip Louis Mountbatten Windsor. The royals, impervious to trend, stick with well-worn names. There will be no Prince Hayden, no Princess Serenity, in the royal house of England!

I have an idea that the pedigree of Prince William A. P. L. M. Windsor is worth a little more than that of RanSome Honey Bee. We'll find out for sure if I ever decide to sell her. Meanwhile, we're just calling her Bee.

Problem is, her young daughter on the right needs a name. The previous owner simply called her "Baby", but she won't be a baby forever, and we're due to have three new equine babies around here in the spring. This could get confusing. The little filly has "Pride" written on her pedigree, but that's equally problematic. I can't quite settle into calling her a name that, biblically and practically, seems to be the root of a whole lot of trouble.

So I'm casting about for a new name for this girl. It doesn't have to be a fancy one, full of heritage, or allusions to Kentucky Derby winners, or referencing Miss Rodeo USA's latest mount. Just a good horse name that simultaneously fits in and sets her apart from her herd mates - Ginger, Grace, Jackson, Faith, Kandy, Jess and RanSome Honey Bee.

Any suggestions?

15 comments:

An Old Fashioned Girl said...

ummm.. what's a good name... LYDIA! No, I'm teasing, there's Lucy, that's a cute name. You could name her Honey, after her mom. Or, Pepermint, or something like that, I could get a name book at the library.

BTW, I love names, they're a hobby of mine....

Miss Alice said...

Lucy! I like that, although Erica is rolling her eyes (!). Great idea, Lydia; I'm going to think about that. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Redo her pedigree name to "Bit o' Honey" & call her "Bitsy"
SWR

Anonymous said...

you could always name her zeena, or reeba, or rosumund or basil, or olive oyl, or pumpkin pie! Evan

Shannon said...

Hmmm... I like Honey or Sweetie. She has a nice face.

Sometimes, on some of the baby websites out there, they have a baby naming tool where you can reverse search a name - that is, put in the meaning and get a list of names that have that meaning. There are lots and lots of names out there that have something to do with pride, but since you don't want to go that route, I thought I'd look up humble and humility, too. Guess what? Not one single name came up.

You could name her Flower, so that Honey Bee has her Flower. Or go for a real flower name, like Daisy (one of my faves) or Lisianthus (a really BEEEOOOtiful flower, but which might be a *little* cumbersome to holler if you ever needed to. "LISIANTHUS!") ;)

Lil red said...

I think Lucy is a really cute name, but I think it's more fitting for a larger horse. Maybe you could name one of Kandy or Jess's babies that. Here are my suggestions: Autumn or Premier. If you wanted to fit Autumn into her registered name it could be "Autumn's Pride". I don't really think Premier and Pride go together though....
Yea, horse people always pick REALLY strange registered names for their horses ( like "Woodgate Chatham" ). :)
Have a good Thanksgiving. :)

DaveWick said...

Of course, you could call her Humility, and try to teach that character along the way.

Andrews cubby said...

Mrs.Wood,
please pass this on to Erica and merill that i'm going to try to do another blog here is my adress: like2ride.blogspot.com

Pat I said...

Working off of coloration, you could go with Java, Mocha, or Mochaccino (since you have that love of coffee, as well!), or even simply "Brownie".

Incomplete said...

Ever since I was a kid I have always had an aversion to giving animals human names. Too much anthropomorphism I guess. Of course, I did then go and name my dog Angus. I s'pose it won't help much to say that he's named after the cow, and not the man?

I always thought it was good to not be in a rush and let the animal's character tell you what it's name is. My folks (way back in the day) named their brood mare GlassSlipper, for the one white sock that she had, though we called her Momma. My brother had a red pony named Strawberry. "My" horse, a paint, 17 hands tall, was Summer (pssst, I didn't name him). And one of "Momma's" colts was Mischief, 'cause he was always getting into trouble, like rolling under the fence into the irigation canal and such . . .

I think that with any naming, whether it be human or animal, it is important to always be original.
After all, everybody has got, has had, or knows someone with a dog named Jake.

Kristi said...

Hmmm. I know this one isn't terribly original (and I think in the book it's talking about a whitish horse) but I still like the name Flicka.

Liz Brown said...

I like Josey :)

Lil red said...

Flicka is a really cute name.

Anonymous said...

I am my sister's sister! I thought Flower would be nice for carrying on the tradition of her mama.
Caleb still says Coconut and Blaze.
Isaac says Star and Bright.

Hmmm... This is a fun project!
to go with the others, I like Praise, Joy, Mercy or just plain ole' Sunshine.
P.S. We had a fabulous time last weekend - unplanned vacations are just so much fun! I hope you all have recovered!

marmaladeinstead said...

I like Caleb's Coconut. :)

Let us know what you decide!