When you own registered horses, no one calls them by their registered name from day to day. Those names are more like what we refer to as "show names". The only time we use them is when we show (and sometimes not even then if it isn't a show that counts for any kind of points). So that means our registered horses all have "barn" names which are what we call them every day. However, I'm not sure why that doesn't seem like enough names for our horses.
Do other horse people do this? Even our barn names get modified, changed and added on to. So in reality, most of our horses have around 10 different names and not all of them appropriate for a family friendly blog depending on their behavior that particular day.
First China. China is registered as Maid of Copper. Her breeder used a name from her heritage, Maid Ya Whisper and clued in on her beautiful copper color to come up with her registered name. I do love it, especially since we bought her because of Maid Ya a Dream (Ellie). She started out as Baby China and China Doll. We often shorten it to just China. She's been Big Girl, Baby Girl, Girly Whirly and more recently, Momma. Even though she isn't going to be a Momma, Momma just fits a big old broody acting mare like China is maturing into. Now, not going to lie, every time we find her IN the round bale feeder, which is her latest trick, she has a new nickname. I may have referred to her a lot lately as "Cow". Because, really Cow? Do you need to climb INTO the round bale feeder just because the hay is pushed to the middle? Maybe be happy with the hay around the edges, you cow.
Next Peach. Peach is short for her registered name, Dutch Peach which she came with. She also came with the barn name, Peach. We had known Peach since she was one of the favorite foals of that year. She is just a "Peach". But Peach becomes Peachy Weachy, or just Weachy or Weaches. Sometimes, when she is chasing the others or just in general treating the others like the crab she is, she is lovingly referred to as Nag or B*!$#.
Then there is Sully. Sully's registered name is Dutch Norman Borlaug. He was named Sully after our Disney name theme idea and we couldn't have picked a more perfect name for him. Especially this winter with all his long fuzzy hair. He's a fluffy, slightly chubby, lovable bugger - just like his namesake from Monsters Inc. Sully hasn't had to learn too much yet, he's halter broke and you can handle his feet. That's about all we've worked with and since he's so easy going his nicknames for his nicknames are pretty limited. I think Sully Wully and maybe Chubby Butt are his only additional nicknames.
The last horse that I can call mine and is subject to my nicknaming the nicknames is Kenya. Kenya is registered as Obviously Chocolate. I absolutely LOVE her name, but then I obviously love chocolate. (See what I did there?) We nicknamed her Kenya because of her connection to China, they are half sisters, and her connections to two Ken's. Her breeder's name is Ken and she shares a birthday with my dad, also named Ken. Now that we know her a little better, we could have stuck with our Disney theme AND our Monsters Inc. tradition and named her Boo. She is a little chicken about things yet at this stage in her training. Kenya has some nicknames that I use, including the old reliable Girly Whirly. She is also "Little Girl" and "Pretty Girl". My family jokingly calls her Crockpot. Long story, but basically Tim seemed to think that we named China after dishes so he decided to name Kenya a "dishes" name too.
So many nicknames our poor horses are probably developing some kind of complex. It's a good thing that horses aren't known for coming when you call their name because they'd be very confused about what their names even were. It’s a good thing a white bucket is all it takes to bring them at a run.
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