12yr old homebred sold and then changed name - is this not confusing for him?

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HoovesandHay

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Today I sold my lovely homebred 12yr old Connie called Oakley to a really great forever home.

She then let me know she was going to rename him Arthas. I asked what that name meant and she said it is a character from a PC game she loves. This is absolutely fine as he is now her horse and she can call him any name she decides and I will happily call him the chosen name of Arthas.

But I’m now wondering how much will this confuse him? As he’s been Oakley since he was born on our stud 12yrs ago and he knows his name and comes to call answering to Oakley. Is it normal to change horses names after such a long time? I’ve sold alot of my homebred foals over the years and some have had their names changed and others names have stayed as what we called them at home.

But I do find 12yrs later a bit strange to then change the name, is it just me?
 
TheMule said:
He doesn’t know his name as horses have no concept of names, what he recognizes is your tone. That will be different with a new person anyway so I really wouldn’t worry
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It’s really strange I’ve heard people say this before that horses don’t know their names, but the majority of the horses at our stud know their names and come to call individually from the herd! How bizarre
 
My old boy Mac, as he was know to me when I bought him, was previously Copper according to his vet records.

Dolly was Dolly when I bought her, but I found out later she used to be Coral. She was never a Coral 🤣

I’m not sure anyone knows what Ollie was called before Clodagh got him and subsequently named him.

Charlie came to me as Max on loan. When he was signed over to me, I changed his name immediately as not a Max Verstappen fan at all.
 
I've changed three names when they came to me:

- Hermione to Luna - Couldn't cope with Hermione so kept the Harry Potter theme
- Joey to Lumi - He was called Lumi before he ended up with a dealer, so I re-instated his original name
- Murphy to Smurf - I'm not sure why 😂
 
I renamed one who I bought aged 12. She is a smallish pony who had a ridiculous smallish pony name, that would have been cute if I were 7 not 37!
 
FlyingCircus said:
I've changed three names when they came to me:

- Hermione to Luna - Couldn't cope with Hermione so kept the Harry Potter theme
- Joey to Lumi - He was called Lumi before he ended up with a dealer, so I re-instated his original name
- Murphy to Smurf - I'm not sure why 😂
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Oh no, I can't imagine standing at the top of the field yelling "Hermione! Dinner time".

Murphy and Smurf seem to be naturally interchangeable....I had a friend with the surname Murphy and she used to get called Smurfy or Smurf as a nickname.
 
FlyingCircus said:
I've changed three names when they came to me:

- Hermione to Luna - Couldn't cope with Hermione so kept the Harry Potter theme
- Joey to Lumi - He was called Lumi before he ended up with a dealer, so I re-instated his original name
- Murphy to Smurf - I'm not sure why 😂
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I named a foal Hermione once. In my defense I was about 10 😂

Also my money is on Twinkle or similar for the small pony 😂
 
I have one I named as a foal, he is very rarely called by his name, ever unless the vet is coming and I have to try and remember what he is registered under. If I call them anything its usually fatty or a swear word.
 
TheMule said:
He doesn’t know his name as horses have no concept of names, what he recognizes is your tone. That will be different with a new person anyway so I really wouldn’t worry
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Why are you so convinced horses cannot know theit names? A bit baffled as mine have always known which one was being called. Other animals understand their names, why not horses? If you know of any research can you put a link please? I am willing to be proved wrong but this does not sit right with me.
 
My Rocket came to me on loan originally otherwise he would definitely have had his name changed lol...but we call him RockStar mostly anyway, because he thinks he is one 😳😂
Rex was Prince when I got him but he was not quite 4 so adapted well.
ShitPig earned his name rapidly but I can't remember what it was before...he answers to ShitPig though so 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️
 
planete said:
Why are you so convinced horses cannot know theit names? A bit baffled as mine have always known which one was being called. Other animals understand their names, why not horses? If you know of any research can you put a link please? I am willing to be proved wrong but this does not sit right with me.
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What we call an animal (horse, dog, cat, any animal at all) “knowing their name” is really just that animal knowing a verbal cue which signals that they should come to us or pay attention to us.

It’s not a ‘name’ in the way humans understand names - they don’t attach a sense of self to it.
 
I have no idea what Lottie’s stable name was before me. When I bought her the only name I had was her passport name. I changed Myka’s stable name. Though I did ask the breeders permission. Amber was nameless when I bought her at 6- there was just a foal number in her passport. I assume she had an unofficial name but I gave her a passport and a stable name. Toby became Lukey when I sold him. And as Therese says Max became Charlie. I was not bothered. perhaps because I didn’t name them. But I do think I’d be gutted if the new owner renamed Felix. Because he just is Felix! Any Mylo too though he won’t be sold so it won’t come up. I agree Oakley is the far nicer name.
 
planete said:
Why are you so convinced horses cannot know theit names? A bit baffled as mine have always known which one was being called. Other animals understand their names, why not horses?
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I agree.

I don't think an animal has to have 'the concept of a name'. The sound of a word called out in a certain way is a signal that means (often) 'something very tasty is here for you'. Sometimes it means the vet is here... but... not often in the scheme of things.

ETA: Oh, I also greatly prefer the name Oakley.
 
He’ll likely adjust to a new name, but they certainly have memory of names they’ve been called.
My mare was imported and had a name as a yearling given by the stud. She was sold as a yearling and given a different name, which she is still called.
The day I found out her yearling name from an old photo found online randomly by chance, after her being with me at home for a few years, I went to their yard and said the name, not directing it at her in particular - the way she turned and looked at me I’ll never forget that look! Almost like surprise that I knew the word/tone.
It was a 2 syllable name, and her current name is just 1, different tonality completely and letters. She definitely still recognised the name/sound 🙂
 
For me, if the animal knows he is being addressed when he hears his name, that is knowing his name, whether he has a sense of self or not. Sense of self would probably develop anyway in a human being who did not have a name at some time during his childhood ( a scenario hard to imagine of course) . This is unexplored hair splitting for me, I hope I make sense!
 
Well why are 95% of training aids using the voice, noises or sounds? We don't use words on the whole. Especially professional trainers in liberty etc.
Whoah which is very much a sound with intonation. The classic click of the tongue.

I am not a professional but one thing I have really honed in last few years from watching the Liberty guys is my tones and noises and making sure they are much clearer and not being used for the same thing and guess what... my horses go better in eventing as much more clarity. Sure I also use words like good but that also comes with a pat and I also use no when they are trying but not quite getting it right but the word is for me, the tone is for the horse.
 
HoovesandHay said:
It’s really strange I’ve heard people say this before that horses don’t know their names, but the majority of the horses at our stud know their names and come to call individually from the herd! How bizarre
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this.
My fields surround my yard and I have 8 horses spread out in them. I can stand in the yard, call someone's name and only that horse arrives, I don't have 7 others who hear my voice come running and it is always the correct horse who comes up.

I don't change their names to terms or endearment or otherwise. They do have longer names to make it easier for them to understand. For example Rooppypoos (Rupert) perhaps makes my voice a longer more distinctive sound that Ru recognises when I single him out.

I don't do this because a name change may upset a horse but simply to make life easier for myself so I don't have to walk around fields catching a horse and I don't want them all to come running and damage muddy fields. Perhaps it works for me as I keep them for life and I am the only person who calls them in.
 
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