HotToTrot
Well-Known Member
I'm a bit embarrassed about this. I'll try to explain.
Almost exactly three years ago, I received an email, confirming that Vitos Fleur Z was now registered with BE. I rang BE.
"Hi," I said. "Just got your email - thanks. Unfortunately, though, there is a typo in his name. He's Vito's Fleur Z, with an apostrophe. Could you just amend your records please to include the apostrophe?"
"Sorry", said the lady at BE. "We don't accept apostrophes in horses' names."
"Oh," I said, keen to clear up the misunderstanding, "No - it's in his passport, it's actually his name. Don't worry, I'm not trying to greedily claim an extra apostrophe to which I am not entitled."
"Sorry", she said again. "We don't accept apostrophes in horses' names."
"Well", I said, eager to explain, "He's the Fleur Z that belongs to Vito. Without the apostrophe, his name doesn't make sense. It's a possessive apostrophe, it needs to be there."
"Sorry", she repeated. "We don't accept apostrophes in horses' names." I stopped for a moment.
"But", I said, totally bewildered, "what about everyone else who has an apostrophe in their horse's name - what do they do?"
"They just remove the apostrophe" she replied, simply. I exploded.
"But" I said, in total apoplexy, "but you can't just impose a completely arbitrary ban on a fundamental part of the English language! What else are you going to refuse to accept? The letter V, maybe? Shall I register as Ian Pendleton? Riding Itos?
"Sorry", she said. "We don't accept apostrophes in horses' names."
"But you can't call him Vitos!" I wailed. "He sounds like a second rate Greek island! Oh, we couldn't get any space on Lesbos, so we went to Vitos instead." (And then both islands went into insolvency proceedings, so the point was moot in the first place.)
Now I faced a conundrum. I have, as I may have mentioned, a whole lot of character flaws. I also have, though, a couple of strengths (I know, hold your horses). I have integrity. Moral fibre. Values. Various other lofty-sounding words that essentially mean I'm a pig-headed brat. And I stand up for what I believe in. I believe in apostrophes. In the right place. Competing an erroneously de-apostrophised horse at BE would indicate tacit acceptance on my part of this heinous misuse of the apostrophe, and, like a staunch vegetarian offered shares in Burger King, I just didn't know whether this was something I could condone. I wanted to event, though, so I compromised on my principles and a little part of me died that day, as I rode into the ring for Vito's first BE and heard them say his name.
So, who's my new horse? His name is Kates Touch. Yes, that's right. The touch that belongs to Kate, the touch of Kate, the touch that very definitely needs an apostrophe and that doesn't have one. The grammatically dubious chestnut gelding with a girl's name:
http://s1362.photobucket.com/user/V... TOUCH Pendleton Viviane_zpskengbpnq.jpg.html
http://s1362.photobucket.com/user/VivianePendleton/media/BS2_0856_zpsqshaacfr.jpg.html
Almost exactly three years ago, I received an email, confirming that Vitos Fleur Z was now registered with BE. I rang BE.
"Hi," I said. "Just got your email - thanks. Unfortunately, though, there is a typo in his name. He's Vito's Fleur Z, with an apostrophe. Could you just amend your records please to include the apostrophe?"
"Sorry", said the lady at BE. "We don't accept apostrophes in horses' names."
"Oh," I said, keen to clear up the misunderstanding, "No - it's in his passport, it's actually his name. Don't worry, I'm not trying to greedily claim an extra apostrophe to which I am not entitled."
"Sorry", she said again. "We don't accept apostrophes in horses' names."
"Well", I said, eager to explain, "He's the Fleur Z that belongs to Vito. Without the apostrophe, his name doesn't make sense. It's a possessive apostrophe, it needs to be there."
"Sorry", she repeated. "We don't accept apostrophes in horses' names." I stopped for a moment.
"But", I said, totally bewildered, "what about everyone else who has an apostrophe in their horse's name - what do they do?"
"They just remove the apostrophe" she replied, simply. I exploded.
"But" I said, in total apoplexy, "but you can't just impose a completely arbitrary ban on a fundamental part of the English language! What else are you going to refuse to accept? The letter V, maybe? Shall I register as Ian Pendleton? Riding Itos?
"Sorry", she said. "We don't accept apostrophes in horses' names."
"But you can't call him Vitos!" I wailed. "He sounds like a second rate Greek island! Oh, we couldn't get any space on Lesbos, so we went to Vitos instead." (And then both islands went into insolvency proceedings, so the point was moot in the first place.)
Now I faced a conundrum. I have, as I may have mentioned, a whole lot of character flaws. I also have, though, a couple of strengths (I know, hold your horses). I have integrity. Moral fibre. Values. Various other lofty-sounding words that essentially mean I'm a pig-headed brat. And I stand up for what I believe in. I believe in apostrophes. In the right place. Competing an erroneously de-apostrophised horse at BE would indicate tacit acceptance on my part of this heinous misuse of the apostrophe, and, like a staunch vegetarian offered shares in Burger King, I just didn't know whether this was something I could condone. I wanted to event, though, so I compromised on my principles and a little part of me died that day, as I rode into the ring for Vito's first BE and heard them say his name.
So, who's my new horse? His name is Kates Touch. Yes, that's right. The touch that belongs to Kate, the touch of Kate, the touch that very definitely needs an apostrophe and that doesn't have one. The grammatically dubious chestnut gelding with a girl's name:
http://s1362.photobucket.com/user/V... TOUCH Pendleton Viviane_zpskengbpnq.jpg.html
http://s1362.photobucket.com/user/VivianePendleton/media/BS2_0856_zpsqshaacfr.jpg.html
Love the new boy 
