Opinions on Changing Horses Names?

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HoofprintsInTheSnow

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Just a bit curious to see your opinions on it. Many people say they don't see a problem with it whilst many others are totally against it.

Personally i don't see the big deal with other people doing it, but i myself probably wouldn't.
 
I have changed names before and can't see an issue with it at all.

I rescued a neglected pony with a horrid name. I called him Xavier which means something along the lines of new beginnings. New start - new name! Just sent off the passort. It was easy.

Amber came to me at 6 without any name in her passport, just a foal number. She had a pretty rubbish stable name. So I registered her as Ambers Echo and changed her stable name to Amber.
 
I've changed one of mine. Not her passport name, I don't really understand why people do that (unless it's a generic name like "horse 3" :D) but her stable name. Was Soli, but i know a Soli already and don't like it :o so she became Salty as soon as she arrived and that has stuck :)

I don't think she noticed ;) It's close enough and suits her.
I wish someone had called used Nerys for Kira's stable name as i think that suits her better - Passport name is Glansiedi Kira Nerys :o but that's how she arrived and I know her previous owner so it's just what she's lumped with :D
 
Flo was passported as Amber. People before me nicknamed her Flo -not sure why- and I called her Florence. She answers more to Diva.

Generally I keep the names given, but my horses tend to go by their nicknames anyway.
 
milliepops said:
I've changed one of mine. Not her passport name, I don't really understand why people do that
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I did it because I felt the passport name (which was also the stable name) was actually insulting to the pony. And given that he had been neglected as XXXX it just felt symbolically right to erase his past and start again. I wouldn't normally change a passport name.
 
My new horse was passported as 'Lost Hope' - given I had to send his passport back for the change of ownership I kind of felt it needed changing! He kept his stable name though. And he hadn't done anything affiliated - I think its a bit different if changing name obscures the horses record.
 
ew0855 said:
My new horse was passported as 'Lost Hope' - given I had to send his passport back for the change of ownership I kind of felt it needed changing! He kept his stable name though!
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I don't blame you! What are some people thinking!!
 
I have to say if I'd bought mine as a youngster he wouldn't have ended up with the stable name he did, from Langson Mason Mayhem to Denzel?? Not quite sure on the logic there, I would have gone with Mason, or Mayhem (it's a fairly apt moniker for him I think!).

I did think about changing it but everyone knew him as Denzel and it suits him now. However he goes by a variety of names in the stable, my favorite at the moment being (a slightly tongue in cheek) Munchkin.

I have no problem with changing names, although isn't there an old wives tale about it being bad luck? Depends how superstitious you are I suppose.
 
ew0855 said:
My new horse was passported as 'Lost Hope' - given I had to send his passport back for the change of ownership I kind of felt it needed changing! He kept his stable name though. And he hadn't done anything affiliated - I think its a bit different if changing name obscures the horses record.
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Thats horrible, i don't understand why some people think it's okay to do that.
 
Ambers Echo said:
I have changed names before and can't see an issue with it at all.

I rescued a neglected pony with a horrid name. I called him Xavier which means something along the lines of new beginnings. New start - new name! Just sent off the passort. It was easy.

Amber came to me at 6 without any name in her passport, just a foal number. She had a pretty rubbish stable name. So I registered her as Ambers Echo and changed her stable name to Amber.
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Xavier is such a pretty name! Same with Amber :)
 
Denzel2017 said:
I have to say if I'd bought mine as a youngster he wouldn't have ended up with the stable name he did, from Langson Mason Mayhem to Denzel?? Not quite sure on the logic there, I would have gone with Mason, or Mayhem (it's a fairly apt moniker for him I think!).

I did think about changing it but everyone knew him as Denzel and it suits him now. However he goes by a variety of names in the stable, my favorite at the moment being (a slightly tongue in cheek) Munchkin.

I have no problem with changing names, although isn't there an old wives tale about it being bad luck? Depends how superstitious you are I suppose.
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I think it is, a lot of people i know claim it as being bad luck, i personally don't see it as bad luck though.
 
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Bought a horse once that had a paddock name of "Fluffy". When i asked if he had another paddock name, they said he came with Fergus but they didn't like it !!!!
Although I usually prefer horses not to have human names, there was NO WAY I was going to stand in a paddock and call out "Fluffy".

Another one was called "Erb" as a stable name because her passport name was "Erb's Princess" (sire line had Erb in it). Needless to say that was changed too. Tried Bree, but everyone thought it was the cheese (brie) so she ended up as Spree after a particularly good hooning and bucking spree round the paddock.

Have also changed competition names but it was in New Zealand where there aren't (or weren't) passports.
 
Who calls a horse FLUFFY! It's not a rabbit! I once viewed a pony called Man (??) And a friend at my yard had a horse whose name was a racial slur. Not quite as offensive as N....er but along those lines. Needless to say that was changed!! Why? Just why?
 
Ambers Echo said:
ETA Fergus is a great name!!!
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Yes he stayed as Fergus though not sure why he was called that. Re the 'fluffy' I didn't think of rabbits, I just had visions of me standing in the paddock calling Fluffy and having half the neighbourhood cats come running up expecting a saucer of milk!
(needless to say the horse ignored the name fluffy - he had good taste).
Would alarm me to have a horse on the yard called a racial slur, but i did know a pony club mare called Gay but it was a long time ago and the word gay was only just beginning to mean something else whereas she had been called Gay for years (meaning happy of course).
 
Ambers Echo said:
I did it because I felt the passport name (which was also the stable name) was actually insulting to the pony. And given that he had been neglected as XXXX it just felt symbolically right to erase his past and start again. I wouldn't normally change a passport name.
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Oh yeah, i was meaning more the people that rename a horse to cut out the breeder's prefix etc. That seems a bit off.
 
I’ve changed both of mine, I didn’t like either of their original names. Tried keeping my older mare’s for a couple of weeks but I felt such an idiot shouting it in the field. Older one I changed it on her passport too, younger one I’ve only changed the stable name as her passport has a prefix.
I wouldn’t do it again though, as I’ve had terrible luck with both of them to be honest. I’m not superstitious usually but this one definitely made me think twice.
 
If a horse is chipped or tattooed and this links to records of previous owners and lineage, I don't see why a change of passport name or of stable name should be a real problem.

I'd really like to see somebody trying to call in, from the field, a horse named Mike Hunt.

Or a commentator announcing "here's Such and Such riding Mike Hunt, looking for a clear round..."
 
If a horse has come with a proper breeding passport and is named accordingly I wouldn’t insult the breeder / producer by changing it (if indeed it could be changed, not all can).

If it came with a tin pot passport and a rubbish name I probably would change it.

I also try and keep the stable names they know provided not completely cringy
 
I changed the (quite frankly hideous) passport name to match the completely different name he competed BD with when I sent it in to change ownership. I think it was only about £15 to do so why not? If people can change their name when they get married I don't see why we can't change a horses name when we buy them, it's basically the same tradition. The breeder gave him a stupid name and didn't bother registering him with the breed society so he had a pleasure horse passport so I didn't care how the breeder would have felt about it. He had a really nice stable name though so he kept that.
 
I changed my horses stable name. It didn't suit him. He wasn't long learning his new one either. The only time I think of his old name now is if I'm at a show because I didn't change his passport.
 
I got given my mare when she was 4 and with a bit of research found she was already on name #3. Her second owners had added a ridiculously OTT passport name as well.

Name #3 isn't great. The guy who have her to me said he would have called her something a lot ruder if he didn't have kids in the yard, but it has stuck - mainly because names 1&2 were quite sweet (Shiloh and Sprinkles) & she was a thug!
 
Ambers Echo said:
Who calls a horse FLUFFY! It's not a rabbit! I once viewed a pony called Man (??) And a friend at my yard had a horse whose name was a racial slur. Not quite as offensive as N....er but along those lines. Needless to say that was changed!! Why? Just why?
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I had a Fluffy who came for remedial work a number of years ago.A better name would have been Satan's Spawn, he was a complete irritation with no manners at all, a thug of full up 15.2 hogged cob. He had a few discussions with Mr Blue Pipe and then found a lovely home, renamed Tuffy.....

Yes, I'll change names if I feel it's needed :)
 
I don't really like my horse's stable name (Smudge) as it makes her sound like a boy. People are forever calling her "he".

Her previous owner called her Smudge (due to her colouring) as she didn't like the stable name she came with (Fifi).

I felt bad for her keep having her name changed so just stuck with Smudge, although I usually called her Mudgie (who knows why!).

I was subsequently contacted by her first owner who called her Freya. If I'd known I probably would have gone back to Freya which I quite like and I guess it's derived from her passport name which is Afera.
 
Changing a horses name is not bad luck,it is a change of luck . This is a truth. Some horses acquire a bad name for reasons not due to them ,and the change of name and clean slate give them the break they need.
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
I had a Fluffy who came for remedial work a number of years ago.A better name would have been Satan's Spawn, he was a complete irritation with no manners at all, a thug of full up 15.2 hogged cob. He had a few discussions with Mr Blue Pipe and then found a lovely home, renamed Tuffy.....

Yes, I'll change names if I feel it's needed :)
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LOL- maybe they called him fluffy in the hope that he would be come soft and cuddly???? Obviously didn't work though
 
We changed a name recently. She was called Sandy when she arrived, which her new owner didn't like, so she is now (supposed to be ) called Iris. I call her Doris the Destroyer though...

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