As every fantasy reader and writer knows, names are important. They matter. What an author calls her characters influences how her readers react to them–either overtly or more subtly. Given a choice between a wizard named Schmendrick or a wizard named Ingold Inglorion, which would you choose to save your world? Sam Gamgee is the best servant ever, but he’s not going to challenge the King Elessar for his throne.
It’s not just in stories, either. A long time ago, before most people knew about the Internet, there was a study of names in politics. The line I remember is that if Abraham Lincoln had been named Andy Gump, it’s less likely he would have been elected President. People pay attention to things like this, whether they’re aware of it or not.
With horses, both in the real world and the fictional one, there are similar rules and traditions. Bill the pony, Shadowfax the King of the Mearas–there’s a clear distinction there. “On, Bill!” doesn’t have quite the same ring as “On, Shadowfax!”
Writers will do what writers will do when they’re making stuff up, but if they’re going to write about real-world horses, there are different rules for different breeds. Those rules evolve over time, and in some breeds, fashions and familial references can help the enthusiast determine the age and provenance of a horse.
The Jockey Club, which registers Thoroughbreds (by which I don’t mean purebred horses in general, I mean the breed that runs in the Kentucky Derby, fills the hunter show ring, and excels at three-day eventing among other disciplines), has a fairly iconic set of rules. No more than 18 characters or spaces, nothing scatological, JC will choose from a list you submit, and no duplications. This can get challenging considering the hundreds of thousands of names that have been registered over the years. Hence oddities like Seattle Slew and Funny Cide.
Other breeds operate under other sets of rules. With the Arabian, there are 21 characters and spaces (luxury!), but again, duplication is a no-no. What people do to get around that is provide a farm prefix–either the farm’s name (Fable Ylla) or its initials to save space (AM Sea Captain, where AM stands for Al Marah), and then it’s possible to have Fable Coronado but also TH Coronado. Or the spellings might get strange: Sea Dream, Csea Dream, Cee Dreme… It can get confusing when there are two nearly identically named horses both competing at the same time: Desperado V and The Desperado were by no means the same horse. But the registry doesn’t allow II or Jr., so spelling and farm names have to cover the bases.
A breed that does allow numerals, in some countries and registries, is the Lipizzan. Hence Gabriella II, Camilla III, 68 Africa, Maestoso XXIX (not to be confused with Maestoso XXIX-11). This can lead to glazing of eyes and buzzing of brains even in those who know the rules, and such delights as Favory II Gabriella II-2, which takes some explaining.
With this breed, a male horse’s name is his pedigree. (The female gets her own name, but it will be chosen from a traditional set within her bloodline–for some registries, that’s something hopefully Spanish or Italian, no more than 12 letters or spaces, ending in A, or it might begin with the same first letter as her mother’s, or it might not….) He has two names. The first is his direct male line to one of the six founding sires of the breed (Conversano, Favory, Maestoso, Neapolitano, Pluto, Siglavy). The second is his mother’s name. Hence Pluto Carrma, Favory Monteaura, Neapolitano Nima. But, if mom has more than one son in the same sire line, those that follow get Roman numerals: Pluto Carrma III.
And then it gets complicated. Favory II Gabriella II-2 is the second Favory son of Gabriella II by a stallion who is the second Favory son of another mare.
Nice and confusing, isn’t it? His owner says heckwithit and calls him Gabriel. Which is a good fantasy-horse name, actually.
Other breeds have different rules yet again. Some of the European Verbands or associations of breeders will name all foals of a year with the same first letter–so it’s a W year, and they’re all W’s, but with another Verband it’s a C year, so everybody is a C. With 26 letters, they figure the names will just be cycling around again when the old generation has died or at least stopped breeding.
Then there are breeds, especially large ones, that tend toward family names. In the American Quarter Horse, apart from a 20-character rule, pretty much anything goes, but there are traditions that some hold dear, and families that come back to the same names over and over: Bar, King, Leo, Lena, Poco, and so on. There can be an almost Lipizzaner sense of pedigree in a name like King Peppy San or Doc O’Lena (by Doc Bar out of Poco Lena–and by the way, a horse is sired by a stallion and comes out of a mare–it’s a Mark of the N00b to do it the other way).There’s been a fad in recent decades of combat-level cutesiness: Ima, Heza, Sheza, as in Ima Smokin Zipper and Sheza Hollywood Hick.
As with children, people naming animals sometimes lose all good sense. It may seem funny at the time to register a foal as Ding Ding Dong or Son of a Bitch, but imagine the poor future owner who is stuck hearing either of those over the loudspeaker at a race or a show–because often, registered names can’t be changed, and all the horse’s shame comes out and flaps in the breeze. That’s why the Jockey Club polices the names people send in–though even there, there’s a fair amount of “What were they thinking?” in names like Ivegotabadliver, Dadsalittleunusual, and Cranky Pants. Some registries do likewise, with more or less success, but others pretty much don’t. Hence Bar-Hoppin’ Babe, Girls Gone Bad, and my personal favorite, the great jumper, Legendary Chicken Fairy.
And wouldn’t that be a great name for a fantasy horse?
Judith Tarr’s first novel, The Isle of Glass, appeared in 1985. Since then she’s written novels and shorter works of historical fiction and historical fantasy and epic fantasy and space opera and contemporary fantasy, many of which have been reborn as ebooks. She has even written a primer for writers: Writing Horses: The Fine Art of Getting It Right. She has won the Crawford Award, and been a finalist for the World Fantasy Award and the Locus Award. She lives in Arizona with an assortment of cats, a blue-eyed dog, and a herd of Lipizzan horses.
I don’t know, “What’s in a name?” after all. To me the one horse name that stands out is from history – Figure – which is not as stirring as, say, Shadowfax but there’s a long line sired from that stallion.
Names matter in fantasy. Just ask the late, great Ursula Le Guin.
Not to mention the ancient Egyptians. There were strong eschatological reasons for those Pharaohs whose names were obliterated from their monuments.
I love this series! I saw something on twitter the other day & thought was cute & you might like it.
https://twitter.com/i/events/1251736278476787712?s=13
I have to admit, when I read this and learned today that there are actual, formal, enforced rules governing the naming of horses, my initial reaction was something along the lines of “ffs”…
Having said that, thank you for yet another interesting and enlightening article!
Also, for “On, Bill!” we could substitute “Forward, WILHELM!!!!” and it will work just fine :)
#2 – Point taken. “True Names” in esoteric traditions as well as fantasy. Or even Vernor Vinge’s classic of the same name.
@3 Thank you! I saw that. Did you see the comments from Terri Windling about the spotty foals in her section of Dartmoor? Somehow, I forget but they did tell me back along, a leopard gene has got into the herd there, and all the babies have spots.
Enjoying these articles.
That convention of “by – out of” got used in the TV show Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda for the Nietzschean subspecies of humans who were very much concerned with knowing each person’s parentage, like “Tyr Anasazi out of Victoria by Barbarossa.” It sounded very weird to me at the time because I didn’t know this horse terminology. Now it’s just as weird, but I know where they got it.
Thanks.
And for non horse people: most horses have “barn” names so you can drop those sometimes awful registered names. When you’re yelling at one to get off your toes you want something short that can be yelled. ;*)
@9 Man ‘O War was Big Red to everyone who loved him.
The Lippizan naming system made me laugh because that’s essentially how kids get their names in the traditional American South. For a boy who isn’t a junior or number, the first name is from the male side of the family, and the middle name is usually the mother’s maiden name. My maternal family is less pretentious. The first girl has her mother’s first name as her middle name. My middle name is my mom’s name, and her middle name was her mom’s.
Walter Farley had some great horse names in “The Black Stallion” series. The Black, Flame, and Satan among others. My horsey godfather had a Tennesee Walker named Dark. I always loved the name although that horse was batsh*t crazy.
@9 Son of a Bitch was an actual champion eventer. And he was.
Many horses have been called that as barn names. My gelding as a young thing used to think his name was NO NIPPIN’.
@10 Saddlebreds can have quite fancy names. Fire’s Supreme Sunrise. Night of Fortune. Harlequin Hullabaloo.
There’s a great short story based on the power & destiny of a horse’s name, as named by the main character. I’m sure someone here will remember the author & name of the story. Might have been from the Horse Fantastic collection.
@9 There’s an old saying, not specific to horses: Never give an animal a name you wouldn’t want to be heard shouting to the neighbourhood at three o’clock in the morning.
Daft names for horses go a long way back – this unfortunate horse, born in 1773 (and sired by the legendary Eclipse) was called Potoooooooo, pronounced “potatoes”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potoooooooo
@12 I know just which story you’re talking about *pulls out my copy of Horse Fantastic* The Most Magical Thing About Rachel by Nancy Springer? Gelding named Shaman sound familiar?
@11,
What- Harlequin Hullabaloo was real?
Bela!!
My cousin used to have a horse — I think it was one of her favorites — called “Hunk of Meat”; I’ve absolutely no idea of the provenance of the name. This was at least 50 years ago, but the complete absurdity of the name has stuck with me.
Obviously, you pick Schmendrick.
@2, have you ever had a character that simply refuses to be the person you want them to be until you change their name?
@13, I like that rule!
Anybody else find themselves thinking about T.S. Elliot’s cat’s names?
@14.AlyxL: Aaaah, good old Pot-8-os, proof positive that Textspeak has been used and abused for CENTURIES longer than most would think! (Believe it or not one actually stumbled onto that name through a book about the Turf & its twists and turners over the centuries; until it was explained, I assumed that Kindle had failed to transliterate something like ‘Pothos’*).
*Which I understood to mean ‘Longing’ (in the sense of craving some Heroic Deed) but which further research informs me was actually the name for a brother of Eros (‘Love’) and Himeros (‘Desire’), who were all the sons of Zephyrus the West Wind – which suggests that all these names would suit racehorses very neatly.
On a less scholarly note, a considerable part of the fun in RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 is being able to acquire and name your very own Noble Steeds; my favourite name to date has to be the one I gave that little mare you acquire in Valentine during the course of one early mission (the Bear Hunt with old Hosea Matthews) – since the protagonist is Arthur Morgan and the horse herself is a Morgan, I simply couldn’t resist naming the poor creature ‘Guinevere’.
That STILL makes me laugh, though it probably shouldn’t; Amongst my other naming sins, I should also admit to naming that Palomino standardbred you acquire through a randomly generated event (players will know the event I’m speaking of as soon as they see the name) “Killer”.
She was a good horse, poor old Killer – she stayed with me through almost the whole of my first play through, so you might imagine my horror on seeing the poor nag shot to pieces under me by some D— marksman.
My Lipizzan has a full brother, whom I did not know about until I saw him for sale. I thought someone was trying to sell my horse! (There were no numerals in the brother’s name on the sale ad.) I should have bought him so I could have had two horses with the same name.
As a child, I used to think “Hi Ho Silver” was the horse’s name :)
My favorite name was that of El Cid’s horse, Babieca! (The exclamation point is important)
The coming-of-age gift to Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar was his pick of a horse from an Andalusian herd. Rodrigo picked a horse that his godfather thought was a weak, poor choice, causing him to exclaim “Babieca!” (stupid!) Rodrigo gave the name to his horse. So the noble war horse of El Cid, Spain’s greatest hero, was called Stupid.
You’ve got to love the irony. It tells you something about the mind of El Cid, too.
@13 A friend named her dog “Heathcliff” so she could recreate the scene in WUTHERING HEIGHTS where the bonkers heroine shouts her lover’s name in the darkness. Sadly, few would get the joke now and would think she was shouting for her cat.
@19 Horses used to be dog food until Americans realized that most of the wild mustangs had been captured and slaughtered for Fido’s food. Legislation was passed, horses were saved, horse populations came back, and people refused to buy dog food with horse meat in it.
Check this out. A horse called Satan’s Quick Chick won at 28/1 about 10 years ago and brought me from 90th place to 5th in the Horseplayers Gold Circle to go to Las Vegas for the final. Unfortunately for me only the top 4 got to go to Vegas. Thnx Satan’s Quick Chick. We almost did it.
Robin McKinley’s first retelling of “Beauty and the Beast” includes a horse named Greatheart. The other characters react to its purple nature appropriately. The character who named the horse says defensively that she was 12 at the time.
Why exactly is “Andy Gump” less inspiring than “Abraham Lincoln”, and “Schmendrick” less appealing than “Ingold”? Is sound-symbolism that hardwired in all humans, or is it highly tainted with cultural associations? I suspect the latter, for someone who grew up speaking some language that wasn’t Indo-European, say, might get entirely different feelings–whether the inventory of phonemes was the same as ours or not. Even if they could sound all the characters, they might have the opposite preferences, for the examples shown.
I once decided not to buy a horse because his name was Killer Moon. I did later buy another horse named Diogenes von Damocles forever after known by the barn name D.
@16PamAdams: That was my first reaction, too.
Registered-name requirements for dogs, at least for AKC registrations, have length limits but aren’t quite as restrictive as some of these horse-registry rules. Sometimes breeders use naming conventions that help them keep track of their litters. But many of the people I know are also aware that naming calls, so one needs to be a little careful about what one chooses. Giving a puppy a name like Bad Brat might be unfortunately predictive.
@7capriole we were on the Moor a few years back and a herd of the Moor ponies came to where we had parked. There was one amongst them an absolutely beautiful leopard spot with long legs. It looked like a sport horse foal and was springing about merrily all over the place. I couldn’t work out which was the dam. Its good to know why, thank you.
Also, I bought a Welsh cob at Leominster sales, he was called Debevans Freddie Kruger. Looking through the sales catalogue I’d ruled him out because of his name, but once we got some ground rules in place he was the most lovely, funny, versatile horse you could wish for. Certainly didn’t live up to his name thank goodness
I remember a jumper named Fur Balloon, which I thought was an excellent name for him.
I used to breed Quarter Horses. I had one newly born foal accidentally fall into a creek that borderd the pasture she was born in. She emerged without a scratch, so I named her Darn Lucky. Her full sister, born the next year, suffered the same fate and she also came through without a scratch. Her name was Howluckycanyouget. Needless to say, no other foals were ever kept in that pasture again.
And who could forget the legendary “Hoof-hearted”?
@37 That would be answered in the first line of the article.
Sparhawks horse, Faran, temper, prancing and all
There was a series of show ponies (not their breed-registered names, but their show names) in southern California a while back: Dad’s Money, Dad’s Checkbook, Daddy’s Chapter 11….
Heh. “Onward, Cranky Pants, run like the wind! Unless we get this message to the king, there will war betwixt man and elf. Fly, Cranky Pants!”
My Icelandic mare’s name Kát frá Áslandi translates as “Joy from the Land of the Gods”.
But my first Icelandic horse was called Ostur which means cheese…. ;-)
Miles Vorkosigan’s horse is named Fat Ninny. “Don’t worry,” Miles tells him, “if anybody asks your name is Conqueror.”
You are all very funny.
I have often referred to one of my horses as Cranky Pants, but his registered name is very different (and much nobler).
Though I did name one Khepera, which is a divine moniker, being the god who hung the moon (and the horse is sure he did), but it also signifies a dung beetle because he does love to roll in the brown stuff.
I remember Miles Vorkosigan’s horse. Miles was wise.
My husband, as a child, rode a horse called Satin, who would only step on your foot if you were standing on a hard surface (the name was quickly adjusted to ‘Satan’). And my hero Tam has a horse who like to bite, a lot, and only puts up with the hero because she was promised battlefields where she could bite anyone she could get her teeth around.
@@@@@30. keiteag: SHAME, Shame on you for cheating that poor horse of its chance to be immortalised as ‘DvD’ … (-;
@45, Fat Ninny’s looks aren’t his strong suit but he is a very good horse. Miles apparently won several Gymkhanas on him.
@@@@@29. Angiportus Librarysaver: I suspect that the appeal of a name is more often subconscious than quantifiable and not merely a matter of phonemes – after all, we can like a name we only ever see in text.
@@@@@36.zdrakec: Alright, you win with what is most definitely the most delightfully ‘Punny’ name in this entire thread … although it does seem to be rather tempting fate to give that name to a horse which needs staying power – perhaps you’d have better luck with its sibling Hoof and Half?
@49 I can’t claim credit, I once saw a replay of a horse race where a horse named “Hoof Hearted” won and the race announcer played it, to his credit, completely straight….
I just acquired a gorgeous OTTB mare (that’s “off-track Thoroughbred”, for any what needs it) with the distinctly ungorgeous name of “Boomtiderock”, AKA “Boomer”. A ridiculous name for a ridiculously beautiful horse, rendered even more ridiculous by the way it was pronounced. I, seeing it written, presumed it was pronounced “Boom-Tide-Rock”, which would have been bad enough, but apparently it was pronounced “Boom-TIDDY-Rock”, which was Even Worse.
So no, no, no…no “Boomer”. I cast around for days trying to think of something else that would suit her. My particular friend suggested “Cordelia”, speaking of the Vorkosigans, which I considered seriously but finally decided wasn’t quite right for her. I wanted something that had two syllables and had some of the same sounds as Boomer, just in case she responded to her name. So, first…Summer? Nice, but not quite it…she’s a lovely golden bay, so…Amber? Hmmm…”sounds like either a 7th grade girl or a pole dancer,” a friend said flatly. So, no…but how about “Ember”? Oh, that’s nice! Also happens to be the name of Cutter and Leetah’s daugher in “Elfquest”, so yeah! Ember she became, and I decided that her show name, if we ever get that far, will be “Forever Ember”. (That’s a joke that will only make sense to people of a certain age.)
Well, long story short…good thing I *didn’t* name her “Amber”, because it *is* a pole dancer’s name, and what’s more, the pole dancer who ran off with my trainer’s husband! Ay-yee! Even “Ember” is too close for her, so she’s become “The Girl” at the barn.
@51.Elliot: Perhaps you could have tried ‘Tambour’ or ‘Tambourine’ ?
I just discovered the “SFF equines” a couple of days ago and read almost all of them compulsively. I’ve read most of Judith Tarr’s novels and like most of them. I love reading about the horses as people. Could you write about the feral horses of the Wild West both the romance and the reality? What I was surprised at having read about the horses of the Wild West and those of Australia, were the wild horses of the Danube which descended from draft horses and not riding horses.
I can see why Wild West Mustangs are mainly small with good feet due to environmental necessity and harsh winters and long traveling, but why aren’t there herds of wild shetland ponies somewhere. They are especially hardy and tough and require little food.
@@@@@ 532 skeptic7
I can see why Wild West Mustangs are mainly small with good feet due to environmental necessity and harsh winters and long traveling, but why aren’t there herds of wild shetland ponies somewhere. They are especially hardy and tough and require little food.
On the basis of zero research—aren’t Shetland ponies the result of island dwarfism?
It’s hard to see the advantage of that in the Wild West. Because the Rockies are not an island.
@53 Assateague and Chincoteague.
@54.Fernhunter Thats entirely too reasonable.
@55. Capriole East Coast, and these are larger than Shetlands
Humans breed horses to be large enough to carry people and pull carts, without that restriction wouldn’t wild horses get smaller and smaller. Shetland ponies are round and furry and well suited to cold winters with little food, and likely could survive on their own.
Also I was captivated by the idea of “My Little Pony” gone wild with herds of Shetlands all under 4 feet rushing down the mountain. And the cross over of “Silver Brumby” meets Thelwell’s Ponies with round stubborn ponies doing exactly as they please.
@56 I wrote about Mini Horses a while back. Should come up in a search.
Names do have power. This is dog-related, since I can’t have a horse any more, but my dog earned his registered name, Foxwood’s Release the Kraken, as soon as his eyes opened. Five and a half years later, he’s still doing his best to live up to it every day.