Think of a Show Name for Your Horse or Pony

If you are planning to show your horse, you may want to come up with a more interesting name than what you call your horse on a daily basis. If your horse is registered with a particular organization (e.g. AQHA, the Jockey Club, etc.) you will need to contact the organization to confirm their rules about show names. When choosing a show name for your horse, you can draw from multiple sources of inspiration. You can build off of your horse’s stable name or personality. You can draw inspiration from your horses breed or appearance. You can also ask friends for ideas or look through name books.

Steps

Brainstorming Ideas Based on Your Horse

1. Use your horse’s stable name as the main inspiration. Most horses aren’t called by their show name every day. That is because these names are usually a bit long and impractical. However, you can use the name you typically call your horse by as a good source of inspiration.
   • Think about your horse's stable name and try combining it with descriptive and creative word(s) of your horse's glory in the show ring, your horses personality, or your horse's favorite things to do.
   • For example, if you have a mare called “Autumn,” you could call her “Autumn Glory,” “Autumn Charm,” or “Autumn's Mischief.”
   • If you have a gelding called “Blaze,” you could call him “Blaze's Pride,” or “Copyrighted with a Blaze.”
2. Make the stable name more interesting. You can choose a totally different show name, but still use your horse’s stable name as inspiration. Think about your horse’s name, and then come up with a way of describing that name.
   • For example, if you owned a filly named “Star,” you could call her “Born to Shine,” “Shine Forever,” “Bright Future,” or “Shining for Life.”
3. Come up with several variations. You don’t have to choose your horse’s name in one day, so spend time coming up with different variations of your horse’s name. Write them all down no matter how good or bad you think they sound at first.
   • If your horse’s stable name is “Dash” then there are lots of potential show names. For example, “Thunder Dash,” “Slap Dash,” “Mad Dash,” or “Silver Knight.”
4. Consider your horse's abilities. If you want to show your horse, then they may have a skill that they are particularly good at, and this could serve as a good source of inspiration for your horse’s show name.
   • If your horse is a jumper, you could call him “Jumping at Dawn.”
   • If your horse prefers classic dressage, you could call her “Just a Classic.”
   • Most race horses have names that are in some way associated with running (e.g. “Bluegrass Stampede”).
5. Use your horse’s past as inspiration. If your horse has a particularly interesting past then you can include this in their name in some way. For example, if your horse was rescued from a bad situation, then you could combine their stable name with “Second Chance.”
   • For example, “Risby’s Second Chance.”

Using Physical Traits for Inspiration

1. Name them based on the name of the parents. It is quite common to choose your horse’s name based on their lineage. If you have access to the information, look for the names of the dam (the female horse) and the sire (the male horse). See if you can combine the names in an interesting way, or if these names inspire you.
   • For example, if one horse was named “Midnight Lady” and the other was named “Crown Jewel,” you could call your horse “Midnight Jewel” or even “Crown Lady,” if your horse is female.
2. Think about where your horse was bred and born. If your horse was born in a notable place, then consider using the name of the town or city in their name.
   • For example, if they were bred in Sligo, then why not call them, “Sligo Spot On” or “Sligo’s Star.”
3. Consider the origins of your horse’s breed. Many horse breed names refer to where in the world that breed comes from. You can use the breed name or the name of the country as inspiration for your horse’s name.
   • For example, an Arabian could have a name that has something to do with an Arabian sheik or the desert.
   • A Mustang could have a name like “Wild” or “Heart of America.”
   • An Andalusian horse could be called something like “Andalusian Surprise” or “Spanish Beauty.”
   • You can also add a bit of the language of that country to the name. For example, if you have a French bred horse, they could be called something that starts with “Le …” (for a male horse) or “La …” (for a female horse).
4. Think about your horse’s color, interesting features, and markings. Many horses are named for something that makes them look unique. Spend time thinking about what physical features make your horse interesting. Maybe they have mane that falls in a unique way, or markings that form a shape, or maybe they have a beautifully colored coat.
   • If using your horse’s coat color as inspiration try to be creative. Rather than choosing a name like, “Chestnut Boy” for your chestnut colored horse, try names like “Firebird” or “Dark Star.”
   • With markings, you can always use common names of markings (star, snip, blaze, stripe, etc.) to add to your horse's barn name. This is a fairly common practice though, so your horse’s name is unlikely to be especially unique.

Finding Inspiration Elsewhere

1. Look at books. You can go to the library and look through name books or you can purchase books, if you want. You might be able to find books that are specific to horse names, but it is not uncommon to give a horse a human name so don’t forget to skim through some baby name books.
   • Don't be afraid to use a unique name that isn't used nowadays.
   • Looking through library books will save you money. Unless you have a lot of horses, you probably will only use the book once, so the library is a good option.
2. Ask friends for help. Some people are great at coming up with cool names. Friends will probably have a fresh perspective, so don’t be afraid to ask for suggestions.
   • If a friend gives you a suggestion, write it down on your list, and say, “Thank you!” Don’t suggest that you’re going to go with the name just to be polite. They may feel offended if they think you’re going to use their suggestion, and then find out you’ve chosen something else.
3. Consider naming your horse after your stable or your sponsor. If you live on a ranch or farm that has a name, and you bred your horse yourself, you can name your horse after that. If you keep your horse at a stable, you can include the name of stables. If you are sponsored by someone, you might consider including that person’s name, the name of their ranch/farm/stables, or the name of their business as part of the show name.
   • For example, if you keep your horse at a stable called, “Winter Creek” you could call your horse “Winter Creek’s Surprise.”

Tips

• Most of the names in this article are in use, so while you can use them as inspiration, you shouldn’t choose any of the names used as examples.
• Write down all the ideas for names you get as they come to you. It may be helpful to carry a small notepad around with you or make a note on your smart phone. You never know when you might come up with a good idea.
• Check to see with whatever organization your horse is registered with to see if your chosen name is already registered. If it is, you’ll probably have to choose another. If your horse is unregistered, and you only want to show in small shows for fun, then it may not matter what name you choose.

Warnings

• If your horse is registered with a particular registry, then be sure to check with them about any naming restrictions they might have. For example, some may restrict the number of letters in a name, or how many letters long the name can be.

Related Articles

• Approach Your Horse
• Prepare for a Horse Show

Sources and Citations

See also

• Prepare for a Horse Show
• Groom a Horse for a Show