I've Got a Secret............... Down Time

As some of you may remember, I was out of commission for a while due to a surgery. During the time immediately after I didn't dare touch this colt. I wasn't supposed to be lifting anything over 25 pounds so hands on work was definitely out of the question. Getting banged around by the horse was probably way over my 25 pound limit. You can't even imagine how difficult it was to stay hands off when a whole new world of dreams was opening right before my eyes.

Instead I stood outside his stall and talked to him always making sure my voice had a low, soothing tone. When I could no longer stand doing nothing, I worked up to just inside the door, the way I had started stall work with him. But nothing is what I did inside the stall too. I didn't want any kind of confrontation that I wouldn't be equipped to deal with. Instead I just talked and let him listen. He even walked up to me a few times.

While my recuperation was going on, I was spending some of my inside time making plans for this colt. The first issue was his name. Part of the pending deal with Richard's client had been that she would be able to pick his registered name. When his six month birthday approached with no sale,Dan and Chris went ahead and picked one of their own.

Those who know me know I take naming horses seriously. I think a name can say a lot about a horse. Show horses need to have names fit for show horses. Extra special horses need to have names that set them apart. Ones that stand out in people's minds and say "I'm a one of a kind, all original, real deal kind of horse."

The name that Dan and Chris had picked didn't do that for me even though that had been their intention. They had remembered being told long ago a special horse needs an original name. To their way of thinking that's what they had done. To my way of thinking, not so much.

I spoke to Chris about changing his name. The first thing out of her mouth was "NO." Then she asked what I wanted to use instead and I think she didn't really like it much. Later she decided he was my horse I could name him whatever I wanted but they wanted me to either end it or start it with the initials LA for Lelli Arabians.

I talked to a friend whose opinion I trust regarding what to do about this colt's name. She advised me what I'd already been thinking. This colt needed something original and distinctive. Also, adding initials implies the name has been used before. If I really wanted a name that conveyed the message this horse is really something special, he needed to have his very own, original, never used or look like it had been used name. There would have to be another way to recognize Dan and Chris as the breeders.

These people are my friends, I didn't want to offend them. I thought long and hard about changing his name. My biggest issue about his name was I didn't think it fit the horse. Eragon LA brought up images of medieval horses, big bulky things (no offense intended really!) big enough to carry those darn knights in all their shining clunky armour. Not really the picture I see when I think of a spectacular Arabian stallion.

Thrown in for me the fact there's nothing original about naming a horse after a movie. Maybe if it's the hottest movie on the planet but Eragon wasn't one of those. Just an ordinary movie, with ordinary sales and ordinary reviews, yet there's nothing ordinary about this horse. Ordinary was not the picture I wanted to convey.

My guess was Dan and Chris were not the only ones to think that Eragon was a special name. Putting initials either end, as Dan and Chris had done would make it possible for there to be more than one Eragon. That kind of ammunition could help me justify my decision to chose another name.

With nothing better to do than heal, I took the time to do some research. I signed up for the AHA Datasource and began my search. First off I found not one or two colts named Eragon. There were a total of eight colts that had been named Eragon with an assortment of initials in a two year period. Then there was another passel of colts with names with similar spelling.

That pretty much clinched it for me there was no way I was leaving this colt with a name that common. I knew that the breeders would see this too. Names of registered Arabians can only be changed if the horse has not been shown or has progeny. That meant I had to get on the stick and find another name keeping before I could even show this colt. Since I was sworn to secrecy until the horse hit the ring, I needed to get this done and done quick.

To be continued..........

The Name
Dare is getting even closer to foaling. Her milk is finally in. I have the Daffodil Show this weekend, hopefully she will have popped by then.

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