Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Ever wonder where O got her name?


I'm still feeling very winter dol-drummy. O hasn't been worked since the weekend - although I hope to finally change that tomorrow. I haven't felt much like writing either... just haven't had the energy, or the subject matter. Someone asked while back where O got her names (show and barn), and so for fun I thought I'd give you a few little video clips explaining the names.

If you're not familiar with Kill Bill, you should be. Both Gogo and O-Ren got their names from this movie. Their namessakes are ruthlessly amazing superbad bad guys. I was having trouble naming Gogo when I first got her, and then my internship boss at the time (who is still a friend today) happened to be talking one day about the Big Boss' kids' pony named Gogo, and I immediately loved the name. Kill Bill happened to be on TV that night, and it solidified the name for me. When Gogo was turned out to pasture, I briefly toyed with the idea of adopting a super crusty ancient old mare to be her companion, figuring the mare would probably die long before I ever had to move the mares away from where we were all living, and I could give her a nice ending to her hard life. I had randomly decided that the mare, who was bright chestnut, would be named O-Ren, to match Gogo's comrade in Kill Bill. Unfortunately the mare keeled over and died before I could pursue that adoption any further, so the name died out before I ever got to use it. When I got O, who is of course bright chestnut, it was immediately the first name that popped into my head, and it stuck.

Not to mention the fact that O is just as much of a total badass as her namesake. Watch and see (warning: much language and decapitation):


Yep. That's her, in a nutshell. She is perfect compliant and nice, until you bring up a subject that she doesn't like... then she will cut your head off with a katana. 


So where did The Reeling come from? It's a song by Passion Pit, one of my very favorite bands. I picked the name one day, randomly, when the song was playing on my iPod. Much like all of the names I give my animals, they usually just explode into my head and they are perfect. The longer I sit and think about names, the more I can't come up with the right one. They almost always have to organically spring out of a situation that feels like it matches the animal. Pangea, for instance... I had a whole bunch of names written down, and couldn't force myself to like any of them. One day on a trail ride, the word Pangea just popped into my head out of nowhere, for no particular reason at all. I loved it, it matched the enormous size of her head, and it stuck.




That's a level 5 shroom trip right there. Not that I know what that's like or anything.

I picked it because that song and video pretty much describe what it feels like to ride O - complete and total chaos that leaves you feeling very confused and dizzy and reeling about a lot of the time. Most of the time it is very fun, but sometimes she makes your head spin and you just have no idea what the hell is going on.


So what did you name your horse after? 




14 comments:

  1. I'm assuming the fact that Gogo was "Gogo Fatale" the "Fatale" part came from Kill Bill too?

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    1. Yup! Put the names Gogo Yubari and Sophie Fatale together to make Gogo Fatale!

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  2. I like Passion Pit too! Cool to learn where the names all come from :)

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  3. Super Kid came with the name,but it fits her so I kept it, Rhymes dams sires name is Limerick and her name was Regal, so he's Rhyme nothing really funny going on here

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  4. Love this! Tiger Lily was named after the shy Native American girl in Disney's version of Peter Pan. I LOVE Peter Pan. When Charles and I started hanging out some 18 (!!) years ago, we were in a co-ed group similar to the Boy Scouts called the Sea Explorers. Most of the kids in the group were boys and we went on all sorts of adventures and even got stranded on a deserted island. For whatever reason Charles and I always used to be the ring leaders...I always felt like Wendy with Peter Pan and our group of Lost Boys. Charles might have been 20 at the time but he was definitely a kid at heart! So Lily's name is a tribute to both one of my favorite stories and our own story. Temperament-wise she has proven to be a lot like Tiger Lily herself too: quiet yet completely unafraid of standing up to Hook!

    She came to me after a really bad run with horses. Her barn name is Lily instead of Tiger because lily flowers symbolize the return of happiness.

    Gracie's name doesn't have much of a story, as she came with both: Milli-On-Aire is her registered name, and her previous owner called her Gracie. I'm still debating switching her barn name to Aire.

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  5. oh neat - i never made the kill bill connection before, but it seems super fitting! i'm pretty awful at naming animals and generally stick with what they already have... boring, i know... tho maybe i'll switch it up when i get my own horse..? lol

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  6. I saw Passion Pit at ACL but admit I mostly know their radio singles. Simons show name is after a Paul Simon song, Something So Right.

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  7. When my new horse turned up he was called 'Belverdere' which I HATED... but didn't have anything better ..

    My nephew was 2 years old and called him the 'illy horsh'... which we think was 2 year old speak for silly horse.

    Anyway... 'illy' stuck and since he is a Rocky Mountain Horse x Thoroughbred I called him Rockabilly as his show name...

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  8. Promise was Expression when I met her, supposedly because she was from the Espresso Hanoverian line, although I never found a concrete link there.

    She needed a new beginning after a rough start to life, so it was changed to Promises to Keep for shows, and Promise around the barn -- from Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening."

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  9. Amber came with her barn name and I left it because I didn't really feel the need to change it. It came from her registered name "Amberhaze Woman"...which I hate...weird AQHA names...

    Her show name is Cinnamon Whiskey. Which came about because I had an awesome ride despite having a nasty hangover after taking my first Fireball shots the previous night. I guess I thought it was a good omen, plus is sounds awesome.

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  10. Dollar's registered QH name was Cee Kay Sash (so original, I know). When we got him at 2 years old, my Dad named him after one of John Wayne's movie horses, named Dollar. The dog that we had at the time was also named in honour of John Wayne's nickname, Duke. (don't ask. My dad named them).
    I also had a horse that I re-named The Refrigerator, and shortened it to Fridge at home. All because when I got him, he was as big as a fridge and just as stocked too.

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  11. The year Daatje was born, Friesians were to be named beginning with D, E or F. So I went to Googling feminine Dutch baby names and fell in love with "Daatje". I've been told its meaning is "little dear one", or something to that effect.

    Her barn name(s) are many. "Smuttynose" - my husband calls her that because her nose is always dirty. "Muggs, Muggles and/or Princess Monkey Pants" - I call her and I don't even know why! Lol

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  12. I also love Passion Pit and one of my favorite songs of theirs is The Reeling :)

    Katai comes from a Jim Butcher book except my mom, who'd read the book and suggested the name misspelled it. The character in the book is actually named Kitai which means harmony in Japenese. The name Katai, remember misspelled by my mom, means stubborn in Japenese but by the time I realized it the name had stuck haha.

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  13. My guy's name was originally Wingman because he paddles like crazy with his LF. When my friend bought him, she told me she had narrowed the name list down to three: Gabriel, Excaliber, and Dust Bunny. ?!?!?! I was like, "Um...of those three...I think Gabriel is...the least bad." A week later she said she had narrowed it down to two ("Please not Excaliber!!!"): Dante or Salem. I was so relieved!!! Those are both great names! I voted for Dante, but she ended up picking Salem, and I'm actually glad because I have met like 3 other Dantes but no other Salems. She decided his show name would be Witching Hour, which I think is perfect. When she passed away, I adopted Salem, and I would never change his name. He'a definitely a Salem. :-)

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