What’s In A Name?

This handsome boy is going to compete in dressage shows this summer. It will be his first summer of competition and Suzanne will be riding him. If all goes well, my turn will come next year.

Hobey and Suzanne at work

You can’t just show up at a dressage show with your trusty pony and ride. God no. You’ve got to be a dues-paying, card-carrying union member. I’ve spent the last day getting the both of us, owner and horse, registered with the proper authorities. Those authorities would be the United States Equestrian Federation and the United States Dressage Federation. They don’t ask for much information about me, mainly my credit card number, but they want to know a great deal about Hobey. They’re especially interested in the names of his ancestors.

In the wacky wonderful world of European warmbloods, the first initial of your parents’ names is very important. Hobey’s sire was Faegon and his dam was Fantasia. They are from the “F” line of the Hanoverian family. But there were also a lot of “W”s in Hobey’s lineage. You’re supposed to name your little baby Hanoverian with a name beginning with the first initial of the sire’s line, in Hobey’s case F…but also W. What to do??

I will admit, I tried to name him something German that started with an F or a W. I scoured his parents’ registration papers for ideas but I quickly gave up. On Dad’s side I had inspiration like Weingau, Wotansglut, and Flaschsmann. Mom’s side of the family boasted an illustrious great-grandfather, the famous Hanoverian sire Ferdinand, along with some well-regarded Ws like Wendepunkt. But someone in her family must have jumped the fence because she had in her lineage the names Mosquito Bite and Swamp Rattler. We don’t talk much about that branch of the family.

So you see what I had to work with? I had no idea of the meaning or significance of any of these names or how their genetics might have shaped my horse. I like to think Ferdinand blew bubbles in his water bucket and passed that trait down to his great-great-grandson. Or that Weingau gave Hobey his powerful trot. But I know nothing about these horses and I don’t understand German, so I winged it.

Hobey’s barn name is Hobey, after the hockey legend Hobey Baker. I love hockey. That’s all there is behind that. His registered name is Carondelet. I named him after the chapel of St. Joseph Carondelet where my husband and I said our wedding vows. So there you go, USDF and USEF. I bucked your Fs and Ws and named my boy in honor of my favorite sport and my favorite chapel. Go ahead, call me weird. Call me uncooperative. Just don’t call me Wotansglut.