Jeff and I are looking at another horse who is (at the moment) nameless. He is currently being referred to as "Pi" since he has 3+ white socks, but that's not going to fly if we buy him.

Any thoughts?

Bob, please don't miss this post, as I'm sure you have some knowledge of horse names in the 15th C.

Jeff is out doing a second ride on Pi today, and if the vet says he is Ok we're going to buy him.

Jeff says the name "Pi" is right out, and I can't think of anything else just yet.

If we do buy him, I'll post a picture and we'll have a "name that horse" contest, but does anyone have any thoughts for the present?

If it helps, he's a 3 year old dappled chestnut Belgian / Halflinger cross with a white face, silver mane and tail, white to his hocks in the back, white sock on the front right and a bit of white just above the front left hoof.

I'll be glad to oblige with a list, just give me a day.

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If this helps, we're thinking he should have a Flemish, French or "classical" name (Ajax, Trajan, etc.), unless of course there is some other naming style we should follow.

We also tend to like 2- syllable animal names, as 2 syllables lend themselves for calling beasties in from the pasture.

Thanks again!

However, there are some cool horse name sites too, check out some links.
This one is for Scandanavian names, used mostly by owners of Icelandic Ponies http://ds.dial.pipex.com/mic.oakfield/horsenam.htm

This one has all sorts of horse names from A-Z and is searchable by letter http://maxpages.com/horsenames

And a few other general ones http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Tower/3443/names.htm http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Tower/3443/names.htm http://www.equineshowcase.com/names.htm http://www.raineyvalleyfarm.com/wshis/names.html http://www.pyramidarabians.com/names/a-h.html

Hope this helps.
Brenna

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For example, one of ours is called "Normandie". King Charles, I think it is the V of that name, I am sure Bob will correct me if I am mistaken, had a black horse named SAVOY.

Classical names are cool, but if it were me, I would avoid names that sound like a "scrubbing compound" or a rare disease. LOL. But hey, that's me.

[ 05-14-2001: Message edited by: Fire Stryker ]

[ 05-14-2001: Message edited by: Fire Stryker ]

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--AM, very jealous

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His hooves trimmed up beautifully, and he's as sound as a rock. Now we wait to hear what the vet has to say......

Don't be jealous AM, this just means you have another horse to ride when you come visit!!!!

fournier comes to mind (baker, or oven) just cuz its a pretty word.

Gheeraert sounds very dignified (Brugges, 1454) as does Heinric, Pauwels (pronounced "Pavell?")Lambrecht, Ghyselbrecht and of course Antoine

Boudin is good since in addition to being a 15th century mans name, it can also mean "sausage" for when he's being a pill .

hope this helps!
--AM

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Glad to hear the test went well. Brenna & Firestryker are quite right, in that coloration and place names are the most common names of which we are aware.

A sample of the Black princes chargers - Grisel de Cologne, Bayard de Brucell, and Bayard Dieu. That the practise continued into the 15th century is witnessed by Richard III's 'White Surrey', and Charles VIII's 'Savoie'. Of course, the only names of horses we have are the mounts of the great, but one of the Black princes hackney's bore the less lofty, but probably more common in style name 'Wellfed'.

Even de Commynes didn't tell the reader the name of his mount at Montleherey, although he talked about him for near a paragraph. From his love for new wine, he ought have been called Baccheus. So what colour is he? Pehaps we can come up with something from there.

I'll keep looking.

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Lets see, the Middle English term for dappleing is pommely, and the Middle English term for chestnut is favel (from where we get the term to 'currey favor' - middle English , to 'currey Favel' - do an insignificant or demeaning job to win brownie points).

A Medieval person would probably have called this continent 'Hy Brasil' - after popular tales of romance involving a mythical island - people believed in it enough to launch an expedition to find it (it ended disasterously) from Bristol in 1480. Of course, you could pick a town or region famous for horses for him to be allegedly from if he is a handsome one. Naples, Champagne, Flanders, are places famous for breeding destriers in the 15th century.

So there are a number of 15th century terms to see if any goes together pleasingly. Normandie ended up with his name as the breeders had named him 'Norm' as his barn name, and I didn't wan't to change it too much.

Favel is always a pretty name.

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Pi is a very handsome fellow, so now I have to decide what striking characteristic will determine his name.

I like the track AM was on, naming him after something he reminds me of. "Favel" is OK, but doesn't light a fire under me. What other terms do you know? Sock footed? White face? Silver mane/tail? Pretty boy? Nimble foot?

What is his personality like? Is he quiet or fiery?

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We also had Dotato, which means "gifted", Rescape' which means "re-rescued" in French (her mother died with colic during her foaling, the foal was taken by Ceasarian and then rushed to a foster mare 80 miles away whose foal was still born)

Other horses in our barn were the full brother geldings Romulus and Remus (brothers to Rescape' as well), Wild Card, West Wind, Ladamo, Chess, Guinness, Sensitempi, Neenshjke, Farouke, Pelota, Walden, Visa (so named because he was a sale horse that was to pay for the trainer's visa renewal to stay in the US) Wien, Remy and Malachy on Parade.

Brenna

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I like Spendour, but he's not fiery by any means. Just willing, kind, sensible, smart and a real sweetie. Maybe we should call him "Chou-chou"?

Ah well, I'll keep thinking about it, and I'll try to post a picture later today.

[ 05-15-2001: Message edited by: Ned ]

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For God's Sake don't call him that ! It sounds when pronounced too similar to the crappiest machine gun ever made on the face of the earth (made by a French Bicycle company during world war one). Many men died with one cradled in their arms (or smashed agains the most convenient hard object in frustration) - gun jammed, and died cursing the name.

[ 05-15-2001: Message edited by: chef de chambre ]

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Do you *really* think my husband would name a horse "Creampuff" in any language?????

You're right Ned, Basil is a nice name. Thanks for suggesting it!

as for names...I always recommend coming up with a handful of likely candidates and seeing which fits after a day or three. It was almost two weeks before my newest cat found his name...

I still like "Antoine" but then I'm biased

--AM, who rarely calls animals by their given names anyway

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"Basil" is too English, and I think it would be embarrassing to name a horse after le grande batarde...

Still looking for a proper period "descriptive" name, but if nothing presents itself, the names

Etienne
Crispin
Antoine

are in the running, and I'm lobbying for

Gervase

but this isn't a done deal by any means!

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