Part 2 – What’s In A Name?
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By Lauren Levy
Sometimes, great horse names are intentionally chosen because they hint at a foal’s bloodlines. Other times, names just pop into an owner’s head and they stick. Many horse names, including those that may appear mundane on paper, have great tales behind them. Here are the stories behind the registered names of five horses. Although some of the stories are amusing, one in particular is incredibly inspiring. No matter what emotions this article evokes, it will undoubtedly leave readers pondering the tales behind their favorite horses’ registered names.
She’s Trending
Nancy Sue Ryan, a well-respected AQHA trainer, judge, and breeder, who currently stands Fabuluke at Show Stop Farm in Nocona, Texas, came up with this name while talking to a friend on the phone. Ryan recalls, “My friend was talking about a famous person who was in a lot of trouble last year.” The woman her friend was referring to had recently been featured in an MSN News story. “When this woman was at the highlight of all bad news, she was actually listed as one of the number one ‘trending topics’ on the bottom of the screen during an MSN News broadcast,” Ryan says. While Ryan was talking to her friend on the phone, the friend happened to see this, and said, “Oh, she’s trending now.” Ryan, who states that she often names her foals after catchy phrases she hears, apparently liked the way this sounded. Later in the year, Ryan decided to name one of her promising fillies She’s Trending. She thinks the name will “work really well when the filly gets into the show pen.”
Peace Love Hope
“Peace Love Hope” is a universally used inspirational phrase, as well as the signature phrase used by one of Kathy Smallwood’s young clients. Smallwood, a well-known Texas-based Professional Horseman and breeder explains, “I had a youth client, and she always signed her texts with ‘Peace Love Hope.’ I always thought the signature was cute.” Smallwood says that the young girl was particularly fond of an unnamed 2010 filly Smallwood had bred by Mr. Touchdown Kid and out of Innocent Sister. One day, Smallwood was at the AQHA headquarters getting her foals registered. She recalls, “The filly my young client liked was the last one to be registered. Although I still hadn’t thought of a name for her, I wanted to get it done right then because I was already sitting right there at AQHA.” She began thinking of the young client who so admired the unnamed filly. After some thought, she turned to her friend and asked, “How about Peace Love Hope?” Smallwood’s friend approved of the name. However, she recalls that the woman working at AQHA was not as fond of the choice. “The lady helping me looked at me like, ‘Are you crazy?’ ” But, this didn’t slow Smallwood down. She asked the woman to run the name through the database to see if it had been taken. The woman jokingly replied, “I will, but I’m sure no one has ever used that name before.” Sure enough, the woman was correct, and Smallwood claimed the name on the spot. The young girl who inspired this name never ended up purchasing the filly. Instead, Smallwood explains that an individual in Mexico purchased the filly, and she and her owner have been quite successful in competitions.
Red Solo
Cup Most country music fans are familiar with the song, “Red Solo Cup,” by Toby Keith. That group includes Karen Kennedy, an APHA exhibitor and breeder who needed a name for one of her 2010 sorrel overo geldings. Kennedy recalls, “We were trying to find a cute, fun name for this gelding we had bred, because we knew he was truly a special horse. One day, my trainer, Mike Hachtel, came to pick the gelding up, and we went to dinner together.” Kennedy, her husband Ken, Hachtel, and some friends were sitting outside, having a drink, and talking when the idea to name her special gelding after Toby Keith’s song was introduced. “I don’t know how either Mike or my husband came up with the idea that Red Solo Cup should be his name, but they brought it up, and I loved it.” Afraid that the name had already been taken, Kennedy decided to call APHA to see if the name was available. Luckily, it was. It’s fortunate that Kennedy was able to claim such a catchy name for their gelding, who is by Zippos Sensation and out of Shesa Real Pleasure, because it has been heard numerous times since in the APHA show pen. At the 2012 APHA World Championship Show, Red Solo Cup took home the winning prize in the Gold 2-Year-Old Western Pleasure Breeders’ Futurity.
Snooki
This name, like the last, was inspired by pop culture. The equestrian who picked this name for one of her 2012 bay fillies by A Dream Remembered is Jenny Honey. Honey has been breeding horses for over fifteen years with her husband, Jeff, who trains western pleasure horses in Greenbrier, Arkansas. Honey admits, “I did kind of name her after the Snooki from ‘Jersey Shore,’ but I also just think it’s a cute name.” For those who are not familiar with Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, the MTV reality star after whom Honey’s filly is named, Polizzi is famous for being a party-going American-Italian who wears provocative outfits and styles her hair in an oversized signature hairstyle called a “poof.” Originally, Honey wanted Snooki to solely be her filly’s barn name. However, when she went to register the filly, she came up with the idea of making Snooki’s barn name her registered name as well. Earlier last year, Snooki was put in the Reichert Sale at the annual Reichert Celebration in Fort Worth, Texas. Honey says some people had a hard time understanding that this unconventional name was her filly’s registered name as well as her barn name. She recalls, “They would say, ‘I know her name is Snooki, but what is her registered name?’ ” To which Honey would simply reply, “It’s Snooki.” Snooki was sold to a prominent trainer in the Reichert Sale, and Honey hopes he will turn her into a successful pleasure horse. She speaks fondly of this filly with the pop culture name stating, “I hope he does well with her. She was like one of my pets. She would always follow me around wherever I went.” In addition, Honey shares that this will not be the last pop culture reference she plans to use when naming her foals. She reveals that she will name one of her newest foals after a phrase one of the characters famously says on the hit A&E show, Duck Dynasty.
Eazie Dayzie
The name Eazie Dayzie has a less light-hearted but deeply inspiring story behind it. When Jennifer Holt, an AQHA amateur exhibitor, registered her 2010 filly under this name, she didn’t have a pop culture reference or text message salutation in mind. Instead, she was thinking about one of her closest family members who lost his life earlier than anyone should. Holt, who rides under the guidance of the highly accomplished AQHA professional trainer, Gil Galyean, explains. “On June 20, 2009, I received a phone call that no one ever wants to get.” Her cousin, Amy Garber, had called to say that her husband, Jeffrey James Garber, had died suddenly of a heart attack. Garber, who was only forty-three at the time of his death, had been serving as a United States Navy Command Master Chief aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower off the coast of Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. At his funeral, which brought together over 600 Navy sailors and Marines, Jeff and Amy’s oldest daughter, Tayler, referred to her father as the “closest thing to a super hero” that she, her sister, Paige, and her brother, Josh, had ever known. One of Garber’s colleagues, Captain Calvin Craig, recalls, “Master Chief Garber was one of the finest individuals I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. He was the epitome of what a Command Master Chief should be at every turn — selflessly taking care of the men and women of the air wing and the entire IKE Strike Group team.” That same day, Garber was awarded the Legion of Merit posthumously, which is given for “exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements.” One of Garber’s closest friends, Captain Roy J. Kelley, shared with them that amidst the difficult conditions every person serving in the military has to endure, Garber always maintained a positive attitude. According to Kelley, every morning aboard the USS Eisenhower while discussing his daily agenda at staff meetings, Garber would always end by saying, “It’s just another easy day, sir, easy day,” regardless of how daunting it may have actually been.” According to Holt, Captain Kelley remarked that Garber always said the phrase with a smile. Some time after Garber’s death, in April of 2010, Jennifer and her husband, Wayne, were watching their two-week-old filly lope across a turnout at the ranch where it was stabled. Jennifer Holt recalls, “I was commenting on how laid back and beautiful she was, and I always believed she had a guardian angel. We had nicknamed her ‘Daizy’ because her recipient mother was a red roan we called ‘Rosie.’ Daizy was loping toward us and Wayne put his arm around me and said, ‘It’s just another easy day, isn’t it?’ We both knew in that moment her name would be ‘Eazy Dayzie.’ The z’s in Daizy’s name come from her sire, Lazy Loper. Holt shares that since the filly was a baby, Daizy has embodied Garber’s attitude of “easy day, sir, easy day.” “She never gets mad,” Holt says. “She always tries to figure out a solution to whatever she is being asked to do. She is laid back, she loves her job, she loves people, and she wants no trouble.” It seems that Dayzie’s demeanor has served her well in the show pen. Holt shared that Dayzie was the 3-Year-Old Novice Horse signature class winner at the Show for Dough NSBA horse show in Tunica, Mississippi. She had two Reserve Champion placings in the Little Futurity slot classes, and she was Reserve Champion and Top Five in both the Limited Open and the Open Non-Pro at the Tom Powers. In addition, she has won two NSBA World Championships, one in Novice Horse 3-Year-Old Western Pleasure and one in Intermediate Non-Pro Western Pleasure, and two Reichert Futurity Championships. One Championship was in the Intermediate Non-Pro Western Pleasure and the other was in the $10,000 Non-Pro Western Pleasure Stakes. Holt notes that all of these wins “are all incredible successes.”
TAPS and Snowball Express
A portion of the winnings that Dayzie brings in will be donated by the Holt family to the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). According to their website, TAPS is a non-profit organization and a “24/7 tragedy assistance resource for ANYONE who has suffered the loss of a military loved one, regardless of the relationship to the deceased or the circumstance of the death.” TAPS, which was founded in 1994, has provided “comprehensive services and programs including peer-based emotional support, case work assistance, connections to community-based care, and grief and trauma resources” to over 40,000 surviving family members, casualty officers, and caregivers thus far. The Garber family is no exception. Holt explains that TAPS was “instrumental in helping Amy and her children survive the grief and emotions in the year following [Garber’s] death.” In addition, the Holt family will be contributing to the Snowball Express, a nonprofit organization dedicated to “serving the children of our fallen military heroes.” Snowball Express’ website explains that since 2006 it has been the mission of the organization to “provide hope and new happy memories to the children of military fallen heroes who have died while on active duty since 9/11.” The organization works to “bring children together from all over to world for a four-day experience filled with fun activities, like sporting events, dances, amusement parks, and more.” Snowball Express helps to provide a platform for children to “share their feelings about losing something so precious, their parent,” and makes them feel special. Holt describes the tremendous effect the organization has had on Garber’s children, who have attended the Snowball Express’ annual event in Dallas for the last three years. “It has been life changing, and they are able to share with other kids who have lost a parent who was serving in the military,” she says. “Our hope is Eazy Dayzie’s gifts can help others find their ‘easy day’ again.” For Jennifer and Wayne Holt, Dayzie’s purpose is larger than most show horses. “Jeff left a gift to all of us,” she says. “His words are a constant reminder in our family. Our plan is that some of her prize money will make a difference to another family who endures the loss of a family member in our armed forces. If Dayzie’s story touches someone enough to give back to military families that have lost a loved one, then she has done something more important than winning a trophy or a check. She will always be a sweet gift from God and a reminder that life, and especially showing horses, really is an ‘easy day.’”
Other names that surely have great stories behind them:
Kamanyawannadance, Kay Te Upton, Eye On the Ball, A Chanceof Blueskies, Better Buy The Minit, Size Matters, Take the Last Luke, Still Not Interested, Don’t Stare, Kupcakz, Looknforagirllikeyou, Playin With A Spoon, A Little Bossy, Gentlemen Only, Cityboy Or Cowboy, Chillz, Walla Whiz Whiz, Gunner Git Ya Gun, Roosta, and Lucky Nurse.
If you are interested in donating to the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors,” please visit: http://www.taps.org/WaysToDonate/
Or, if you are interested in donating to the Snowball Express, please visit http://snowballexpress.org/support/donate/ to find out how you can help.
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