What's in a Name? Part II; Equine edition

Read Part I Here.Chroicoragh and Siofra came to me already named, and I loved both - feminine, fitting, and Irish Gaelic. Chroicoragh was named after her mother, Clononeen Chroicoragh:

Chroi was born in Ireland and came to the US on an airplane when she was six months old. Quite an education for a weanling, and maybe that's why she's so smart.

It's amazing how a sweet little baby:

Can morph into a full-grown, beautiful horse:

(yes, it's the same horse!

Read about gray factor here.)

Many people will change a horse's name upon taking ownership. Your "Wildfire" could be someone else's "Rusty." This happened with our colt. I thought and contemplated and researched and stewed for days, trying to come up with the perfect name, and then I figured it out: Arthur. I absolutely loved it; classic, masculine, regal - heck, Arthurian. And it just happened to be my dad's name. Here's the little stinker:

He was the cutest thing - such a chunky monkey, and the wooliest little horse you ever saw. I can't wait to see pictures of him as he matures. He will be a fantastic stallion, lots of flash and attitude. The gal who bought Arthur is in east Texas, and changed his name to "Aubie," after the University of Auburn mascot. Some people think knights and legends, others think sports. But that's a prime example of names and meanings, and another of the many the differences between people.

Names are a popular topic among writers as well. When you have a story to tell, the characters involved have to be compelling; someone you reader can relate to, and a name can really help the character connect to the reader's heart.

Here's a few that come to mind: Holden Caulfield, Scout Finch, Elizabeth Bennett, Dorothy Gale, Bilbo Baggins, Harry Potter, Scarlett O'Hara, Sherlock Holmes, Lucy Pevensie, Jay Gatsby, Jane Eyre, Ebeneezer Scrooge (Does it get any better than that? Ebeneezer Scrooge?) Tell me there's not one character in that list that you didn't connect with somehow. And I would bet anyone reading this list could come up with at least ten more.

In writing my story, I have to say I was lucky when it came to my lead character's name, because her name and the idea for the story happened at the same time. It just came to me all at once, like a lightning bolt. The side characters have been even more fun to create, and when the name comes, it helps form the image of the person in my mind. As I write, I see them; their expressions and reactions, how they walk.

I'm like a little spy, up in the sky of their world watching it all unfold, and writing it down. It's actually a lot of fun. The hard part is when it gets foggy and you can't see what's going to happen next. Some people call it writer's block. To me, it's just a fog, a slight mist perhaps, that I just can't see through quite yet.

But the naming of anything, whether it be babies, horses or fictional characters, is something that deserves a fair amount of thought and consideration. I usually have a pretty good idea of at least a few names to try. But this time around I was stumped. What to name this little creature?

For some reason I was drawn to floral names (Daisy, Blossom, Buttercup) but none of them fit. She's very feminine - leggy and graceful, and sweet. I'd always liked the name Serafina, but it just seemed a bit much. Besides, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner stole it. I even thought of Violet, since both of her eyes are blue, but the Afflecks stole that one, too. Buggars.

I also like the idea of sticking with an Irish name, but I figured it's enough to have one difficult-to-pronounce, non-phonetical name. I have always included a pronunciation hint for Chroicoragh's name (Cree-Core-ah), because it is a very unusual name, and because I can't stand it when I don't know how to pronounce something. J.K. Rowling drove me crazy with Hermione until she finally gave us a clue on how to say it: Her-my-o-nee.

People can get kind of carried away with the whole Gaelic thing, though. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE it. I love all things Celtic. But for these purposes, it's a little like salt. A bit of it is fine, for flavor, but too much is just overkill. I've seen breeder pages where every horse's name is some sort of ancient medieval spelling of a name that no one has any clue how to say, and then they don't even give you a pronunciation for it. Drives me crazy. Sjkjdhefb - there's my horse's name. It's pronounced "Jim."

Okay, why not just call him Jim?

So, in naming our newest filly, I wanted Irish, but not too crazy with the spelling, a nature name, and something feminine. When I knew Serafina wouldn't work, and I found the name Fina at namenerds.com, I knew we'd found our name. Irish for vine, it's different enough without sounding stupid, and easy to pronounce. Done.

So, Fina it is. I think it suits her, don't you?

 

Update March 2012: Fina has been sold and her new owners call her "Athena."

However, one of the benefits of registering your horse is that her name will officially remain

WestCelt Fina.

If you or someone you know is on the hunt for a name, here are a few sites I found helpful:

http://www.namenerds.com - Irish, Welsh, Scottish, and other unique names.

http://www.babynames.com/character-names.php - A great page from babynames.com, on naming fictional characters.

An interesting article Concerning the name Fiona

Just for fun:

Irish name generator

Pirate name generator

Fairy name generator

And, Finally, when doing all of this searching around for names and their meanings, I came across this YouTube video of a band called Late Night Alumni performing their song, "What's in a Name?" The singer has such a beautiful voice, and the topic was so fitting, I thought I'd share it with you. I think artists nowadays need all the help they can get, when trying to get the word out.

Enjoy:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlVFfEEKPbI]

Oh, Baby!

Here she is, folks! 

Meet Fina! 

I thought I was prepared, but this little stinker decided to surprise us. I'd been checking Chroi every night, all through the night for a week to make sure we wouldn't miss the big event. Then on Tuesday, she started showing more promising signs. The area around her tail became soft, almost jelly-like, and she began "waxing." Waxing occurs when droplets of colostrum dry on the udders and form a bit of a build-up, like wax dripping from a candle. By Wednesday evening, milk was flowing pretty steadily from her udders. Some mares don't wax at all, and some will wax up to a month prior to foaling.

But when Chroi had Keira, she waxed the day before, and boom! Foal:

The night Keira was born

So Wednesday night, I didn't sleep much, waiting for this new baby. I'd get up, put my slippers on, wander out to the barn in my jammies, peer over the fence, and... nothing. Then Thursday morning when I went out to feed, Chroi was just standing out in her stall as usual, waiting for her breakfast, calm as can be, with that baby still securely inside her big round belly. So I threw some flakes of hay to her & Keira and headed off to a doctor's appointment with my son.

While we were gone, my neighbor went to check on Chroi and left a message on my cell phone: "You've got a drop-dead gorgeous filly over here! She's black and white and has two blue eyes."

So we rushed home, and this face greeted us:

She had just stood up.

What's amazing to me is how, minutes after being born, a new foal will get up and immediately begin the process of trying to nurse.

She uses her whiskery little muzzle, trying to find the right spot...

Not quite...

wrong end...

A little help from Mom...

Success!

Her curly hair.

She's all legs.

Newborn horses, like newborn babies, are a little gawky and awkward at first. But they get all cute and fluffy in a few days.

We're so happy to welcome our newest family member!

I think she takes after her dad, Lenny.

WestCelt Fina

The Home Stretch

It's a little after 1:00 AM, and I just went and checked on Chroi. She's not due for another eight days, but I figure we're in the home stretch. She could deliver early, and there's a storm front coming in from California tonight. Arthur and Keira were both born during a rainstorm, so I'm paying close attention to her as the barometer drops.But she looks OK, I think she's still got some time left. Although, she is showing that she's more uncomfortable - shifting her weight, and laying down to nap. And she's quite bitchy with Keira, too, chasing her off and not wanting anyone to mess with her.Oh I remember those days! When I was pregnant with my first, by the end of the term, I was so miserable; puffy with water weight, my feet were so swollen that none of my shoes would fit; the skin on my belly pulled so tight I thought it would pop, and no matter how hard I tried I could not get comfortable. Like sleeping on top of a watermelon. I finally took to walking around the mall, for miles it seemed, just to kick-start my labor and get it all over with. Little did I know it was the last time I would ever have peace and quiet.Just kidding. Peace and quiet is highly overrated, I'm sure.But I can relate to the crabbiness. When you're fat, puffy, and uncomfortably carrying a watermelon in your belly, you can get a little crabby. Keira better look out, 'cause Mama's not having any of it. Chroi's watermelon is more like one of those giant squash-pumpkins you see at the fair in the bed of a pickup truck.Ugh. Poor thing.

Training Day

I was contacted recently by some folks from Canada who were in Arizona for a winter break. They'd never seen Gypsy Horses before, and were eager to come by and see our girls. We had a very nice visit - I mean, have you ever met a Canadian you didn't like? :)I let Keira out of her stall, to let our visitors watch her trotting and running around the yard like she usually does, but she was so interested in our visitors that all she did was go from one to the other, sniffing, getting scratched, and munching carrots.So I thought we'd go over to the round pen to maybe show off a little, and I let one of the guys, David, try her out. This was the first time she'd ever lunged off a line (I usually work with her at liberty in the round pen), and she did great! She was so curious, and motivated to please. It's so fun to work with your own horses, but such a pleasure to be able to observe from the outside and see how they interact with others. I was so proud of her![youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7zZ7SDxtJY]Thanks to George, Mary, David and Gabby for coming by, for the lesson, and sharing the video with me.

It's 2:00 in the morning...

Why am I up?Well, in the process of writing my next post (about blogging), I realized I was using an awful lot of blog terminology that some of my readers (Yay! I have more than one!) may not be familiar with. I know that when I started writing my blog, and figuring it all out, I would come across terms like blogroll and follow. I didn't know a post from a comment, and I sure didn't know what RSS meant. Well, to tell you the truth, that one's still a little foggy to me, but onward. So I Googled and read my ...For Dummies books, and slowly got familiar with all of this blogology. But I thought I'd make it easier on you, so I made a Glossary page! Wait, you have to say it in the Oprah voice like she's giving away free Lancome or something...ready? 

GLOSS-A-RY!!

OK, much better. Sorry, but it's late and I'm a little punchy. For a multitude of reasons (Horse, Kids, School, Work, American Idol) two o'clock is the time of day when I have nothing else going on and can actually concentrate on writing.

So do me a favor, check out my Glossary of Blog Terms page, and let me know what you think. Hopefully it will bring clarity to those of you new to this medium. Feel free to shout out a term you've been hearing but don't know, and I will do my best to find it for you. It will be added to as need arises. I also plan on adding a Glossary of Horse Terms page in the future.

Now, due to the severity and frequency of my typos, and the frustration of constantly having to correct them, I feel the need to retire to my bedchamber. 

So farewell and goodnight!