Friday, July 6, 2012

Hobby Horse Blog Hop - back at it!

I've been not very good at joining Dreaming's blog hop for the last month or so, but I'm back at it this week.

The rules are simple: answer the questions and then link up with Dreaming.  Easy-peasy!
1. How did your horse (dog, cat, other pet) get his or her name?
Estes came with her name and I saw no reason to change it.  She and the members of her herd were named after areas in the mountains: Estes (Estes Park), Meeker (Mount Meeker), Copeland (Copeland Lake), etc.

2. What names for horses, dogs or cats (chickens, guinea pigs..... and so forth) do you think are especially cute or clever?
Oh Lord, have you opened a bag of worms with this one.  Beel has always been one for coming up with great names for our pets.  We had Sebastian Johan Bark ("Sebbie"); Retread the snake (yep, someone ran him over before he became ours); Bomber the squirrel (he made a whistling sound when Beel found him);  two geese named Thanksgiving and Christmas ('cause that's when Mom threatened to eat them!); Sean Cannary; Kitten Kaboodle ("Kaboodle" or " 'Boodle"); and now Pounce de Lyon ("Pounce").  We had some pets with "normal" names and our horses' names are downright boring.
I personally have a really hard time coming up with names, but when you grow up with someone like Beel in your household, you don't have to work too hard - just ask him for suggestions.
3. Tell us about your first pet.
Michael is the first pet I remember - he was a big Irish Setter and his hair was the exact shade of Mom's.  I have pictures of other pets from when I was a wee one, but Michael's the one I remember most.  He had the greatest personality - he'd smile, go down slides and when he wanted to go visiting, he'd head on over to my Grandma Mary's house and knock on her door (a mile or so away from home).

My question for you: Riding in the 4th of July parade has become a tradition with Mom and me, have you ever ridden in a parade and how did you like it? 

I used to think that it would be a breeze, but so many things can go wrong in a parade that you just don't think about.  Even though we've ridden in the local parade for years, I still get nervous when we line up.  Only when the whole thing is over and we're back home do I relax completely.
Opportunity for something to go wrong,
both horses are VERY interested in something.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I have never ridden in a parade. I did once last year ride in a golf cart behind the horses scooping poop. . .does that count?
I hope this year to take Shy to some Christmas parades in the area. We will be walking in them, but the exposure will be good for her.
You guys look awesome for the parade!!

Allenspark Lodge said...

I named my horse "Ranger" because I bought him the day Clayton Moore died. He played the Lone Ranger on most of the TV series.

I thought "Clayton" would be a dumb name for a horse. But looking back- ya know, it would have kind of suited him.

Bill

Dreaming said...

I love how all of the herd were named for regional attributes. How cool. That really seems to connect the horses to their origins.
You are so right about Beel picking great names. I need Beel!
Michael went down slides? He sounds so very cool!

I have never ridden in a parade. Perhaps because I was always in the parade with the Ladies Drill Team! I led the team for 17 years in our local Christmas Parade. We wore decorated construction helmets and carried drills. We had some routines, but precision was not a requirement to march with us! I also walked with the 4-H one year. My Golden Retriever carried a little banner with the club's name on it for the entire parade. She seemed to know she was in the limelight, she proudly turned her head left and right to show people the banner! (She was also a smiler, like your Michael. It used to freak people out - they thought she was getting ready to bite them!)

Dreaming said...

I love how all of the herd were named for regional attributes. How cool. That really seems to connect the horses to their origins.
You are so right about Beel picking great names. I need Beel!
Michael went down slides? He sounds so very cool!

I have never ridden in a parade. Perhaps because I was always in the parade with the Ladies Drill Team! I led the team for 17 years in our local Christmas Parade. We wore decorated construction helmets and carried drills. We had some routines, but precision was not a requirement to march with us! I also walked with the 4-H one year. My Golden Retriever carried a little banner with the club's name on it for the entire parade. She seemed to know she was in the limelight, she proudly turned her head left and right to show people the banner! (She was also a smiler, like your Michael. It used to freak people out - they thought she was getting ready to bite them!)