Hit Me - I give you Reason...

Alright - I know that doesn't make much sense, but I'm trying to hit 1000 "looks" this month and 1000 member points.  What have I got today?  Here it is:

May 25, 2007

Street Sense. Secretariat. Foolish Pleasure. Fusaichi Pegasus. Why do race horses have such goofy names?

It’s not easy being a Thoroughbred. From the moment you’re born, your life is not your own – no matter what date you enter the world, in the Northern Hemisphere, you’re automatically assigned a January 1st birth date. (It’s July 1 in the Southern Hemisphere.) If your owners plan to race you, you must be registered with the Jockey Club, but in order to be eligible, they have to test and re-test your blood to make sure your DNA is the product of two live Thoroughbreds (and not the result of artificial insemination) and to confirm that your parents are also official DNA-registered racing stock.

Once you’re accepted into the club, you’ve got to have an identity, and thus begins the complex process of choosing a name. Names can have a maximum of 18 characters, including spaces and punctuation. They can’t end in any horsey terms such as “mare” or “foal.” Numbers above 30 are only allowed in the name if they’re spelled out. You can’t be named after a living person without their written permission. Initials cannot be used, nor can names of previous Kentucky Derby winners. No obviously commercial names (such as “PonyPennzoil”) are permissible. Of course, no suggestive, obscene or offensive appellations are allowed (some folks work around this last rule with creative spelling; see Peony’s Envy.) Anyway, these are just some of the restrictions in place; a glance at the full list makes it readily apparent why owners are forced to choose names like Barbaro over Mr. Ed.

 

From MENTALFLOSS