10 Hilarious Horse Names with Origins and Meanings You Won’t Want to Miss

Your horse’s name may reflect his/her personality, breed, and even a little of your own sense of humor. Over the years, horse owners and breeders have created some great horse names that make fans laugh, commentators trip up when saying them on air, or cause an announcer to bite his lip trying not to chuckle during a race. Below, we bring you some of the most amusing monikers to ever grace a racecourse or stable and share with you just how creative people can be when naming these beautiful four-legged creatures.

The Art of Naming Horses: A Brief Overview

So, before we get to the humorous horse names list, you should read about How Horse Naming Works (Primarily In The Racing World). Naming is a long and arduous process that has to be adherent to the stringent rules set by bodies such as The Jockey Club in the U.S., which manages the registration of Thoroughbred horses. These rules state that a horse’s name cannot be longer than 18 characters, including spaces and punctuation; must not duplicate an existing or similar sounding name (Torofit would never get through! wow); nor can it sound like one which exceeds the normal use of spelling standard for Novel Knowledge pursue you?

With these restrictions, most horse owners get playful, devising puns, wordplay, and pop culture allusions to name their horses. The result? This creates among the most crackpot names you will ever hear, meaning they are often just as exciting to listen too long before a race starts.

The Funniest Horse Names of All Time

1. Hoof Hearted
   A horse with one of the better-known names in racing history, “Hoof Hearted”, led to more than a few giggles for its double entendre. MUST TRY: It must be ordered by saying it three times fast, which, when said quickly, sounds like pooping (a fan favorite among those that have potty humor). This name is a classic in the world of comical horse names and remains an all-time top-notch comedic pony alias referred to as Pt. Rinse Repeat.
2. Arrrrr
   What a pirate-stabled racehorse might be, called Arrrrr by example. Known not only for its play on a joke, this name also became very popular and difficult for the race callers to say. Announcers struggled with the name, taking more time than late to announce races and making it sound like they were in a curl of pirates.
3. Pot8os
   This name has a long-standing history as far back as the 18th century. You would be correct, and it is the prime example of what happens when you come up with an iconic name, but just one letter off! It is said that the horse was intended to be called ‘Potatoes’ due to its owner adopting a pro-potato, anti-laundry detergent philosophy. Still, through a clerical error, the stable boy at her dad’s racing yard in Wales wrote Pot8os. Apparently, the owner found this amusing and decided to keep it. The result? A legendary racehorse with an original name that remains relevant to this day.
4. Waikikamukau
   A funny one from New Zealand that pokes fun at how common Maori place names are. Otherwise known as “Why-kick-a-moo-cow,” meaning aim for farmyard animals, so to speak – which confused commentators and fans when they slowed the audio down trying to pronounce it.
5. Potoooooooo
   This is yet another take on the Pot8os gag and the title of this name. The horse owner ran with this original misspelling and added more o’s to the name, which resulted in “Potoooooooo. It might be a tough one to say, but you for sure won’t forget the name.
6. Gelding the Lily
   A fun play on ‘gilding the lily’ (meaning to cover an already perfect specimen) with a wink that obviously refers to the fact geldings and males…you know. The joke is that it is reworded to make the action sound unnecessary or overwrought in a play on “gilding the lily.”
7. Maythehorsebewithu
   Poking a bit of fun at the Star Wars franchise, “Maythehorsebewithu” is a name that should strike your fancy among fans. A play on the infamous line “May the force be with you”, this horse’s name is fitting to both a Star Wars character and enthusiasts.
8. Odor in the Court
   This name plays cleverly off of the legal phrase “Order in the court.” As far as this name, and there have been a few horses with similar names — it is just a smart choice for a horse that maybe does not take kindly to following any rules or perhaps makes fun of the serious world in which they spend most things. The name that will never fail to bring you a giggle when announced.
9. Runny Babbit
   In the vein of Shel Silverstein (the master spoonerist — a swap of the first letters/sounds, at least)! This horse is as playful in practice and fun with language. Marauding Skald is a distillation of this same type of “one degree removed” literary referencing, but more concise and perhaps with another layer of satire added on top.
10. Wear the Fox Hat
    A name that sounds when in haste as if it were referring to something else altogether. Master of the phonetic trick, though at first glance one might mistake “Wear the Fox Hat” (with its whiff of Wedding Present) for anything but an unrepentant wind-up. Admittedly, this name that seems innocent at the onset will make you chuckle when said aloud.

Check Your Horse Name Availability

Before settling on a hilarious horse name, make sure it’s available! The Jockey Club Horse Name Registry is an excellent resource where you can verify if your chosen name is already in use. This tool helps ensure that your horse gets a unique and original name, especially if you’re planning to register them. Visit their site to avoid any naming conflicts and secure the perfect, one-of-a-kind name for your horse!

Conclusion

The world is full of situations that are more than a little deadly serious; thankfully, in horse racing, we see true humor still alive and well. Such funny horse names will no doubt live on long past these and coming generations, as fresh owners of horses always do their best to keep the zany tradition alive in fun-filled dish-of-a-funny-horse-name.