UNSUITABLE NAMING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2356, 20 April 1899, Page 35

UNSUITABLE NAMING.

-The death of the dam of Boreas rewove* one of the three Hipponas from the Stud Book. This particular one was_ gflfr'by Daydawn from. Zillah," by Pacific out ot Annie, by Riddlesworth from Dinah. There the record stops. Dinah was one of the- great. lot-oL-JJew South Wales maies brought over here without pedigree. Good mares they were, but their ancestry was not kept count of. The other Hipponas "are — first, the daughter of Traitor and Gilda, bred by Mr Kitching in Otago and known best as the dam of Rothamslead ; second, the New South Wales bred daughter of Robinson Orupoe, who ga\e birth to Roic (granddam of Ro-sella) and the champion St. Hippo. Considered as a matter of seniority, the dam ot Rothamstead had the first right to 'the name, but it is not a name that might have been expected to provoke much competition. And, speaking of names, T may be allowed to once more express regret at tho very limited ideas that possess some owners in choosing names for their horses. Take the Multiform family. Mr Mitchelson is. I presume, responsible for the start of the " Form " fad. He it was who first raced Formo, and he got the name, presumably, by contracting " Formosa," this celebrated mare being the granddam of hip filly. Mr-Stead followed with Uniform and Multiform, and now we learn from Auckland that the yearling sister lo these worthies is lo be known as Formula. Good enough name?, these, in themselves, but the fashion of selecting names simply because they bear some real or fancied lo another, or becaupe of mere alphabetical relationship, while safe enough if practised by senpible aud educated men, is liable fffbe badly abused. From Multiform we easily glide on- to Formula, but it is. only,, a ,»hort step to Platform, .and Bad Form and Inform and Reform, and by the time this is reached the original intention t of pecpotuating' the- name of the famous old mare will have been quite lost. Names that only depend upon their appearance or their sound for their appropriatenesp are apt to load us quite astray, whereas if the idea is right- tho shape of the word is of secondary value. Examples of the better ptyle of nomenclature that readily occur to tho memory are : Occident for a son of The West — it could not be misunderstood, though -there is no resemblance in form between the two names ; and Siesta and Morpheus for the progeny of Hammock, these properly indicating the dam without prctendiuz to ntic'-c to any alph:»l>eticnl likeness. Tho objection I refer to is one that will not, perhaps, be appreciated by some folk, but there are owners who. foal a pen?e of responsibihtv in the matter.- and on them, let it be hoped, the hint will not be thrown away.