do horses know their names?

Question

my daughter recently purchased a horse who has had the same name for nine years, and she wants to change his name. Does this matter, and how do you know your horse knows its name?

Answer 1

I have had a few horses and they came with names and I did want to change their names as well. I do agree with many of the people that have posted already, horses are very intelligent animals and are capable of learning many things. If your daughter really wants to change the name she must be very patient with the animal especially if it is older. Spend A LOT OF TIME with the horse just petting, cleaning the stall, what ever you have planned for the day and call the horse by the new name as much as you can. Just talk to the horse, when the horse appears to respond to the new name give reward with a treat. Continue this unitl the horse starts to become more responding and start to slowly wean off the treats. In time the horse should know its new name. But remember that patience is the key!

Answer 2

I once owned a 10 year old mare I got in trade for some work at a breeding ranch, she was used as a transplant brood mare. No one there knew her name, she was just "the big mare". I LOVED that mare from the moment I saw her. It was obvious she needed some attention and TLC. I already had a horse called WildFire so I named her SureFire (had another one we named SpitFire). SureFire did not respond to her name at first, but after about 6 months of grooming, petting, loving, riding, playing, being with her, she would respond to her name. She CERTAINLY knew the difference between her name and the other 2, so I can honestly say she knew her name. Registered horses have a name on paper and are often called another name by their people. I would suggest your daughter think hard about what she wants to call her horse, and perhaps experiment with it as well. (I always hated my given name, but don't respond to anything else ;-o ) Perhaps, given time the horse will respond to the name and love your daughter gives her, OR your daughter may find that the name her horse has already is just fine and "fits" her.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

Horses do know there names. Mine do, but when I call them I call them by there name and whistle. I would talk to the previous owner and ask them if they always called this horse up by it's name. I have changed names on some of mine but I made the transition slow. I still used the name they were used to and I added the new name in until they would respond to it. Maybe your daughter can use the name her horse has now for a middle name, that way he can still here the old name every now and then.

Answer 4

I have had horses all my life and at one time owned a breeding training facility so we at 75 horses. Out all the horses only very few actually knew their names. Horses that were older, and I had spent a lot of personal time with did know their names. But it is not any deal to change their names, they really do not know the difference, not like a dog.

Answer 5

I wouldn't suggest changing the name, if it's a very young horse then you can change the name you'll just have to have the patience for it to learn the new name, the horse right now won't listen when you call it by name because it's use to hear it's name called by somone else now your calling it and it don't understand, you'll have to have patience, go out every day and call it a number of times and it'll start listening after awhile, you'll know the horse knows it's name when it comes to you when you call it or when it obeys directions.

Answer 6

I have a horse that is nine and knows his name. I've had him since birth. But if someone got him and changed his name I would advise them to use a name that sounds about the same. They recognize the inflections in your voice. I have a mare that is the same age and she knows hers. One or two syllables work best. Examples would be instead of Buck, use chuck. Instead of Fancy use Chancy.

Answer 7

I can not vote yet but txharleygirl1 is right........I have had horses all my life true cowgirl barrel racer. horses know there names and they also know when it is competition day too. your horse will be more comfortable with the name he is use too. you can tell you daughter we can nick name the horse but we still need to keep the same name when we are talking to the horse.

Answer 8

Do not change the name. Horses are very intelligent animals.
They learn just like dogs and cats and they have feelings and emotions, too. I've owned horses,for years. Call the horse by name, if it responds (perked ears, tossed head, approaches you,
etc...) It knows it's name. Trust me.

Answer 9

yes horses do know their names as do other animals. horses can learn to respond to a different name...it will just take a while

Answer 10

I've had 3 horses, and only one of them truly knew her name. Your daughter may want to change it to something similar to the name it has now.