Scuba: The Name Game

Sometimes animals name themselves. When I bought Scuba, her name was Daisy. My childhood horse’s name was Blossom, and I was ready to move on from the flower names. [Yes, when I later bought Lily, the Haflinger, I just resigned myself to having equine flower children]. But when buying Daisy, I decided a name change was in order. Because I bought Scuba before we had fenced in the pasture, a good friend offered to keep her for a few months. After a week, that good friend commented how much more water five horses drink than four. A week later, she discovered why. Scuba [then Daisy] popped her front feet into the livestock tank and splashed in the water to cool off. She became Scuba after that. And never have I ridden a horse that loved water as much as she. When crossing a stream, she had to stop and splash, drenching me in the process. At home, when I turned on the hose, she nickered, happily -- trying to figure out how to roll in the stream of water.