What is in a Name?

I have not been in love with my blog title from the beginning. The actual web address is www.agemofahorse.blogspot.com, so a normal person would name the thing "A Gem of a Horse". I thought about it and love the play on words (you know, it is her name, but she is also a great horse who was a diamond in the rough...) but the pragmatic side of me screamed "what will you do when she isn't here anymore?"

The thought of continuing to write on a blog titled after her when Gem isn't a part of it anymore made my stomach clench. Instead I chose something else and have basically felt ill will toward the name ever since. It is too long. It has nearly nothing to do with the actual content. It is blah.

My next thought was to have ENDURANCE loud and proud in the name. A quick internet search gave me some good ideas, but then it hit me: while endurance is a passion, in reality it only plays a small role in what Gem and I do. It would be a big bait and switch to pull someone in looking for a pure endurance blog only to not read an endurance related post for months on end. My next endurance ride isn't until April of 2016 over a year since our last one in February of 2015 (oh wow...seeing that in writing really drives that point home...ugh). That idea was thrown out the window.

So if not a stupidly long name, nothing specific to Gem and nothing screaming endurance...then what on earth should  call it?

Then it struck me.... The Roaming Rider.

It holds a lot of meaning for me.  I have now lived in four different states, lived in six different cities, had Gem at seven different barns, and have ridden her in rides in seven states. Nearly every weekend, I hitch the trailer and head out to some new trail system. I think that counts as roaming, don't you?

In addition to physical roaming, we also bounce around various different types of riding...early on we jumped and briefly toyed with the insane idea of attempting eventing, endurance riding, equathons, ride and tie, hunter paces etc... I would love to do Cowboy Mounted Orienteering same day next summer and when money get a little more plentiful, take dressage lessons.

In the end, I think The Roaming Rider fits Gem and I pretty darn well and when she is sadly no longer the star of the blog and is instead roaming about in her pasture enjoying retirement, the next horse in my life can fit into the blog and begin our own story.