by Bob Carson

Editor’s Note: The USTA Web site is pleased to present freelance writer Bob Carson and his popular “Outside the Box” features. This monthly series is a menu of outlandish proposals presented with a wink — but the purpose behind them is serious. The views contained in this column are that of the author alone, and do not necessarily represent the opinions or views of the United States Trotting Association.

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” — Romeo and Juliet

Bob Carson

The future is here. Like it or not. In the past five years, people have tugged at our sleeves and said, “You have to…Google, I-phone, Link, Twitter, Face Book, You Tube, LinkedIn, MySpace, pod-cast, Blackberry, Blueberry and network or you will be out of touch.”

It’s getting difficult to keep up. Devices are ringing, buzzing and vibrating all over our bodies. E-mail, which many of us are finally getting used to, is prehistoric to teenagers. Sadly, print is fading. Local newspapers are folding. The previous 15 stories of mine (like this one) never touched paper.

It’s a cold world. We have to get aboard or get run over. So let’s get techie. The following ramble is a totally cool use for all of the above devices. The story will help save harness racing. You will need to click a few times, but you will be rewarded with some information and a song.

Every harness horse has a name. Usually, there is a story behind the name. These stories should be told. Telling the story behind the name would cost nothing and could be beneficial to harness racing.

Autumn Schmidt graphic

Pedigrees, interests, song titles, famous quotes, wordplay, puns, mysteries, family names, traditions or business associations — there are an endless number of reasons that go into naming a horse.

Participants in our game often like to tell the reason for the choice of their horse’s name. Many of us would like to hear these stories. Knowing the story behind a horse’s name distinguishes it from the herd. The reason for the name gives a glimpse into the owner. The process would be fun.

For example — imagine you see a pacer listed in the program warming up for a race. The name of the horse is Pacing The Cage. Next to this name you spy an Internet link. You type it into your I-Phone or your device of choice. The link will lead you to the story behind the name; you will hear some music, see some poetry, learn a little about me and be able to contact me if you wish.

Pacing The Cage: Last summer, just before the Harrisburg horse sale, a buddy sent me a video of a singer/songwriter. He said in the e-mail that this guy was really good and looked like my clone. He suggested that this singer/songwriter might be a long lost brother that was separated from me at birth. So I clicked on the following link on You Tube.

Yeah, he did look a little bit like me, but this dude, Bruce Cockburn, had talent. I loved the song Pacing The Cage; it was an evocative tune about choices we make and the restlessness of the human spirit. Immediately the title “Pacing The Cage’ stuck in my head as a great name for a harness horse. I did a little investigation and listened to several other songs. What a discovery.

Bruce Cockburn is Canadian but I could not believe he had eluded my radar screen for the past 30 years. He will not elude it any longer. In fact, his biggest hit, “If I Had A Rocket Launcher” just might be good for my next yearling.

That is the story behind the name.

Undoubtedly, you have stories behind the names of your horses or you have found yourself curious about why other horses have been given a name like, oh, say, A And G’sconfusion.

We live in an information age. Storage space is virtually limitless. If you don’t already use a hand-held device to access the Internet, you soon will. Owners should have the opportunity to explain why they chose the name that they did. It could be stored in a paragraph of simple words, or for the adventurous and tech savvy, a digital file.

A link could appear in the program where anyone curious could quickly search for the name, maybe just a generic search for “Pacing The Cage – harness horse” could do the trick.

Imagine, should you name a horse after your girlfriend or granddaughter you could have a link to photos, or a business could link to the product home page, or a movie clip, or a poem or who knows what? What fun. And the fun would be cost free. The stories behind the names would be a new part of the entire harness race package, something to fill the minutes between races and something to let horse race fans interact.