Horse People Absolutely Love ‘The Office’: Show Name Edition

Something like 300-plus comments later, it looks like “Threat Level Midnight” might be the early leader.

Grace and her new horse in need of a name. Photo by Sarah Blake

I don’t care who you are, I’m pretty sure The Office is one of those shows with almost universal appeal to just about everybody. It’s one of those series that we’ll still be binge-watching on our eighteenth replay a few decades from now. It’s at once totally outrageous and way too real with recognizable characters, familiar scenarios (maybe kicked up about 40 notches) and inside jokes and one-liners that lend themselves easily to GIFs, memes and jokes.

And also, apparently, possible show names.

On a personal level, I’m a big proponent of leaving an off-track Thoroughbred’s (OTTB) show name the same as his Jockey Club name: I believe that barring some really weird, off-color or inappropriate names, it’s a great way to honor a horse’s heritage and history, plus it makes it way easier for connections including breeders to find their horses in their second careers and track their progress.

And then this post came across my newsfeed from OTTB Connect:

And despite my steadfast beliefs about keeping the Jockey Club name, I was 100% here for this.

Over the next hour, I watched the thread (and yes, contributed a few of my own). I don’t know how Grace is going to narrow down these excellent suggestions, but here’s what’s rolled in so far:

• That’s What She Said
• Robert California
• The Senator
• Nard Dog
• Scranton Strangler
• Vance Refrigeration
• Prison Mike
• Date Mike
• Golden Face
• Threat Level Midnight
• Belsnickel
• Dunder Mifflin
• Conference Room Now
• Big Tuna
• I Declare Bankruptcy
• Little Stitious
• Justice Beaver
• Michael Scarn
• Finer Things Club
• The Hay King
• Assistant To The Regional Manager
• Impish or Admirable
• Scrantonicity
• Sabre (pronounced “sah-bray”)
• Cousin Mose

The most-nominated are “That’s What She Said” (which is technically wildly inappropriate for the show ring) and “Threat Level Midnight” which is legitimately awesome.

The good news is that Grace will be conducting a poll, and promises to keep Horse Nation updated with what eventually wins. For now, her horse is known around the barn as… Dundie.

The even better news? Horse people love The Office. We may not agree on much else, but we can agree on that.