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Sheikh Hamdan's pony brings 'Joy' to UAE resident

Dubai - Semah says she got the idea for the name from Sheikh Hamdan himself.

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The furry, delightful brown foal that captured the attention of social media users in the UAE over the past few days has now been named 'Joy'.
And no one is more delighted about it than 23-year-old Saudi-Syrian national and UAE resident Semah Jamal.
When Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, posted an image and videos of an exuberant foal a few days ago, he asked UAE residents to come up with a name for him.
Semah's suggestion 'Joy' was chosen by the Crown Prince, from among a long list of other names.

 

Sometimes you just need a little bit of "Joy" ?? ????? ????? ??? ????
A post shared by Fazza (@faz3) on Mar 17, 2018 at 4:01am PDT

A freelance costume and brand designer, Semah told Khaleej Times that she is over the moon with her suggestion getting picked. "I am happy I got to name one of his ponies, especially with a name as positive as 'Joy'," she said.
Furthermore, much to Semah's delight, Sheikh Hamdan also tagged and thanked her on an Instagram story, after conducting an Insta vote for the name. The final contenders for the Insta story poll were two names - Amigo and Joy. However, the name 'Joy' got a total of 51 per cent votes on Instagram. After finalising the name, the Crown Prince shared a picture of the foal, saying, "All you need is a little bit of Joy."

 

Thank you @faz3 for choosing my name ? ??? ?? ????? ? ???? How amazing would it be if I met Joy? ???? ??????? ????? ?? ??? ?????? tag him everyone
A post shared by ??? ?????? (@semaljamal) on Mar 17, 2018 at 4:43am PDT

Semah says she got the idea for the name from Sheikh Hamdan himself. "He wrote 'joyful' about the pony and it looked full of life, so I suggested 'Joy', as simple as that. I also didn't expect to win the competition. It was just a comment I posted on the picture, when I was on my way to work.."

 

??????? ?????????? ??????? ??? ???? ??????. A joyful pony, full of life is looking for a name. What should we call him?
A post shared by Fazza (@faz3) on Mar 15, 2018 at 3:55am PDT

A graduate in design management from the American University of Sharjah, the young designer stated that she loves animals and would love to meet Joy one day. "I love animals and horses in particular. I don't have any of my own, but I would really love to meet Joy one day," Semah added.

Instagram Competition

Sheikh Hamdan posted the video on Thursday, March 15 and within seconds, there was a flood of name suggestions for the pony.
The video racked up half a million views in 20 hours, and had over 47,500 comments, with many suggesting obvious names such as 'Dubai', 'sky', 'sunny', 'dew', and 'brownie'. One user @its.me_rosemaria suggested a very creative name 'Twinkle Stardust'. Moreover, the post also had UAE residents wishing for their own pet ponies. It did trot up a whole lot of joy to their weekend.
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com