The International Federation of Icelandic Horse Associations (FEIF) officially banned non-Icelandic names from WordFengur, the official registrar for purebred Icelandic horses.

Horse breeder Guðrún Hrafnsdóttir was knocked back by the two-member horse naming committee when she suggested naming her mare Mósan, Icelandic newspaper Fréttablaðið reports.

The rejection has prompted derision from parts of the Icelandic media, who were not aware such a committee existed.

But Jon Baldur Lorange of WordFengur defended the decision, saying that the name “conflicts with Icelandic grammar rules”.

The strict rules mirror those for people’s names in Iceland, where first names must be chosen from a pre-approved list of Icelandic names or submitted to the Personal Names Committee for approval.

However, the Icelandic government last year confirmed moves to abolish the Personal Names Committee after a legal challenge.