Horses have been around for, well, donkey’s years. They’re inextricably woven into the fabric and folklore of Britain — and many countries round the world, too. Here we round up a few horsey superstitions for you to consider…
1. Never wear anything new out hunting or competing.
2. It’s unlucky to rename your horse.
3. Green is an unlucky colour for equestrians — and even a green handkerchief in the betting ring at the races is considered to bring bad luck.
4. Seeing one light grey horse is bad luck (unless you are with your lover), but seeing two together brings good luck.
5. A horseshoe is lucky if hung outside your home — the iron wards off evil spirits — but be careful to hang it the right way up, otherwise all your family’s good luck will drain out of it… although others claim a horseshoe should be hung upside down to stop the devil sitting in the bottom of it, so that’s a challenging one…
6. A bridegroom must carry a horseshoe in his pocket to ensure a happy marriage.
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7. The shoe of a two-year-old filly placed in your butter churn will stop witches stealing your butter. (A problem I’m sure many of us share…)
8. A horse neighing outside your door means your family will get sick. (This could be a problem if you keep your horses at home…)
9. Piebalds are lucky, skewbalds are unlucky.
10. You should do 13 plaits for geldings and 12 for mares…
11. …Although others believe it should always be an even number of plaits, including the forelock, to avoid bad luck.
12. A light grey horse appearing in a dream for three successive nights means an elderly person will die…
13. …Unless they’re three light grey colts, in which case a young person will die.
14. A horse found in its field all sweaty with a tangled and twisted mane and tail has spent the night being ridden by pixies.
15. Dun or buckskin horses are regarded as unlucky by the Bedoin, and also in Romania.
16. The Hungarians and Spanish think black horses are lucky – the French and Bedoin believe the reverse.
17. One white leg, buy him/Two white legs, try him/Three white legs, send him far away (Sell him to your foes)/Four white legs, keep him not a day (Feed him to the crows).
18. In some ancient cultures, vows taken on horseback had special sanctity and could never be broken.
Do you have any horsey superstitions that you feel are worth adding to our list? Get in touch with us at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance for your letter to appear in a forthcoming issue of the magazine
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Amanda Vlietstra is a freelance writer and editor who’s worked for a number of national magazines and websites. Having thrown herself back rural living with gusto since moving from London to Buckinghamshire in 2012, she juggles her horsey life with work and two small children. She claims to do dressage, but really just potters about having fun on her 14.2hh Belgian Warmblood mare, Roxy. She also enjoys a good gossip over a coffee in the tackroom!
