In my early years riding at the Hipodromo de la Zarzuela, the racetrack outside of Madrid, Spain, I lost my favorite baseball cap to one of the many superstitions held by horse people. It was from Santa Anita (a plus), but it was yellow. At the time (1993), I had never heard of the yellow is bad luck superstition, but apparently this is true in the US too. Then, I thought it was just some weird Spanish superstition. I ignored the various trainers who told me not to wear that cap in their stables… Until the trainer whose horses I was galloping took advantage of me being on a horse to throw my cap in a dumpster.
Jump to:
Count the white feet
Count white horses, bet grey on a rainy day, and more about color
Watch the whorls (the only superstition with scientific evidence to back it up)
Don’t use new tack (or wear potentially unlucky clothes) on competition day
The Prophet’s thumbprint
Never change a horse’s name!
Tie a red string to get rid of warts
Horse shoes and iron
The power of myth is legendary in most environments where luck is seen as a–maybe the–determining agent behind all outcomes. Trainers have their special tie, jockeys their special boots/gloves/gestures. The betting public hastheir particular race day routine, pen, drink, the way they fold the Daily Racing Form. Horse shows are nearly as bad… and then there is the buying of horses! Don’t buy a horse with four white socks, and never ever change a horse’s name!
Here is a list of all the superstitions held by horse people I’ve been able to come up with in the last several weeks. I’ve included my best guess at origins or rationale, and scientific research where appropriate. I’ve asked for suggestions on various horse fora, and I will include those as well. No doubt I’ve missed a lot of them. Please let me know if I miss any of your favorites in the comments!
Count the white feet
I don’t remember a time when I didn’t “know” that a horse with one white foot was good luck. I loved that fact that my first Morgan gelding had a small white marking (a single bulb) on one hind foot. Only nine when my parents bought him for me, and I was already superstitious about color!
The saying has many versions, but more or less, it goes: “one white foot, buy him, two white feet, try him, three white feet, look well about him; four white feet, go without him.” And yet, “chrome”–lots of white–on a show horse is considered a bonus… as long as the horse is good! Any horse that stands out is great in the show ring, when it’s grea tin the show ring. You don’t want a judge to notice a horse that’s acting up.
I like the flashiness of chrome. Jazz has four white feet. (And Jazz is certainly a talented endurance horse, though perhaps the “bad luck” that came with his four white legs manifested as me losing him before doing Tevis!) Fantazia has two long white socks behind and a white blaze. White faces make horses easier to see in the dark. On the other hand, it’s easier to keep a horse with no white clean. My beloved Beroni had none, and River has only a small star (believed by the Arabs to be bad luck, unless accompanied by white elsewhere on the horse.)
Possible rationale?
People say that white hooves are weaker, but that myth has no basis in reality. However, anecdotal evidence (as in, my personal experience) suggests that white legs are more prone to scratches. I suspect that is because they are more sensitive to the sun, but I don’t know….
Count white horses, bet grey on a rainy day, and more about color
People have all sorts of beliefs about colors. White horses (greys!) are supposed to be lucky… or unlucky, depending how many or how you come across them. Counting 100 is supposed to grant you a wish. It probably only works if you don’t lose count. I always lost count! In racing, greys are rumors to be good mudders, hence bet grey on a rainy day.
I would prefer to avoid greys, but only because greys are more likely to get melanoma. I love red chestnuts and blood bays… but I would never buy based on color.
The Arabs have historically held many superstitions about color and markings. Read about them in the Lexicon Of Arabic Horse Terminology by Janet C.E. Watson.
Possible rationale?
Maybe people noticed the melanoma issue (it’s genetic) long before we knew what melanoma is… Perhaps someone wanted to discourage others from buying certain horses who just happened to be recessive colors. For example, if you want to control a breed, make it impossible to register chestnuts. This used to be the case with Pura Raza Española, aka Andalusians.
Maybe people are just weird. Still, most superstitions held by horse people have some sort of rationale!
Watch the whorls
Whorls or cowlicks are swirls of hair where the direction of growth changes. Most horses have at least one on their forehead. Whorls are also common along the crest, on thechest and flanks, below the stomach, and on lower legs. There are tons of different superstitions about them. Over the years, I’ve periodically read books or articles detailing the good or back luck supposed to relate to different whorls or sets of whorls. Rather than attempt to make sense of it all here, I will refer you to the many resources available:
Resources for “whorlogy”
An article in the Horsemanship Journal provides a long list of whorls and their possible meanings: Whorlogy by Charlotte Cannon.
Linda Tellington-Jones has dedicated a lot of ink to describing her perceived relationship between horse appearance and behavior, with an emphasis on whorls. (Read about her t-touch on her site.)
How a horse trainer got to publish research with Temple Grandin (thanks to whorls)
From Horse & Rider: Do Horse Hair-Whorl Patterns Indicate Temperament?
Found on Horse Nation‘s Mythbuster Monday: Whorls Tell A Horse’s Personality and Performance Level
Above: “Misty” has three clear whorls, one between her eyes and two high on her forehead. Photo credit: Melissa Campbell.
Possible rationale?
Whorls, like coat color and markings, are genetically determined (Encina et al., 2023 provide a recent study of whorls in Pura Raza Española that includes a good overview, with sources; Lima et al., 2021 report a study of Quarter Horses in Brazil that links genotype to wholrs). There have been scientific studies reporting associations between whorls and temperament in cattle (e.g., Grandin et al., 1995; Lanier et al., 2001) and horses (Gorecka et al., 2006). Yes, it’s Temple Grandin behind some of these studies. They speculate that this may be due to an association between the whorls and the developing brain.
In (very) short, the research suggests that cattle and horses with whorls higher on their forehead are less manageable and more reactive. There’s probably more to it, but I’ll leave it to you to learn the details!
Above: Different forehead whorls. On the left (top) is River’s simple single whorl. It’s more difficult to see the whorls in the summer coat on the horse in the center, but he has at least three (can you spot them?). Finally, the foal has a typcally big whorl on his forehead above the eyes. Looks like he has another below his forelock.
Don’t use new tack (or wear potentially unlucky clothes) on competition day
Endurance people stretch this out to include the pre-ride. I’ve been told many times to ride the day before with everything just like I plan to have it during the ride. At the races and horse shows, even owners who won’t touch the horse try to wear their lucky suit/dress/shirt/tie/shoes… and especially hat for racedays!
Possible rationale?
This one–at least as it involves tack–makes good sense. You don’t want to use a bit that the horse isn’t accustomed to carrying, or a new headstall that hasn’t been fitted and worn, when you cannot easily jump down to adjust it. You certainly don’t want to try out a new saddle on a 50-mile ride! Although I did just that with Fantazia at Fire Mountain last January. Well, I tried the saddle-an old Stonewall–during the pre-ride. It fit her perfectly when I set it on her back and the five-mile pre-ride went well, so I used it the next day. I didn’t have the hang of the cinch, so I had to get off and move the saddle forward several times, but it’s perfect on Fantazia’s hard-to-fit back.
Still, in most cases it’s not a good idea to try tack out in competition. Similarly, you don’t want to experiment with rider clothing on an endurance ride. Chafing that is minor on a ten-mile training ride can turn into open wounds over 50 miles! (Read about chafing solutions here.)
I don’t have a lot to say about lucky clothing for owners who are merely spectators though….
The Prophet’s thumbprint marks the line of Mohammed’s best mares
Some horses have a small indentation in the muscle on their neck. Legend has it that this the mark of the Prophet Mohammed, who blessed five of his most loyal mares with a thumbprint. Horses with this mark are supposed to be specially strong, loyal, and brave. Jazz (a.k.a. Maverick) has such a mark on his neck. He is most certainly a talented endurance horse, and an Arabian!
Above: You can see the Prophet’s thumbprint on Jazz’s neck in both the pictures. It’s circled in the first one! You can also see it clearly in this YouTube video.
Possible rationale?
None, but it’s a great story!
Never change a horse’s name!
The impetus for writing this blog post came from comments on my post about Jazz’s first 100-mile race. I mentioned that he has been re-registered with AERC under a new name. Several people exclaimed that it was bad luck to change a horse’s name. I replied that this was just typical horse world superstition… But in truth, of all the supersitions held by horse people, never changing a horse’s name is the one I most abide by.
In part, I don’t change names because as daughter of a horse breeder, I know that names convey information about the breeding and breeder, especially when there is a prefix (or suffix). Often the only significant payment a breeder receives for breeding a horse is name recognition.
But the fact is I don’t even change stable names. The only exception has been Fantazia. Her prior owner, Jenna Towner, called her “Pagan.” But I had known her before Jenna bought her, and she was already Fantazia to me.
I called my very first horse (he of the one white foot) “Punky” because that had been his stable name. His registered name was Capella Command. I called Jazz Jazz because his owner told me that was his name. River (RB Rich Rath) is River because that was her stable name at Ruggeri Stables. I’m not superstitious about it… I am just unimaginative!
Possible rationale?
I’d speculate that this was started on purpose to discourage people from changing horses’ names. You cannot do it in racing–or rather you can but must include the old name in all paperwork. This is for betting purposes. It wouldn’t be fair if people could just change the name of a good (or bad) horse, race it, and cash in on bets made with an unfair advantage.
But who knows. Maybe people think the horse will get confused. (I doubt it. I often wonder if horses recognize their name in the first place!)
Tie a red string to get rid of warts
I’ve never seen this in the United States, but it was common on the racetrack in Spain when I was there. I am pretty sure I saw it at the track in Mexico and/or Panama as well. When a horse has warts on its head, they tie a red string around its neck. I even saw horses race with red strings around their necks. I also saw a few with red strings around their pasterns. Always wondered about that, because I’ve never found a wart on a horse’s leg, but they are no doubt possible.
Horse shoes and iron
In general, iron is supposed to ward off evil, and fairies. (And fairies are said to steal horses.) Horse shoes used to be made of iron (and before that, bronze). Now they are most frequently made of steel (which of course contains iron). Horse shoes are still considered to be portents of good luck. Though there is some disagreement on whether it’s important to hang them with the open side up, to hold the luck in, of, if over a door, with the back bars down, such that the good luck might pour over those who enter.
I guess one could hang an bar shoe over the door…
More superstitions? Let me know!
In the meantime, here’s an article with more superstitions held by horse people from Blood Horse: Racetrack Veterans Look for Luck in Odd Customs and Beliefs
And another list from Australia’s Horse Zone: HORSE SUPERSTITIONS