Luck Money

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cobbles

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Hi

A few years ago my daughter bought a yearling filly off some gypsy type person and they gave her £30 'luck money'. Have any of you guys ever had luck money from a horse and what did you do with it as her filly is ready to be broken and needs a bit, the luck money will pay for it but she wants to know if any one else has ever had luck money and what they did with it!

Its a bit of a weird one!!!!
 
Not weird at all in this part of the world, essential to the deal in fact! The story behind it is if the horse goes wrong, or hurts the new owner, the "luck money" will ensure that you cannot curse the seller, kind of like supernatural insurance. Did the seller also say "hope he's lucky for you"? That is good form. You can do what you like with the money, it's yours.
 
I got given £20 'luck money' when I bought a horse a few years ago.

It was pts within 6 mnths for being a wobbler, despite passing a 5 stage vetting, so didn't bring me or the poor horse much luck.....................
 
Ha! Just asked people at my yard if they heard of luck money as I didn't get any when I bought a horse recently, no one had heard of it. It's an Irish thing only I guess cause I always got it back in Ireland
 
We (farming community in general) do it as a matter of course, I didnt think it was as prevalent in the horse world apart from markets and the travelling community :)
 
Cortez said:
Not weird at all in this part of the world, essential to the deal in fact! The story behind it is if the horse goes wrong, or hurts the new owner, the "luck money" will ensure that you cannot curse the seller, kind of like supernatural insurance. Did the seller also say "hope he's lucky for you"? That is good form. You can do what you like with the money, it's yours.
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Drives me nuts!! They bargain you down and down and then expect you to give them luck money on top :rolleyes:

The majority of sellers I've come across lately have been the sort of people you end up cursing up and down, and in some cases I'm seriously hoping the luck money doesn't work :p
 
When I bought a horse from my YO nearly a year ago she gave me £50 'good luck money' in the envelope with the receipt. Can't remember what I spent it on now but it was definitely something for the horse. I'd never heard of that tradition before either, and she isn't Irish or part of the travelling community.
 
The only time I gave luck money on 3 cattle that I sold the market went bust and I never got my money. So I never did that again!
 
Luck money is common enough. I hate folk who ask for it tho and say no. :o Usually give it to foreigners who buy a pup as they love that sort of thing but no way would I give it to someone who has haggled with me.
 
We got luck money with the first horse we bought, think it was a fiver, but we are talking many many years ago :) The man we bought from was a 'proper' old horseman, drove landaus in Blackpool and had a bit of a riding school in West Yorkshire during the winter. We helped a friend buy a pony for her children a couple of years ago, ended up buying it from the son of the man we bought our first horse from! Don't think she got any luck money though, so it seems to be dying out these days.
 
Just remembered a story about a sheepdog for sale.

Seller said you could only view the dog if you were willing to pay the price ie no haggling. First guy went to see her and she was a cracking dog and he wanted to buy her. He started trying to haggle the seller down. Seller says no and goodbye. Second person doesn't try to haggle at all and once he has paid cash the seller gives him a large amount of luck money back, so she cost less than the first guy had wanted to pay ;)
 
I was sent £20 luck money by the Northern Irish dealer I bought the starved, broken and traumatised young Arabian from. It worked as I was able to turn him around although it has taken two years of steady work and lots of remedial dental, farrier, osteopath and saddlery work plus plentiful forage and a good balancer. I had wondered if he would survive the journey, let alone be able to be ridden. It's taken more than the £20, but I don't mind - he's a fabulous, eye catching Egyptian / Russian Arab who will sucessfully turn his hoof to anything with consistent success and enthusiam. lucky indeed!
 
Luck money is a matter of course when you are selling cattle and sheep around here - OH was really embarrassed one week when he genuinely forgot to give the purchaser any luck money back on a nice heifer the chap had purchased from us via local auction, but it wasn't anything to do with luck good or bad. He thought he might get a name as a skinflint, so people wouldn't bid as much on the stock he was selling.
 
I always give "luck money" when I sell horses privately or at a sale, the amount doesn't matter its just the fact that it will hopefully make them lucky for the purchaser. I never give it when selling cattle, but then most of the ones I sell are heading for the butchers or the factory so how lucky could they be?
 
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