I know I haven’t given an update on TM, but that is more because I have been busy then for any real reason. I am still loving her to bits and pieces and riding when I can. I have decided that it is time to share with you TM’s real name. Before I started riding her I thought her name was adorable. Now I am ready to change it. Why? I think her name is the reason we had such bad show luck this year!
TM’s real name (not sure of her official name because I can’t read her Tattoo) is…Lucky Lady. Cute right? Her barn name is Lucky. She knows her name too so when I get to the barn and she calls for me (she is a very vocal pony) I can call back to her and she gets happy. She got the name because she was rescued and was lucky to be alive (I think her full story deserves to be a post in and of itself). When I told a friend that I was riding a horse named Lucky she told me to watch out. She has a dog named Lucky and she swears that is the reason he is always having issues. I laughed it off, but after looking back on my show year I am starting to wonder if maybe there is something to that name.
Prior to this year I had never gotten ready to show and then not gone. If I pull out of a show it is well before the show prep starts and even with that it has rarely happened. This year I have even been on the way to a show and still not had it work out. The first time it was annoying, but to have it happen four times in a single year is just plain frustrating. Every time it was for something that was out of my control (weather, tire explosion, etc) so there is no one and nothing to blame it on. That being said, the thing that is stringing them all together is my Lucky Lady.
After the first time I joked that I would just call her Lady, but since she already knows her name I can’t just change it. Besides, changing a horses name is bad luck. The second time though I started to think. By the fourth time I was full on obsessing. So what can I do? Is there anyway to break the bad luck that comes with the name Lucky? Any time I mention that I am riding a horse with the name Lucky the person I am talking to launches in to a story about how they knew someone with a dog/cat/horse/bird what that name and how the pet seemed to have bad luck. She is not my horse so I can’t change her name anyway, but something has to be done because I can’t have my 2012 show season be at all like my 2011 one… What do you all think? Am I just being paranoid? Have you heard about bad luck being associated with critters named Lucky?
I think since I shared her real name I am just going to stick to it on the blog now. Am I going to confuse you all if I do that?
A Horse and a Half 
I’m not superstitious about many things, but I won’t have a “Lucky” in the barn if I can help it. (“Chance,” either, for the same reason.) A few years back we had two horses come off the track with “Luck” in their names — Premier Luck and Pot Luck. The first became Ducky (I think his previous owners actually called him that) and the second became Puck, which worked because his name was still food-related. He even got adopted by a chef!
I will say that Puck definitely grew into his new name, though; he was mostly good but he did have a streak of mischief in him! So be careful what you wish for… 🙂
Normally I’d say if you changed an animal’s nickname, pick something that at least sounds similar, but that one gives you rather limited options, LOL!
I don’t know if the trend would be bucked by changing languages, but you could always see how she responds to something similar, like Lukka!
Lol … well the only horse I have ridden who was named Lucky was a 3 year old TB mare I was starting under saddle. She bucked me off 3 or 4 times in one session. hahaha.
I think you are looking at this all wrong. First, you are lucky that this horse came into your life. Second, maybe all of the bad stuff that happened saved you from even bigger bad stuff. For example, if you had not had a tire blowout at home, maybe you would have been on the road and had it there, with dire consequences.
How about the other half of her name – Lady?
The lucky thing wouldn’t bother me.
I think there’s no reason to believe that her name is unlucky for you. On the other hand if you really think that it is you could be making yourself unlucky because of it. People make their own luck most of the time. I think her name is appropriate for her circumstances if she is lucky to be alive and lucky to have you riding her. You’ve just got to turn your mind around on this and look at her name as a good luck charm.
I believe things happen when they are supposed to some things happen for a reason. The tire blowing may have kept you from an accident on the road or in the arena. I’m Chippewa Indian and we call it “Indian Time”… It teaches patience and discourages believing that we are in control. As for changing her name, I think she knows she’s Lucky and so do you. When someone recalls a tale of an unlucky animal named Lucky, you can explain “She’s the exception to the rule”. I’m wishing you and Lucky a better show season! And for good measure… Wish you both “luck”. =D
I don’t think it will make any difference, unless you put the belief behind it. But- a vet tech did mention that she saw a lot of Unlucky patients named Lucky in the clinic!