Strange Karma

For more than a year I spoke with a breeder about a young Fell Pony colt they’d bred.  The colt impressed them with its quality, and they were looking forward to finding a way for him to contribute to the breed as a stallion.  Then one day I got the devastating news that the colt had died.  He had been stalled in a barn, just as many of his herd mates had been for many years.  He’d had a halter on while stalled, just as his many herd mates had had for many years.  But he had hung himself during the night from his halter on some protrusion in his stable.  He was dead when his breeder found him at morning check.

The other morning I was doing chores at the barn, and this story came to my mind for some reason.  I had finished preparing vitamin buckets for the herd and had haltered each pony and tied them to the fences, just as I’ve done hundreds if not thousands of times.  I went back to pick up the first set of buckets to distribute, and when I turned around, I saw a pony struggling.  I dropped the buckets and immediately went to my pony to discern how to help.

The pony had caught their rope halter on a protrusion on the fence.  They had pulled the halter so tight that I knew immediately I wouldn’t be able to untie it, so I pulled out my pocket knife and in three quick moves had the halter cut off and the pony freed.  The pony stepped back and shook its head several times and then a few minutes later the pony let me put a new halter on and tie them to the fence in a place where I couldn’t see any protrusions.  Of course I thought the same about the previous tying location; the protrusion on the fence was just a quarter of an inch but had obviously been enough.

It was so strange to remember that just an hour before I had been thinking about the colt that had died.  Ever since hearing that story I’ve been very careful to not leave a halter on a pony when they are turned out in case they should get into trouble and I wouldn’t be there to help them.  The strangeness continued, though, as I reflected on the fact that I’ve now cut two halters off the same pony.  This was the second time this pony had caught their halter on the fence and been unable to dislodge it.  I’ve never cut a halter off any other pony in my herd in more than twenty years of managing them the same way.  And then I realized that the colt that my breeder friend lost is related to the one that I’ve cut two halters off of.  There must be some strange karma in that line of ponies. 

Sometimes things happen that we think we should have prevented.  But often, I think, things happen for a multitude of reasons, most of which we have no control over at all.  We can only do the best we can in each situation and then be humble about our role in the outcome and forgiving of ourselves, too.  Sometimes strange karma may be at work.

© Jenifer Morrissey, 2023