Small Lessons
No plan survives first contact with a horse.
Because they will always find a way to surprise you.
Sometimes the surprises are whimsical—comical, even.
And, sometimes they’re not.
***
On Thursday of this past week, we surmised that one of our rescue mares was pregnant. Seemingly out of the blue, her belly had become enormous, and her udder was starting to bag up (become more prominent).
The text string went like this:
Loving Spouse: “News Flash—we’re getting Callista preg-checked on Monday”
Me: “WHAT”
LS: “She may not be, but it looks awfully suspicious. The timing syncs up with around the time we pulled her from the kill pen.”
Me: “WHAT??”
LS: “Yes, that was my reaction as well”
***
By Friday, we were even more convinced of Callista’s condition—so we made plans with her trainer to separate her from her pasture-mates, and to ready some post-birth accommodations.
The initial shock behind us, we started getting excited about welcoming new life into our midst.
Saturday morning we got the call.
“The baby came sometime last night. He didn’t make it.”
In an instant we went from elated to gut-punched. From brainstorming names to grabbing gloves and a shovel. We drove to the training barn dazed and silent, and hiked to the far back corner of the pasture. Callista was there, hovering not far from a small, pale bundle on the ground. The foal was still wrapped in the unbroken bag. He had suffocated when the placenta separated prematurely, cutting off his oxygen.
The rest of that day was a blur of comforting Callista (grateful we hadn’t lost her as well); grieving for a little colt with long legs he never got to stretch; and burying him in the ʻāina beneath Mauna Kea, seeking some shred of comfort in its silent beauty.
***
Being part of a rescue organization is a non-stop, immersive education in the unexpected. We hope for the best, and plan for the opposite, accounting for as many variables as possible—in the fierce hope we can protect these creatures from a world that has already let them down too many times.
Maybe this is what it means to walk the walk? I don’t know.
But it’s our job to figure it out. And that’s what we plan to do.