s e v e n i s a j o u r n e y

The human brain is very good at picking out patterns, even creating patterns where they do not exist. From this many superstitions have arisen, as events that are unrelated are somehow linked in their significance.

One common such superstition is that “things happen in threes.” When two seemingly related events occur, you are left waiting for that third shoe to drop. Well, for better or worse the Universe provided such a pattern for us.

At the beginning of October Jake was shot and lost a leg.

At the beginning of November Ferrari fell over dead of a bowel torsion.

Yesterday one of Yvonne’s horses slipped and fell while jumping at an event, and broke his leg. The vet on site thought it was a hairline fracture (and thus could be fixed), so they rushed him to Massey (the big vet hospital 2 hours north of here) for treatment. At Massey they discovered the injury was too severe, and he was euthanized.

What a terrible experience, especially for poor Joanne who was riding him. To be 14 years old and lose your pony must be truly awful. Especially if you are left blaming yourself when he slips beneath you. (The ground is very hard due to a lack of rain, but yesterday a light mist fell, leaving the surface greasy and slippery.)

Zam had been trouble since he arrived. He was a willful, smart, difficult horse. He taught Joanne to have a great “seat”, as he was prone to bucking and rearing. Yvonne had put in a huge amount of work trying to correct his behaviour problems, as well as some niggling back injuries he had earlier. Joanne had pushed through the frustration of his bucking and resistance to have great pride in what she and he could do. And, like only a 14 year old girl can, she loved Zam.

I guess the only consolation is that the superstitious part of my brain can now stop waiting for the third bad animal-related thing to happen.