Meaning
'Wen horse dead, cow fat' — when the horse dies, the cow grows fat. One creature's loss is another's gain, the proverb observes: when one party falls away, whatever was theirs — the pasture, the chances, the share — now goes to those left behind, who prosper by it. It is a clear-eyed observation about how fortune shifts, how the removal of one clears the way for another, and how life and advantage simply move on, the gap left by the fallen filled and fed upon by the survivors.
Examples
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Wen di big shop close, di likkle one start thrive; wen horse dead, cow fat.
When the big shop closed, the little one began to thrive; one's loss is another's gain.
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Him lose di contract an mi win it — wen horse dead, cow fat.
He lost the contract and I won it — when one falls away, another gains.
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Nuh feel too bad; wen horse dead, cow fat.
Don't feel too bad; where one loses, another gains.
Origin
A pasture image: with the horse gone, there is more grass for the cow, which fattens on it — a figure for how one party's loss becomes another's plenty.
How it’s used
Used to observe, sometimes philosophically, that one person's misfortune becomes another's advantage.