Saved By Your Love: A True Story

She looked up into the dark-blanketed sky remembering all the nights spent with her mother around the campfire, laughing, and drinking hot cocoa. The misty aroma and the sounds of the thundering hooves made the night magical. As she lay in the soft grass of the pasture she could feel herself falling asleep.

“Bekka,” she leaped up startled by her mother's strong voice.
“Bekka,” she repeated, “There are chores to be finished. Now is not the time to snooze. Nova and Chief need to be brought into their stalls.”
“Okay, Mom,” she replied walking into the barn.

As she entered the stable area the smell of horse manure and dust filled her nose. Quickly she grabbed a leather halter and a lead rope and walked out to the gate.

“Chief,” she hollered hoping he would come trotting up to the fence as usual; no response.
“Chief,” she yelled again, but still he didn't come up.
“Great,” she thought to herself, “Now I have to tromp through this foot-deep muck to get him.”

With a halter in her left hand, she stepped into the mud of the silent, dark pasture. Making her way to the back of the pasture, she quickly spotted him and in attempt to get done faster she called out to him one more time. This time he swiftly came trotting up to her. They made their way back to the barn, and she got him into his stall with no trouble.

Now, she had to go back for Nova. Again she hiked her way through the mud, this time with her mother shining a flashlight in her direction, because by now it was pitch black. She caught Nova's eyes near a tree; she called out to him. In response he slyly walked behind Piper, the lead mare of the herd. Slowly, Bekka walked up to Nova, being careful not to scare him; gradually she draped the lead rope around his neck and slipped the halter on. With the halter on she cautiously walked him toward the barn. As they were walking through a gate separating the mud lot and the pasture, Piper came galloping up behind them causing Nova to spook and plunge Bekka down into the mud. She fell right in the middle of the gate, and right in front of Nova's front hooves. From past experiences she knew to crouch and cover her head; but past experiences couldn't stop her instinct to scream. With her face half in the mud and two horses running over her, all she could think of was “God save me 'cause I'm going to die!” After the two horses ran off in the other direction, Bekka got up and sprinted toward the nearest fence, in fear that the rest of the herd was following.

“Are you okay?” asked Bekka's mom with terror in her voice.
“Yea, yea I'm fine,” she shakily replied.
“Are you sure? What hurts?”
“My head and back ache a bit, but otherwise I think I’m okay.”

After her mom finished her serious of questions Bekka walked back to the barn and began to silently cry to herself, releasing all her feelings of pain, fear, joy, and wonder. She knew this incident would only make her sore and leave a bruise or two, but she was still shaken up. Then at the same time she almost wanted to sing with joy, because she was still alive. Yet she wondered why didn’t the herd follow Piper, like they would have normally done? She knew they had started following her before the fall. What made them turn around? Not much later her mother returned with mud all over her boots and Nova briskly following her. Quickly, but carefully she put Nova in his stall and silently took her daughter’s hand. Together they walked up to the old farm house glistening in the moonlight. That night before Bekka went to bed she whispered a prayer: “Dear God, I just want to thank you for protecting me as those two horses galloped over me. I know that I could have died, but because of your love, I live. Amen.”