There are so many words that can describe a family.  Ours has been filled with many different things.  We are a semi-crunchy family.  We are an eco-friendly family.  We are a nature loving family.  We are just silly.  I could go on and on with what we are.  Today, I realized something else.  We are a horse family.  I’m not even sure when it happened but we really are.  Tonight, we cried lots of tears over a horse that isn’t even ours.  What’s crazier though, is that this isn’t our first set of tears over a horse.  Last week, we did the same thing and that was my daughter’s favorite horse.

When Maggie started taking lessons two years ago, it wasn’t love {for me}  at her barn and after awhile, we stopped going there.  Then, we finally found a new place with an amazing program.  It took no time at all to realize that this place was different.  We weren’t just there for lessons.  Maggie was there to learn and grow as a person with a really incredible person that I love having in my daughter’s life.  As we were there longer, I realized this was so much more than a barn.  It was a family.  My daughter’s horse family.  I kind of thought that was it.  I mean, I wasn’t a horse person – I didn’t have strong feelings either way but man – those are some big animals and my daughter is kind of a tiny person.  How involved would I really be in all of this.

Day after day at the barn, I started feeling like these people were my people too.  Last week, when we got a text saying that her favorite horse had colicked.  I knew nothing about what that meant but was told it was pretty bad and that if Maggie wanted to say her goodbye to Katie {the horse}, that we should do that because the outlook wasn’t good.  We went to see her the next morning, just praying that we wouldn’t be too late.  What we saw when we got there was a miracle.  She was fine!  Do you know how many tears were shed the night before and that morning?  Tears and lots of prayers.  We saw her, hugged her, brought tons of pictures the kids made her and a picture of Maggie and Katie.  She’s back at the barn and all better now.  So much happy.

Today, we got another text.  That Ruby, the horse Maggie started out on at the barn colicked.  This time, the outlook sounded so much worse for some reason.  We loaded up right away and went out to say goodbye to Ruby, but not before we printed out a picture of Maggie and Ruby together as well as drew a quick picture for her telling her how loved she is.  When we got to the vet barn and walked in, that was the moment that I realized that we are a horse family.  I’m not sure what I expected, but it wasn’t to see about ten people standing there with tear filled eyes.  Tears not only for the heartbreak of a beautiful, kind, wonderful horse that wouldn’t be coming back to the barn, but also for her owner who has woven her way into our hearts and lives.

We left there, Maggie was filled with hopeful optimism and there was no convincing her that this time was different.  Ruby’s stomach fluid had blood in it.  She was hurting even through her sedation.  She wasn’t going to get better.  I left there realizing that our family was also a horse family, a barn family and those people standing in that room with tear filled eyes; they were our family.