Great Horse Stories (16 page)

Robin pushed the truck door open. The rushing creek roared below the barn. Racing inside, she glanced around.
Five horses. There should be six. Everyone is here except Gus!
A wave of nausea crashed over Robin. She ran down the hill screaming, “Oh God, help me find him! I know that he has to be here!” There were only two options. He might be across the creek…or he'd been washed downstream.

The water had risen most of the way up the bank but had receded some, leaving behind the skeletal remains of downed trees. The brush and grass lay flattened. Robin cupped her hands to her mouth and screamed as loud as she could, “Gus!
Guusss
!” She walked along the fence line, getting as close to the water as she dared.
God, You've got to show me where he is! He's got to be here!
She scanned the trees on the other side. They had been underwater. Debris lay in piles everywhere.
Could the water have trapped Gus against the fence and then swept him away?

Crashing water was all she could hear. She looked at its swirls.
Nothing could survive that.
She looked up and screamed with all her might, “Gus!
Guusss
!”
God, if he's here, let him hear me. Help him see me.
Five minutes passed. She paced along a finger of land between the fence and the water.
Dear God, let him be alive!
Trees bobbed down the creek. She squinted across the creek. “
Guusss
!” Tears streamed down her face.
Lord, he can't be gone. Help him hear me.

Suddenly Robin heard a faint crash. She saw a flash on the other side of the creek. Her gray gelding raced toward her, his eyes locked on her. His long, silver mane and tail flowed as he jumped over logs and debris. She stood gaping.
He's okay! He's coming toward me. He's running! He's not hurt!

He raced faster and faster, as if he'd been looking for her for days, and she was finally here to help him. The water raced, forming an impassible chasm between them. Robin expected him to slow and then stop as he neared the raging water. He stampeded to the edge and paused. His body shook as his neigh rang out. He launched off his hind quarters and plunged into the turbulent water. Robin held her breath.
Oh, God, don't let him be washed downstream…or be impaled by a tree!

Only Gus's gray nose, wide eyes, and jawbone showed above the deep, dirty-brown water. He swam with powerful strokes, but the river swept him downstream. Trees and limbs floated alongside him. Robin followed along the bank. She cupped her hands and screamed, “C'mon, Gus! Gus!” He bobbed in the current. Slowly he moved toward her. Tears streamed down her face. “
Guusss
!”

Suddenly the horse gathered his feet underneath him, popped out of the water, scrambled up the bank, and ran to her. Brown water
dripped off him, and he shook. Breathing hard and exhausted, he lowered his head toward her feet.

Robin wrapped her arms around his neck. Her mind whirled through the things that could have happened. He could have tried to swim the creek when it was higher and been washed downstream. He could have gotten hung up in the barbed-wire fence that lay in a ball on the bottom of the creek. He could have been jammed with a stick or a tree. But Gus came through the ordeal unharmed! Dirty water soaked her clothes. She buried her face in his neck. “God, thank You for my miracle,” she prayed aloud.

By the time the flooding was over, it had set new records for peak flood depths in 15 locations. It claimed many lives, including more than 31 human lives and countless ranch animals, domestic animals, and wildlife. The estimated property damage was more than $750,000,000. It was a once-in-a-lifetime flood.

For Robin it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Not only did she receive her miracle of God protecting Gus, but through that harrowing time she saw how much God cared for her. The greatest miracle wasn't watching God rescue her horse. It was what God did in her heart. She'd been living in the flood of life with emotional skeletons popping up and floating past. In the end, when Gus ran to her, Robin had been running to Jesus—trusting Him with all her heart—full blast…no hesitation. When she jumped into the river of His love, believing, He embraced her. In His arms she made a life-changing discovery. That day He showed her that if she trusted Him, no matter what else was going on He would take care of her and bless her.

•
Robin and Gus
•

Over the next few weeks, God also confirmed for Robin that she was touching the lives of the children she worked with in a mighty way. She summed it up when she wrote on her mirror, “I am the miracle.” Without a doubt, she was important and valuable to God.

Robin triumphed over one of the devil's sneakiest schemes. It's when life is at its most difficult moments that he hits us the hardest. Out of his bag of tricks he pulls out the lie that hurts the worst because it wounds our hearts so deeply. It's a question followed by an accusation the devil whispers in our ears: “Do you really think you're valuable to God? Nothing you do matters.” Believing that lie destroys hope. The devil knows there are days when he can wear down even the strongest people. He gets pleasure out of inflicting pain. He hopes that we will let his lies penetrate our hearts and wound us.

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Jesus lived here on earth temporarily clothed in a human body. He knows what it's like to have the devil grating on us. He knows that it's a dangerous time when we're emotionally weak. When we find ourselves getting worn down, that's when it's the most important that we run to Jesus just like Gus galloped to Robin…and Robin ran to Jesus. Walking to Him just isn't fast enough.

Lord, help me rest in the fact that You love me and I am one of Your miracles. Amen.

•
Thoughts to Ponder
•

Have you noticed that when you're worn down emotionally that's the exact moment in time when the devil hits you with ideas that wound your heart? At those times, have you wondered if you were valuable to God? Have you ever thought of yourself as a miracle? How can you rest in the fact that you are special to God?

25

DAZZLE

Replacing Fear

T
he Rocky Mountain peaks that rimmed the Flathead Valley were already covered with snow, and a brisk November breeze whispered through the pines. Although it was sunny outside, the weather forecast said a winter storm would move in later that day. Pulling my protective earmuffs on, I grabbed the pneumatic nail gun and stepped up a couple of rungs on the ladder next to the new addition on the barn. I was nailing up the last of the sheets of siding, and I wanted to get it finished before the storm hit and winter set in. I glanced across the pasture at the horses and mules that were munching down hay.

I wonder what Dazzle is going to do when she hears the nail gun?
My other horses were used to the sounds of rifles, pistols, and other loud noises. I'd only owned the black two-year-old Tennessee walker mare a couple of weeks, so I wasn't sure how she'd react to the sharp report from the nail gun that sounded like a gunshot.
Will she take off running?
My fences were good and tight. She was familiar with them, so I didn't think she'd try to blast through them. But she might do a few laps around the acreage before she calmed down.

The air compressor kicked on, making a loud, sputtering noise. I pushed my safety glasses up on my nose and looked at Dazzle. Her ears were riveted toward me, but she kept eating.
Well, that's good. The noise isn't bothering her.
I leaned my arm against the sheet of siding I had tacked into place. With my other hand I pushed the tip of the nail gun to the siding and squeezed the trigger. Pop! The nail shot true. I paused. My earmuffs silenced the world. Out of the corner of my eye I checked
on Dazzle. The mare continued eating like nothing had happened.
Well, that's easy.
I shot a few more nails. Still nothing from Dazzle.

After a few minutes I abandoned my concern about the horse. Locked into my muffled world, I clung to the ladder and drove lines of nails down the siding. Suddenly a warm breath brushed my back and something bumped me. Shocked, I grabbed hold of the ladder and turned. Dazzle stood at the base of the ladder cocking her head side to side, looking at me and the siding. I burst out laughing. Instead of being afraid of a new and unusual experience like most horses are, Dazzle was curious. She bobbed her head at me as if asking what I was doing. Balancing the nail gun in the hand that held on to the ladder, I reached down and stroked her forehead with my free hand. “I'm nailing on the siding so you'll have a place to get out of the wind this winter.”

She smelled the gun and then looked at me.

I laughed. “Okay, silly, although you really should be wearing protective eyeglasses. I'll show you what I'm doing.” Pressing the tip of the gun against the siding I squeezed off the trigger.
Bang!

My mare stretched her nose forward and smelled the siding where the nail had gone in.

I rubbed her nose. “See, isn't that awesome?”

I pondered her reaction as I climbed down the rungs and scratched her neck. I could take some lessons from her. When I face new, unusual, or uncertain things in life, I've sometimes reacted in fear and withdrawn.
How many opportunities have I missed out on because I did that?
I wondered.
Fear dissolves my hope for a better future. Why do I jump to fear as my first reaction instead of being curious like Dazzle?
That thought ran through my mind for the next couple of days. The truth became so clear when I read Romans 8:15: “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.' ”

Throughout the Bible, God commands us to “fear not.” We're to look at the world through eyes of faith, which fills us with hope. My focus in difficult situations was my choice, and I'd chosen fear. I can
change my response any time I want to. I decided it was time to make a conscious decision to develop my curiosity so I will be fueled by hope.

Lord, show me areas in my life where I hold back because of fear. Fill me with so much curiosity that I brim with hope. Amen.

•
Thoughts to Ponder
•

When you're faced with uncertain circumstances, what is your first response—fear or curiosity? Why do you usually choose that? What would a reaction based on faith look like?

26

FORGING AHEAD

Breaking Free

T
he door on the 1972 Chevy pickup truck groaned in protest as Wendy slid onto the driver's seat and pulled it shut. She turned the key. The truck belched to life, blowing a cloud of exhaust into the cold air. The engine rattled as the tires crunched through the snow. Wendy shifted into first gear and pulled into the narrow lane. She was headed to the top pasture where her husband, Gary, who was standing in the back of the pickup, would toss out hay for the horses while she inched the truck forward. She glanced in the rearview mirror. A small group of young mares restlessly wandered in the corral. This day would be the first time she'd feed this little band in this pasture. She watched the new mare.
God, watch out for Dandy. Please lead her so she finds her way around her new surroundings.

Back in the fall, Wendy had purchased Dandy as a broodmare. She'd searched high and low for some good bloodlines to add to her breeding program, and this mare's pedigree was tops. She would also add a rare and beautiful color to Wendy's herd. She was a “grulla,” meaning she had tan-gray fur and a dark dorsal stripe that ran along the top of her back from her black mane to her tail. She even had black “zebra” stripes on her legs. The best part was that the owners had been selling the mare at a drastically reduced price. They said it was because of an injury she'd had on a hind leg, which left behind some bulging scar tissue. Wendy was familiar with that type of wound. It wouldn't interfere with the mare's ability to be a good broodmare, so Wendy purchased the horse sight unseen. But the owners hadn't divulged the mare's biggest handicap.

A light breeze had rustled the golden aspen leaves when Wendy unloaded Dandy from the shipper's trailer. She led the horse toward the barn. The mare quietly followed her. But when Wendy turned to go through the gate, the mare walked straight ahead and slammed into the wooden fence. Shocked, Wendy's heart sank. Carefully she guided the mare into the barn and performed some simple eye tests. The mare was blind.

Wendy was crushed.
Lord, where am I going to find the time to take care of a blind horse? How will she fit in?
Blind horses often have to be confined in a stall to avoid being injured by other horses. Wendy stared at the beautiful mare and knew in her heart that God had sent her horses so she could be their caretaker. Maybe Dandy was one of them.