Seriously. Because
this story made the national news. My local newspaper reported it on the sixth
of July, and it was so compelling, I decided to share it with you.
On the night of July Fourth, a pregnant mare was so spooked
by the fireworks and gunshots (gunshots? really?) that she broke out of her
stable and took off. Unfortunately, as she crossed a railroad track, one of her
hooves became lodged beneath a tie and she was unable to free it.
Sometime later, a woman driving across the tracks saw the
poor horse lying on her side and thought she was dead. Then the animal raised
her head and looked at the woman. Instantly, this kind person pulled over and
found a number to call on the crossing gate to alert the train’s command
center. It wasn’t known whether they
could stop the train in time, however. The police were contacted and arrived a
short time later.
By that time, a group of people had gathered around the
horse, and someone knew who the owners were and called them. Then this larger group of people got together
and were able to pull the horse free before she got another hoof stuck, or a
train approached.
Being a writer, I could very well imagine the cheers that
went up when the horse was finally freed, and I even imagined that poor
animal’s distress lessening. I cried. Reading
on, I learned that this same horse had been rescued by her new owners just one
month earlier from a slaughter house.
Her life had been spared twice. I cried harder.
The very next day, the mare delivered her filly, and now
we’re waiting to hear if the filly will be okay, because the mare was under
such stress that it affected her baby’s health. Please say a prayer.
The national news picked this story up because of its human
interest appeal, just as it is now reporting on the baby beluga whale up in Alaska that got separated from its mom
and is now in jeopardy. Experts from all
over the country are flying in to try to save the baby.
If you haven’t seen the movie, BIG MIRACLE, I urge you to
rent it. It’s about how this country came together in 1988 to save 3 stranded
whales in Alaska. And that’s the point of this blog. I find it utterly amazing
and somehow redeeming to see people of all sorts pull together to save an
animal’s life. I’ll bet every one of those people who gathered to help that
pregnant mare went home changed in some small way.
Do those kinds of stories capture your heart or attention? What is it
in our nature that makes it so?
