It's not often that one gets to be a hero. It usually necessitates being in the right place at the right time. Sometimes it involves having the right set of skills for the situation. It always requires a willingness to get involved; Right Now. All of those variables lined up together today and I got to watch my daughter become a hero.
Here's how it happened: The kids and I were all dressed up for a funeral for an old friend in the next town. We were driving Tori to work and pulled into a gas station just before the intersection of an Interstate Highway. As I started to pump the gas, we all saw a thoroughbred horse running past us! This horse was obviously running loose and had just turned off the highway onto the side street we were facing. A number of cars and a truck were following alongside of it and we could hear someone shouting at the horse.It was obvious that this horse was a runaway and needed to be caught! Tori got out of the car and asked me if she could help. I appreciated this because we all knew that if she did, we would be late for the funeral. Having been taught that "life is for the living", I immediately told her to "go for it" knowing that she could be a real asset in this improbable situation.
She took off on foot to catch up to this horse parade. When I finished pumping the gas, we drove into the neighborhoods about a quarter mile and found a number of vehicles pulled over including a sheriff's car and an unmarked police car with lights flashing. They were at the end of a cul-de-sac which happened to be fenced. As I came closer I got excited wondering if indeed, Tori had been able to help. Sure enough, there I saw her and another lady helping the horse which was being walked around, securely fastened on a lead rope! Tori had been able to help catch the horse! She had then put the halter back on which had become twisted up. Using a knife borrowed from one of the men there, she had also removed the horse's blanket which was bunched up around it's legs.
The horse was in bad shape and bleeding heavily from all four hoofs and it's lower legs.We found out that this horse had been running along a major highway for 7 miles!!!! It had been followed by folks in cars trying to find an opportunity to corral it. No one knew who the owner was and phone calls were being made to find a trailer to take the horse out of the residential neighborhood. It was amazing that this situation hadn't caused an car accident somewhere along the way. If it had gotten into the middle of the huge intersection near-by, it could have been much worse.
Having done all she that she could, Tori got back into our car with blood on her hands and I took her to work.We were all so thrilled with the chase and the successful outcome. Tori was shaking a little and we all told her how proud of her we were.This horsewoman was in the right place at the right time and didn't hesitate to do what she could to help.To God be the Glory! The rest of us went on to our funeral, and were only five minutes late!
Having done all she that she could, Tori got back into our car with blood on her hands and I took her to work.We were all so thrilled with the chase and the successful outcome. Tori was shaking a little and we all told her how proud of her we were.This horsewoman was in the right place at the right time and didn't hesitate to do what she could to help.To God be the Glory! The rest of us went on to our funeral, and were only five minutes late!
