Our granddaughter Helen is a horse enthusiast. We no longer have horses but, our friend and neighbor down the street does: a twenty-two-year-old Arabian gelding known as Fred. The horse had not been ridden much for the past fifteen or so years, but I figured at twenty-two he was probably past the energetic attitudes of his youth. So, Helen and I went over to the neighbors with a saddle looking forward to Helen having a ride.
We gave Fred a couple treats, brushed him down, put on a saddle and bridle and Helen climbed on. I led Fred around the pasture a couple times, just to make sure he was going to act like a gentleman, which he did fine, and I stepped aside. Fred didn’t seem to like being bossed around by a youngster who barely weighs more than the saddle. I figured this was due to him being used as a well-cared for pasture onement and seldom ridden. Two days later, Helen and I loaded Fred up in a trailer and drove over to Dimple Dale, an area designated for hiking and horse riding.
We parked at the east end, and Helen rode Fred all the way down to Thirteenth East and started back toward the truck. Fred had been prancing and obnoxious every step of the path, making for an uncomfortable ride. I had been following along riding an electric mountain bike. Thinking that my additional weight might cause Fred to lose some of his obnoxious gate, Helen and I switched rides. But no, he was determined, he was sweating and even foaming at the mouth a little.
Thinking that Fred just needed to get out of his pasture and be ridden to calm down, Fred and I were back at Dimple Dell a few days later. When I was a kid, I would simply reach up and grab my horse’s mane and swing my leg up over his back. But now at age seventy, I’m finding a saddle to be very comfortable and the use of a step called a stirrup, most advantageous.
Placing a boot in the first stirrup, I stood up intending to throw my second boot over the saddle and sit-up. But instead of throwing it over the saddle, I dragged it along Fred’s rump, causing him to get wide eyed and take on an attitude. Some horses get upset over the smallest infractions. Fred started doing little crow hops with his back legs. I looked up to make sure the reins were gathered up because a horse can’t really buck hard unless his nose is down by his front knees. And that’s the last thing I remember.
I woke up looking at the sky, listening to Fred whinnying with some new equine friends he had met on the other side of a nearby knoll. There are some roads beyond where Fred was, and I was pretty sure he had not been trained to look both ways before crossing the road, finding him was urgent. Realizing I was in a little bit of trouble physically, I wasn’t sure how I was going to catch Fred and get him into the trailer. I got up on my feet, which took a little doing, and started walking towards the truck and trailer which was about the length of a football field away. All the way I was trying to figure how I was going find and catch Fred.
About half way back to the trailer, I came across three or four young women who were shepherding a bunch of kids maybe seven or eight years of age. I stopped at the first lady I came to, Kelly, and explaining that I had fallen off my horse, he’d run off, and if she were to see him could she please give me a call on my cell phone, I gave her my number. I got back to my truck and up in the cab and was still trying to figure out how to get Fred back in the trailer.
I started to pray, explaining to Heavenly Father the situation which, of course, He already knew, and explaining that I really was not in good shape to be running after a horse at the moment, which, of course, He already knew as well. Ending my petition with an amen, my phone immediately rang; it was Kelly. She not only had found my horse; she had caught him and was on her way bringing him to me. They arrived a few minutes later. Kelly helped me get him in the trailer, and asked if I was feeling OK, stating that I was looking a little bit yellow. I may have been looking a bit green for all I knew, but the horse was back in the trailer and we were on our way home.
If we ever wonder if Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers, let’s consider:
First: I fall off a horse with very little recollection of the event, including how I landed. My wife and I volunteer at a nearby rehab center providing Sacrament services. Several of our friends there are conveyed in electric wheel chairs. I could have, as easy as not, ended up in an electric chair of my own, racing my friends up and down the hallways.
Second: How common is it, in this day and age, to come across a person who is experienced with horses and willing to approach a horse of which they are not familiar and lead the horse to a stranger that needed help? This was not an accidental meeting.
Third; Pray for help and have my phone immediately ring upon saying amen.
A determined atheist might explain every coincidence, but then they are probably able to explain the balance of the universe as well.
I called ahead to my friend that owns the horse who just happened to be at home at the time. My friend unloaded Fred from the trailer, walked him to the pasture, and unhitched the trailer.
Arriving home, my son in law, J, pulled into our driveway just behind me. I put an arm over his shoulders. My wife walked out of the house and said, “You need to go to the emergency room!” I said, “No, I just need a couple hours and a heating pad”. Both my wife and son-in-law came back with strong directions as to what we were going to do, and my idea of a heating pad was not amongst them.
Upon arriving at the emergency room, I was given something that defeated the pain. We took x-rays and were directed to go over to the hospital because they have better x-ray equipment and a specialist in spinal injuries. At the hospital, additional x-rays were taken. I stood this way and that, laid down for another angle. I threw up into a plastic bag. The amazing care givers didn’t even pause at that. I’m sure they have seen it all before. The next time I was awakened, it was by the back surgeon specialist. He said, “Well, it turns out you broke your back, but if you are going to break your back, this is the way to do it. You won’t need surgery; it should heal on its own”. I think Heavenly Father must have had a couple angels standing to the side of the horse making sure I fell just right.
The specialist asked my age and how I’d been injured. He said, “Let’s get you in for some therapy, and you need to make sure you do the exercises! We don’t want you walking bent over before your time.” I think there was an age-related joke included in there someplace. Here again, I had been blessed with excellent care givers.
J had stayed with me the entire day. I asked him for my phone and said, “I don’t know what I would have done today if not for you.” The doctor had some additional x-rays taken just to be sure. The last time I was awakened at the hospital, was by my wife, Dana. The hospital people gave Dana some instructions, prescriptions, and some papers, and we headed home.
It feels a bit pretentious, and I can’t imagine why I would warrant such protection, but I am quite sure I have been surrounded by angels on both sides of the veil.
Everybodys Barn 
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