| As the young woman stepped into the shop, her | | | | principal. It was then that he explained her father |
| eyes traveled around the store, stopping at the | | | | was coming by the school to pick her up. There was |
| display of equestrian helmet covers. So many styles | | | | an accident at their house and he needed to bring |
| from which to choose! How would she ever pick the | | | | her home. When her dad arrived, his face was very |
| right one out of all the riding helmet covers available? | | | | pale and he had tears in his eyes. He gave his |
| It seemed like such a small insignificant decision, one | | | | daughter a few choppy sentences, describing how |
| of such little importance; yet, this was to be | | | | one of the new horses had attacked her mother, |
| hopefully the first of many shows. Ever since she | | | | trampling her. Her mother was at the nearest |
| could remember, she had always been enthralled by | | | | hospital, but the injuries were so severe, the doctors |
| horses. Perhaps she got her fascination for them | | | | didn't expect her to live. In shock and sadness, the |
| from her mother, who had been a champion horse | | | | father and daughter drove to the hospital. Her |
| rider in her day. When she was a small child, she | | | | mother, broken and barely conscious, spent the last |
| loved being around them and taking care of them. | | | | few moments of her life with her family. |
| Her parents had a well-known horse farm throughout | | | | Following her mother's death, her father sold the |
| the area, so she got to see many different horses. | | | | farm, unable to bear the sadness that seemed to |
| They had told her she could start training when she | | | | overwhelm him. They found a small home in a |
| was a little older. And then it happened, the accident | | | | different town and started to make a new life for |
| that killed her mother. | | | | themselves. As she grew older, the girl put her |
| It started out like any other ordinary day. Her mother | | | | dreams aside since they only reminded her of the |
| and father were out in the stables, making the final | | | | painful loss of her mother. She became involved in |
| repairs and cleaning the stalls for the new horses that | | | | many other activities and gradually seemed to heal. |
| were to be housed at their farm. By mid-morning the | | | | It was quite by accident that the woman ever |
| horses had arrived and the girl's parents were getting | | | | ventured near horses again. A blind date had taken |
| them accustomed to their new surroundings. The | | | | her to a local stable. As her tears began to fall, she |
| daughter was already at school since it had started a | | | | told him the story of her mother's death and her life |
| month ago. In the middle of math class, there was a | | | | as a little girl. Despite her fears, she climbed onto the |
| knock on the door and the school principal came into | | | | horse's back. A few months later, she began training |
| the classroom. He went over to the teacher and | | | | to become a rider. |
| whispered something. Then he walked over to her | | | | After several minutes of scanning the merchandise, |
| desk, asked her to pick up her books and bag and | | | | she found one that she liked. With a smile, she picked |
| come with him to the office. Thinking she had done | | | | it up and went over to the cashier, ready to live her |
| something wrong, the young girl questioned the | | | | dreams. |