Top Council

I can honestly say this post has taken me a while to write...and not for the typical reasons of... been oh so busy or such but because it is hard to write.   It is hard to see these good memories that are clouded by some really sad memories for my family.  We opened our hearts to an animal, and for those that know me you understand, I probably have more compassion for animals at times than I do some humans!  I mean I get attached, really attached and this time was no different but unfortunately it didn't have the happy ending we were hoping for.  This is Top Council, our race horse, who we owned with several other friends.  It has been a lifelong dream for my husband to have a race horse.  He loves the races and loves the sport so much that he saw an opportunity to get several friends together and give it a try.   We first met Top Council when he was delivered to Hot Springs back in November and we proceeded to keep up with him, visit him and love on him as much as possible during that time.  He was doing a great job in practice and we were so looking forward to everyone meeting up to see him run the first time. 

These pics are from one of our cold visits to the stable early one morning...

He just could not get enough of sniffing my neck it was hilarious..every single picture we took. 

As you can see he was definitely a lover not a fighter!!  Which was fine by all of us we never expected him to win, just run...

But first back to a few happenings in between...

This is my little B getting to enjoy the one and only bit of snow we had this summer!  It didn't last long nor did it stick but it made for some fun for a short bit, unfortunately though, we didn't even get out of school.

Date night with this crew...always fun to enjoy time with the girls and their friends!

The next day the girls and I met up with several friends to go see Cinderella in Little Rock.  We ate lunch together and then headed over for the play. 

It was an interesting take on Cinderella, not your traditional story line, so don't ask the girls about it because it took them half the play to figure out which one was Cinderella.  She wasn't dressed in her famous blue gown but a yellow one!  However it was a lot of fun spending time with these two and opening their eyes to a whole new Cinderella.

We even met up with their cousins and I couldn't help but get a shot of these two twinsies that day after church.  Cuteness overload..I think so!

Birthday party fun with their cousins one afternoon to celebrate Julia's big day in Texarkana.

Followed by some mission work with our church group that Wednesday.  I even got to drive the van...which was hilarious!  We went around delivering stuffed animals to all the service areas including the police, firefighters, and emergency personal so that if they encounter children who are sad or in need of comforting they had something to bring a smile to their face.

Fun with cousins that Saturday while mom and a friend took on the Dallas market! They love to dig for worms and these girls aren't scared once they catch them...me on the other hand no way!

Not the best pic of either one of us but we sure did have a quick, but fun overnight trip to the Big D for market that weekend!  Our feet were tired and unfortunately so were our wallets!

One of the cool free scores I got while there...I am super cheap, or conservative with my money shall we say so I have located every stop each time where you can score big without paying big!  It's is one of my life skills I have mastered over the years..so proud!

And then back to my post...that next day we all meet up on Sunday afternoon because Top Council was to run for the first time.  We all gathered to wathc him be saddled up and were so excited to see "our horse" run.  WE honestly never cared if he came in last just the fun of watching him run was all we came to see.  However, little did we know but our worst nightmare was about to happen.

All the kids were cheering him on from the side and yelling for him...it was so sweet.

And he was on the track ready to get started as we all waited nervously.

All these folks standing her along with several others not picture were part of our owners group.  We were so excited to see our horse cross that finish line.

But unfortunately he never made it.  I couldn't even watch the race because I never do I am not a fan like my husband is of the track but do love the animals, which I realize everyone has their own opinion on but I support him and no that these animals or in our case this animal was loved and taken care of by not only the owners but the trainers as well.  I know this because I witnessed it first hand the moment that horse quite running and was obviously hurt we all rushed to him and the trainer standing next to my husband was the first one.  She cried and loved on that animal just like we all did.  We did everything in our power to save that horse knowing she would never race again, so for those that think this decision was an easy one I will tell you it was not or at least for this group.  I prayed for that horse to be able to walk again, to be able to fix that leg...whatever the outcome. I listened to my husband beg to try and do anything we could so that it lived out its days on a farm somewhere but as we all know unfortunately other plans are in play and things don't always work out the way we would like.  For me this was the hardest day I have endured in a long time.   Not because it was a pet but because I felt responsible for him being out there or getting hurt.  I know that he would have been racing whether or not we owned him or someone else did but it didn't help me deal with it any better.  I went days after this without eating, my husband and I cried together (well he might not say it that way but I saw the tears welling up in his eyes.)  Fortunately, my children didn't seem to take it so hard because they are all still young but it was a hard day and the days that followed were just as tough.  I know that the horse was better off given the circumstances of the injury.  I listened to the vet's recommendation and saw that he too would love to be able to just "fix it" as I said so many times but this injury was so severe that he had his entire ankle broken.  Apparently, he stepped in some sort of hole on the track (is all we can figure out) and it broke every bone in his foot.  I now realize that horse's unlike our 3-legged dog are not able to recover from injury's like that given their weight and the fact that this horses are so young and active that you can't keep them settled long enough to heal.  I never want to see an animal in pain or live out it's days hurting or injured but believe me this day I will never forget.  The next weeks were filled with talk between each of the owners and about what we thought would be such a fun experience together and how sad it had left each one of us but no one was more upset than my husband I truly believe that because this was a dream that ended so badly that we never even had considered that ending was a possibility when we all signed on.  I have since told my husband that for his sake maybe he should try it again one day.  He has said it will be a while and I swear to you that I hope he does do it again one day just to see his horse cross a finish line but I will also say that this girl won't be around when it does run! 

So now on to some more happy times that followed.  Meet my 100 year old lady.  She celebrated the 100 days of school with her friends and we even found this little dress that was mine when I was a little girl and rode in a parade in a covered wagon just like on Little House on a Prairie.  She thought it was pretty cool to get to where my clothes.

the whole close of old folks!!

And then on to dear people who saw the hurt we experienced and wanted for my children a better ending.  Kari Rohrbaugh from our church asked the girls and I to come over for the afternoon one day so that she could show the girls what fun horses can be and they could enjoy time on a horse and see all the care that goes into taking on one of these animals as a pet.  The girls both spent time riding the horses, feeding them and even cleaning their stalls that afternoon.  It was a much needed day outside enjoying these beautiful creatures.

They both did great on the horses and enjoyed riding for the first time all by themselves.

Happy memories...So thankful God seems to put the right people in your path just at the moment you need them the most.  I know these girls won't forget this day for a long time and neither will this mom.