It was a beautiful fall day. The sun was shining as brightly as it could. The air was cool and crisp. It had a clean smell, like laundry hanging on the line drying. Windy but, brisk enough to give you a small chill. Autum was in the air in the colors every where you looked. Like many days in the past, I decided to go for a ride. We owned several horses. After a hard day at work a casual ride relaxes me. I saddled an eight year old mare named K.C. She is half appolossa and half arabian, who can hold anyones attention with her beauty and grace. Like any female, K.C. has her good and bad days. Little did we know that today was to be the worst day of both of our lives. Tragity was to strike today, in a far worse way then anyone could ever imagine.

About a year ago today, my husband and I rented a beautiful old farm house. Our landlords were to become special friends and we grew to think of them as our family. We would cook out on the grill together, go dancing, or just sit and talk. When we had bought a few more horses, we would often go riding together on the weekends. What was to happen today, would leave us all, in a great deal of mourning. But at the same time, bring us all to a very special bond that could never be broken.

Lee, our landlord, and I enjoyed the horses more than the rest of our families, so it didn't take long for us to become good friends. We enjoyed the same things, horses. Lee was alot like my brother Mike who had passed away almost fourteen years ago. My brother and I had a very close relationship. Mike was the type that if he thought you could do something, he would push you to the limit to do it. Lee had the same way's about him. This man could ride any thing you put him on. I had bought a mare named K.C. for my husband, but she had to much spirit and spice for him to ride. On the other hand I could ride her and one minute she would be fine, the next, she may throw you clear across the pasture if she took a mind to do so. Lee would mount her and it was as if K.C. knew better than to give him any trouble. The two of them made a great pair. When Lee's birthday came, I put a big blue ribbon around K.C.'s neck and gave her to Lee.

Even though, K.C. was now Lee's horse, I still rode her now and then. K.C. was a challenge to me. Lee and I agreed that K.C.'s first colt was to come to me. Right now, she was only a short time away from having a colt running through the field with her. A colt who I hoped would have as much grace and beauty as it's mother.

I had gotten off from work this fine day early. I got home and saddled K.C. for a casual ride as we had done many times before. This day was like any other day as we headed down the road, like we had done so many times before. But today, Lee was coming down the road. Not knowing this, K.C and I started around the curve. Lee was also coming this route as he had forgotten some paper work at home. He was driving his rig from work, a big black semi-truck. We both came around the curve at the same time. Not knowing the truck as we had never came across a semi-truck before, K.C. was scared and at this moment our lives were to come to a change. K.C. was to come to a tragic end. When Lee honked to say Hi, K.C. not ever being this close to such a large truck jumped right into his path. I fought to control her, as Lee did everything he could not to hit us. He swerved the truck to try to keep from hitting us, but it was to late, we were right in the path of his truck. I swear I seen my life pass before my eyes that day.

When the truck hit us we went flying into the ditch. My foot was caught in the sturrup so I was half way still on K.C. Lee was trying so hard not to hit us, that he flipped the truck and went right through the windshield.

When I started coming to my senses, I felt K.C. struggling to get up, she was laying on my legs as they were tangeled up in the sturups when we fell. Her side was torn almost completely from her body. And I could tell she had broken her legs. When we were hit it started K.C. into premature labor.

Here I was unable to move as the horse was on my legs and Lee had flew through the windshield onto the pavement. He had not moved yet, I was so worried and scared for K.C. but I couldn't move.

We were in an area that no one ever used , so we had little hope of anyone coming by to help. K.C. was in so much pain, my pains from my wounds were nothing. The pain I was feeling,for riding K.C. that day and bringing so much tragity to all of us was horrible. No words can ever describe what I was feeling. I had given her to Lee so she was Lee's mare now and I knew this was going to tear him apart.

I tried to look at K.C. close enough to see if she was going to deliver the colt. It looked like she was only a few short minutes from giving birth. Lee started to move. He got to his feet, them came over to us. He was in bad shape, as his face was cut pretty bad in several places. You could see the pain in Lee's eyes as he looked at K.C. laying there fighting for her life and the life of her colt. Looking at each other we both knew she had to be put out of her misery. Even though I was in a great deal of pain, my concern was with that of K.C. and her colt. The poor horse was in such pain, we both knew that she couldn't wait for a vet to come, to put her out of her misery. Lee had a C.B. in his truck, so he went back to call for an ambulance. Also to get his gun which he carried on long trips. Lee walked from the truck, carrying the gun, tears swelling in his eyes. Lee looked at us , but said he couldn’t shoot her, as the bullet may go through her and into my legs. That was the farthest thing from my mind. I was already in pain, I couldn't see K.C. having to suffer any more than she had already. Just as Lee handed me the gun, K.C. started to drop her foal. Just as soon as the foal was out, and Lee had gotten it away from us, I looked down at K.C. and she looked back into my eyes, as though she understood what I was about to say.

I told her to be real still, that the pain would go away. Then she could run forever in the pastures free as a bird. She lay her head down, as I laid the gun to her head. I knotted up inside my stomach with a lump so large in my throat, that I felt as if I couldn't breath anymore. I swear as I was pulling the trigger she had tears in her eyes. As the gun went off, I said my goodbye with a pain so hard in my chest. She died instantly.

From the piercing pain in my leg, I knew that the bullet had went right through her, into my leg. At this point I didn't care. I had no way of saying how sorry I was for taking her out for a ride that day and having it take her life in such a tragic way. I would have taken a dozen bullets to my leg that day, if it could have saved K.C.

Now she was in gods hands. So here we were here with an orfan foal to care for. It was premature as well. The ambulance came to take us to the hospital, I knew I had to go. Lee should have been right there beside me, but he was more worried about the colt. Lee took the colt home, then he called the vet to come right over and check her out. The vet said that with alot of hard work and love we may be able to pull her through.

I was to stay in the hospital but I fought so hard to go home that they only kept me over night. My nose had been fractured in two places from where K.C. in her pain had hit it. The bullet went right into my leg, but they were able to get it out with no problems. Lee had to have a total of nineteen stitches in his face. The Dr. felt that he would have very little scaring if any.

We couldn't decide which pain was greater, the pain from the accident, or the pain of losing K.C. Deep down in our hearts we knew which pain was greater. The colt was small and she was the spitting image of her mother. She was an appy with a leopard blanket all overher body. We knew that with the helping hand of god she would pull through this ordeal and become a beautiful mare, just as her mother had been. Not but a few days old and she acted just like her mother, so spunky, and with a mind of her own, to do what she wanted, not what you wanted her to do. She would make it, we both knew it deep down in our hearts.

As we fed her that night and sat watching her run around the pasture,the grief was still in our hearts but the love for this little beauty was helping. Lee looked over at me and said you have a beautiful colt there. I smiled and told him no god had a beautiful colt and that he and I were just going to be her guardians for life. That little angel was to be a free spirit and we would just guild her through life. Sometimes even now when I look out into the pasture I could almost swear I can see K.C. running beside the colt. Maybe she is in spirit.