To Diva;

With a very heavy heart, I write today about a mare that we loved dearly. Diva suffered from a severe impaction colic this weekend, and after over 24 hours in struggle, her colon ruptured and she had to be euthanized.

I write about this because it is a tragic thing, huge and terrible that this six year old mare suffered and had to pass. And I am caught in the throes of the futility of all of this.

But I need to write about this because writing lends clarity to my thoughts. And my thoughts are this:

This thing we do, this equestrian sport, is a sacrifice. A sacrifice of time, and money, and sweat, and sometimes blood, and every so often healing broken bones.

It's not futile. Not any more than life itself is. The love is the point. The love is the journey. Every ounce of energy put into this contributes to the next horse. To the next lesson. The ripples of our education, and our love, and our effort, they go beyond the naked eye.

My heart is broken for this horse and for her owner, for those of us who have loved her and go on without her.

But I know well that Diva was loved so completely. I know that the journeys she took with us have changed my heart and her riders hearts in ways that we'll never totally know.

I know that these lessons she shared with us will only serve to benefit every horse we touch, every person we meet. I also know that maybe, in it's own way, this grief too will serve as a powerful lesson to us.

To the blue-eyed, red-headed mare who stole lunches from campers, bravely jumped (almost) everything she was ever pointed at, wore every type of saddle under the sun and went with it, climbed all sorts of hills and challenges, and taught her students more about this art of riding: thank you.