Braveheart found a way to let us know that we had not yet completely “silly” proofed the stalls by getting his head stuck between a feeder and a vertical pole. In the process of panicking and removing his head, he inflicted major trauma to the neck tissue and broke his jaw. We ran out to his aid to find him not able to breathe due to the swelling in his neck. His tongue was hanging out and blue and all we could do is call every vet we knew and pray. In the mean time, I had forgotten to cancel one of the boys, Oscar, that comes to the ranch, and he showed up. The vet was in the process of telling us that if the anti inflammatory did not work, there would be nothing left to do. I was torn whether or not to let him see Braveheart like this. Then I saw the look on his face, it wasn’t fear. It was love, and I knew then that I had to let him stay. 3 ½ hrs later we were all at an emergency vet clinic that had a state of the art surgical center for horses, and Oscar was right there next to Braveheart the whole time. Even during the tracheotomy! After the vet finished with everything she could do, she explained that it did not look good for Braveheart and he would have to be a pretty tough fighter to make it through the night. At that time, Oscar’s face looked relieved because he knew with all the faith in the world that Braveheart was tough. I walked out of there wishing I had that much faith. After a sleepless night, the vet called in the morning to let us know that to her surprise Braveheart had not only made it through the night, but his vitals were almost completely normal. I rushed to call Oscar to let him know the good news and all he said was, “I know” Oscar and I have been through trauma’s that did not end as well, so I know he has a good grip on reality, so I learned that the relationship between the children that come here and the horses is on a level that I had not expected.