My best friend
...ize how strong of a bond we had. It just came so naturally. Our bond was solid as a rock! Everyone who knew us called us the “Bobsey Twins.” We went to Dover, Delaware for our first show. The excitement was in the air, and we could feel it. Betty could sense the challenges that we were about to face. I had butterflies in my stomach enough for both of us. We were ready to enter our first walk trot class. They called our class and we entered the ring. We were now going to show the audience and the judges that we knew our “stuff.” We walked and trotted both ways around the ring. As they asked us to line up and face the ringmaster, the excitement mounted. How well did we do? Did they like us? It was now all in the judge’s hands. Oh, the waiting we had to endure. The judge checked us all over one more time. Betty and I stood proudly in the line up, looking as beautiful as ever. I was smiling ear to ear because I was so proud of my horse and the great job we did. The butterflies were still swarming in my stomach when the announcer started to announce the winner of each class. I gave Betty one last hug for good luck. “In first place is Sarah Steen riding Ms. Betty Davis from Dagsboro, Delaware.” I thought I was going to faint! I was so happy and very proud of our great accomplishment together. When it came time for our victory pass, the crowd cheered, and the more that they cheered, the more Betty showed her stuff. My family was outside the gate waiting to tell us how proud they were of us. The show season flew by. We won a great amount of trophies and blue ribbons over the next few years. That wasn’t as important as the bond that kept building between us. We shared ice cream and long quiet walks together as I talked to her about everything. She seemed to know everything that I was talking about. Betty never got tired of listening to me either. There were times, I thought, that she knew what I was thinking. A tragedy struck in the fall. As I went to the barn one morning, opened the door and called to my horse. There was no neigh or snicker to my calls. I walked quickly into her stall, sensing something was terribly wrong. Tears filled my eyes when I saw my Betty lying on her side. My best friend Betty had become ill. I called out to my dad who was outside and told him to call the emergency veterinarian. I sat down beside her and hugged her all I could to try to make her pain go away. I told her it was going to be okay. Dad was on the phone with the veterinarian, so all we could do was wait for him to come. Minutes seemed like hours. We got Betty up on her feet, and I stood by her, patting and encouraging her to keep on standing. When the veterinarian finally arrived, she took my precious baby to the horse hospital. There, she proceeded to evaluate her. When we got there all I could do was cry, hug, and kiss my horse. The veterinarian had started an IV and gave the horse medication. I stayed as long as my dad would let me, but I didn’t want to leave her side. I promised Be...