Sometimes prayer comes without words. This happened to me recently when my senior horse, CC, tripped and fell in her stall in a tight place close to the wall, where she was unable to rise on her own. When I got to her, she was lying on her side and her breathing was unsteady. This kind of situation can be fatal to horses, as they sometimes struggle to the point of exhaustion.

I crouched by CC’s head and reached out silently to the Divine. Pushing fear aside, I just listened. The response was a deep certainty that Life is God—that it just is, that it is continuous, and that that is enough. God is enough. With that, I knew my horse would be—in fact already was in that moment—just fine. 

My husband, who was with me, had the idea to use a horse blanket. CC rolled up onto her belly enough that we could slide the blanket under her before she rolled back down onto her side. Gradually, we were able to pull her away from the wall using the blanket and then lift her head and chest up and around, a little at a time, until she had enough room to extend her front legs. It took her a moment to realize her changed position. Then she immediately got up and walked with purpose to the stall doorway. We laughingly asked her to pause so we could get back on our feet before taking all the horses outside for the day.