Tammy loved horses. Every Sunday afternoon she would ride with her friend Jan in the hills.

Jan had two horses—Buttermilk, a big palomino, and Crackerjack, a pony. Tammy always rode Buttermilk, because Crackerjack wouldn't let anyone ride him but Jan. Most of Jan's friends had been bucked off him at one time or another.

The girls were good riders and often rode bareback. One day, when they were high up in the hills, an airplane flew low overhead, startling Buttermilk. The big horse took off around a corner at a full gallop.

Tammy tried a half stop—she held on tight to the horse's mane and right rein with her right hand, then slid her left hand down the left rein close to Buttermilk's head and pulled back. Tammy knew this was a good way to stop a running horse, but this time she pulled so hard she pulled herself right off! She landed hard and blacked out.

When she came to a moment later, she saw her friend running toward her, looking pretty scared. Jan was yelling, "Tammy, Tammy, are you all right?"

Tammy's neck and head hurt, and she wanted to cry. But she was a pupil in a Christian Science Sunday School and was learning to turn to God whenever she needed help. She knew that in truth she was God's spiritual, perfect child, and that God cared for her always and could never let anything bad happen to her.

So, instead of crying, she said, "I'm OK, Jan. Just let me rest here for a minute and catch my breath." Then, to give herself some time to think, she added, "Maybe you should get the horses."

While Jan looked for the horses, Tammy prayed. She knew that God is Love, and that meant He loved and protected her. He loved the horses, too, and could therefore never let one of them hurt her. She was learning in Sunday School to see herself always as the perfect reflection of God—free and well—rather than as a material person who could be hurt. This same truth explains why Christ Jesus could leave the tomb after people had tried to destroy him.

That morning in Sunday School they had been learning verse 10 from Isaiah 41: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

Tammy said this verse to herself now and considered what it meant. "Why," she thought to herself, "if God is upholding me, I can never fall out of His care. And my strength comes from Him, so I know I'm OK."

When Jan came back with the horses, Tammy was able to stand, and she asked Jan to help her walk over to where the horses were tied. She didn't think she could get up on Buttermilk, though, as there was nothing to stand on. She asked if she could ride Crackerjack home. Jan wasn't sure at first, but it did seem the best way to get back. It was much too far to walk.

Tammy wasn't afraid at all. "Didn't the verse from Isaiah mean I don't have to be afraid, because God will help me in every way?" she thought.

She talked quietly to Crackerjack, and he let Jan help her onto his back. Jan climbed up on Buttermilk, and they all started slowly home. It seemed to Tammy that Crackerjack was being extra careful where he stepped, to give her the smoothest possible ride all the way home.

Jan was amazed. "No one has ever been able to just ride him like that," she said.

But Tammy knew that God loved and governed Crackerjack, too. Mrs. Eddy explains why in Science and Health when she says, "God is the Life, or intelligence, which forms and preserves the individuality and identity of animals as well as of men." ^{Science and Health, p. 550.}

Tammy was able to go to school the next day, and two days later she was playing basketball in gym class.

She never stopped loving horses, and later she even took jumping lessons. Tammy had proved that she need never be afraid.

Healing experiences in Sentinel articles for children as well as adults are carefully verified.