EC Blog – Sometimes the Billet Breaks

Sometimes the billet breaks.

It was her first rodeo. And the billet broke, the saddle came off, and she bit the dust. Literally.

When your ten year old dreams about racing barrels in a real rodeo, you don’t tell her she can’t enter the hometown roundup when it rolls around.

You might know without a doubt that she’ll get last place. You might know that people will laugh at the kid on the mule. You might know that she’ll be disappointed when she sees the official timer clock her “run” at close to a full minute, but you don’t tell her “no.” You don’t tell her that because of all those reasons she shouldn’t try. And you sure as hell don’t tell her she CAN’T.

So when she came out of that gate, I was ready for an exceptionally slow time and I was ready for the possibility that her geriatric mule might deem the situation unsafe and maybe even refuse to proceed, but I wasn’t ready for the billet to break.

So when that leather strap snapped in two about ten steps into her run and she bounced off into the arena dust, time stopped, panic gripped me, and my heart broke. But then, then I witnessed something that I’ll never forget. My little girl picked herself up, grabbed her hat, and smiled and waved at the crowd. She got back on that old mule bareback (that old mule who by now had deemed the situation absolutely and definitely unsafe for him and his girl) and proceeded to try to coax him to try again. A kind pickup man saw the need for a little support and proceeded to lead my girl and her concerned mule through the entire barrel pattern. She smiled. And she waved. And she was so grateful for the help.

The crowd cheered her on around every turn. They shouted her name and they clapped and whistled their support. When she made her way back to the stands, the neighborhood kids greeted her with hugs and congratulations. Adult friends and strangers alike encouraged her with kind words and admiration of her grit. And as I watched it all, I realized that I was learning a great lesson, and I hope that my daughter was learning it too.

Sometimes the billet breaks.

Sometimes you don’t make the team, you don’t get the job, or you miss the chance. Sometimes you get cancer, Grandpa dies, a marriage fails. Sometimes you fall short of your potential. Sometimes mental illness brings you to your breaking point. Sometimes people let you down, mistreat you, or abuse you. Sometimes the basement floods, and the power goes out and the car won’t start. Sometimes in life you are met with heartbreaking disappointment. Sometimes, the billet breaks, and it is up to you, to all of us, to choose what we will do.

Do we choose to get up, get back on, accept help and keep trying? Do we seek out and accept the grace and love from others? Do we try to keep smiling and waving through the challenge?

And then, then when it’s through, do we choose to cheer on, uplift, love and encourage others who might be down or breaking? Do we wrap our arms around them and tell them what’s good? Do we give them grace and admire their grit and cheer them on?

I won’t forget that I have that choice, and I hope my little girl remembers that too.

….

I’d never say that I’m glad that old billet broke, but I will say that I’m grateful for the lesson.

 

An EC Blog by Kelli Snider

 

 

Thank you to Kelli for allowing us to share this beautiful piece! If you have a blog you’d like publish on our website, please email it to us for consideration: Delores.Kuhlwein@EquineChronicle.com.