The heartbreaking end to Barbaro’s saga was all too familiar to those who love horses, but the true meaning behind the story is uplifting and, as Roy Jackson (who owned Barbaro with his wife, Gretchen) says, full of positives and inspiration. On behalf of those closest to Barbaro, I would like to take this opportunity generously extended by The Horse to share some of the encouraging lessons we have learned. First, the horse-loving community is vast–both in numbers and in warmth and kindness. For the past nine months, we were fortunate enough to receive innumerable supportive notes and phone messages as well as the many tokens of appreciation and affection–flowers, food, cards, toys, poems, and, of course, prayers.

Second, the healing connection between animals and humans–in this case, a horse and people–goes beyond those who consider themselves horse lovers.

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, there is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a person. This very public story–even in our state of constant news coverage and nonstop Internet connectedness–remarkably allowed us to see the deep personal connection people felt.

The get well messages, followed by the wrenching condolences, on the Barbaro message board showed just how much people were brought together by this story that was stunning in its breadth and intensity