Horse Illustrated Magazine

We never expect tragedy in our own lives. We may even think that it could never happen to us or someone we know. But when it does, oftentimes it hits us hard – sometimes harder than we ever would have expected.

For Amanda and Maya Loving, teenage sisters from Texas, that tragedy came in the form of a car accident in December 2014. Two students the girls knew, 16-year-old Terry Kubala and 17-year-old Trent Weber (who also happened to be Amanda’s first boyfriend in 8th grade) were killed when the pickup truck they were in flipped over, KHOU reports.

“No one stops thinking about it,” Amanda told KHOU. “No one.”

The tragedy left Maya with intense anxiety, depression and panic attacks. “When people my age started dying, it was just, like, unreal to me,” Maya said, according to KHOU.

The girls’ mother, Patty Loving, added, “I think the core of it was realizing that young people can pass away and that accidents happen and you’re not safe.”

Seeking a way to get through this difficult time, the family turned to Romeo, a 12-year-old paint. Equine therapy proved very helpful to Maya. “I wouldn’t be thinking about anything but riding. I would be focused. Like I could breathe. No anxiety, no depression. I just felt like safe,” she told KHOU. “I’ve gotten a lot better.”

Equine therapy has helped Maya so much, in fact, that she’s competing in the horse show at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in both Western and English classes.

And as for Amanda, Romeo has helped her as well. The horse who made such a big difference in the Loving sisters’ lives inspired a song. Amanda will sing it the rodeo’s Stars Over Texas Stage.