We may experience any form of tragedy in this harsh world. Certainly the most agonizing is losing a loved one.

Then everything collapses and life feels so hard going forward. But sometimes a ray of hope breaks through that shadow in the shape of unwavering friendship that may mend even the deepest scars.

The story told today is proof of a kind of love so powerful that it can bring life back.

Traumatic Loss

Karla Swindle has never been able to hide her intense love of animals. This inspired her at one time in her life to start S & K Quarter Horses Farm in Fayette, Alabama, where she would take care of horses and other animals.

Over her many years of working with animals, she has heard a great deal of both joyful and tragic stories. One, though, stayed particularly imprinted on her heart.

A foal was born to a mare that was 22 years old one March day. Had the mare not become gravely ill and pass away just seven days later, it would have been another in a string of triumphant tales of mother and child love.

With the foal shattered by this loss and without a support system early in life, everything smelled like a catastrophe.

But in a totally unexpected turn, he received the love and support he so much needed.

Unexpected Shoulder to Weep On

Swindle took care to spend some time in the barn with the foal shortly after the mother passed away, providing her with all the help she needed to get through this difficult moment.

That evening, her dog Zip showed up out of the blue. Zip, to her pleasantly surprised, refused to go. He wanted to remain and sleep with Tye, as they would later name the foal.

He was moaning, Swindle claimed.Zip was obviously aware of something going awry that evening.

Zip genuinely believed Tye was suffering the loss of his mother and wanted to do all in his power to ease his pain.

That night in the barn, the only sounds were crying and whimpering because Karla was so moved to tears at seeing this. It was an original blend of happy and sad tears.

But that emotionally charged evening, not everything came to an end. As it happened, Zip wouldn’t let Tye out of his sight for the following six weeks, which was even more incredible.

Zip would sprint to the stall, stand in front of it and wait for me to arrive every time I would head to the barn, Swindle said.I would always be beaten to the barn by him.

He would nearly knock me down before I could enter, she said.He would go over there and rest his head on the foal if he were lying down.

And Tye was actually calm and content when Zip was around. For his broken heart, Zip was a balm.

Growing into a Gorgeous, Healthy Horse

Tye put on weight, developed into a stunning, healthy horse, and conquered all of the ailments that had dogged him in his early years.

Zip, his adopted father, was obviously proud of all of this and the main reason Tye was thriving.

As Tye now spends most of his time with his elder sister, learning how to act like a genuine horse, their paths inevitably diverged a little.

Zip, though, was content only that his favorite foal was headed in the right direction because he understood this well.

They spent less time together, yet a significant portion of their hearts continued to beat for one another.

Word of this heartwarming relationship story rapidly got around Fayette, but it didn’t end there. Karla instantly warmed thousands of hearts both in the United States and around the world when she shared a video of these two on her Facebook profile.

Whatever their differences, this dog and horse demonstrated to the entire world the strength of genuine love and friendship.