10-Year-Old Verona Girl Healing Her Heart Saving Horses After Losing Hers

There's nothing quite like losing your best friend. It leaves a hole in your soul that's hard to fill.

10 year-old Isabella Grace Kullmann lost her pony Firefly unexpectedly and it left a hole in heart. "I got Firefly before my second birthday so I didn’t know life without my best friend," said Isabella. "She helped me through a lot of changes in my life and when she passed away I was lost."

Firefly was not just there for Isabella. She also assisted children with special needs at Silent Hooves Farm in Verona. "Firefly and Isabella helped build confidence in many little kids," said Isabella's mom Alexis Peters. "Their bond was incredible and one that you only read about in books. She had goals for her and Firefly, but sadly those dreams have been cut short."

Isabella now has new dreams. She's healing her own heart by helping save others with the Firefly Fund, a program that helps horses get well. "Starting this charity has helped me cope from the loss of my best friend. Life isn’t the same without Firefly here now, but my heart doesn’t hurt that bad when I can help other horses in memory of her."

All money raised through the Firefly Fund will be used to help horses with unexpected emergency vet bills. "Our vet bill was $6,000," said Peters. "Our veterinarian Dr Micheal Miller with Oneida Equine Associates helped Firefly a lot and has saved many horse’s lives in our barn. He'll be matching donations."

Decals are being sold to raise money for the Firefly Fund. "I hope raising enough money will help my goal of helping as many horses as I can with unexpected emergency vet bills," said Isabella. "I hope our community can come together as one and help me reach that goal. If we can do this together we can move mountains."

The decals are $8.50 and come in all different colors. "I’ll also have a local horse cookie business called Equine Temptations making horse cookies with my charity name on it and any cookies sold a part of the money they make from selling them will go to The Firefly Fund," said Isabella.

Anyone who wants to buy a decal or just give to the Firefly Fund, can reach out to Peters on Facebook or visit the Firefly Fund Facebook page.

"I know Firefly would be proud she’s still living on through helping other horses and ponies that went through what she did," said Isabella, who has even bigger plans to keep Firefly's memory alive. She hopes to write a series of books about her and Firefly's adventures and how she had to go over the rainbow bridge, in hopes of helping other kids cope with the loss of their beloved animals.