Small-claims court (car-horse accident) Thanks so much in advance for your time and effort! Any input is greatly appreciated!

Yesterday, my dad was served with a notice stating that we are to appear in small claims court in Corunna, Michigan in early December. I should let you know before I begin, that I'm an 18 year old single mom and I live with my dad. About a month ago, my dad stayed at work so I was left at home with my baby. We had two horses so I had to feed them after my daughter went to bed (she was only 4 months old at the time). I went out to feed them at around 9 or 10 PM, then I noticed that the latch to their gate was broken and they were gone. Immediately I ran back to the house and had my neighbor watch her for me so I could go out looking for them. After a couple hours of intense searching, I noticed a bunch of flashing lights on a nearby highway (not a very busy one). I drove up the road to see one of my horses laying dead on the side of the road. Already bawling my eyes out, I got out of my car and began asking everyone "was anyone hurt?". A police officer told me that nobody was injured, and when I asked where the person was that hit him so I could make sure they were okay, he told me not to bother with it because she was pretty upset. I did eventually speak to her, and while I was still crying hysterically, I apologized but got no response from her. The officer tried to collect our homeowner's insurance information, but I didn't know anything about it and we couldn't get ahold of my dad, so I gave him my cell phone number instead. A few days later I got a call from the girl that was in the accident asking for our insurance information. Again, my dad was working so I told her I'd have to have him call her back when he could. A couple days later my grandpa passed away (who was actually the legal owner of the horse). Needless to say, we had too much going on at that time to be concerned about her car. My concern is, she only tried to contact us one time before taking this to court. This happened late on a Friday night, outside of a bar, in a construction zone. Therefore it was a well-lit area with a 45 mph speed zone. My horse had arthritis, so he couldn't move very fast, and it's not like he could have jumped right out in front of her. Also, I can't count how many times I've had to stop for deer on that road, and deer really will jump right out of nowhere. It's also obviously a good idea to be careful when driving by a bar on a late night like that, because you never know what could be going on. The tow truck driver that brought my horse home said that there wasn't a whole lot of damage done to her car too. This case is only going in front of a magistrate, so I don't think it's necessary to hire a lawyer. I did do some research though, and in Michigan we have comparative negligence, so if she was speeding, (which she must have been), could we get a portion taken off for that? After talking to some people too, I was even told that we should counter sue for the cost of our horse. I'm not sure I want to go this route, but I'd appreciate any input on this matter. I know that our horses shouldn't have been out, but I also know that it's hard to miss a 2,000 pound animal..especially under a street light. Would there be more negligence on our part since it was our horses that got out, even though it's not like we left the gate open? Also, I know courts are supposed to be unbiased, but would it matter that she was a young driver? (19 or 20) Should I try to bring some proof that my grandfather was the legal owner of the horse, or would that just come out of his estate? I'm going to try and get the police report this week to see if she was speeding, even though no cops witnessed it. (Personally though, I think it's pretty easy to conclude that she was.) Do you think we have a chance of the court ruling in our favor if we come well prepared? And if so, should we try to counter sue?? I'm really not feeling too good about our case right now, but I would appreciate any input on what we could do to help our case. Thank you