David, Joanne and the girls were visiting for the day. After dinner, we all drifted out to the barn to give each of the horses a carrot. When we got to Teddy’s stall, we were horrified to see that he had blood running down his face from his eye. Closer examination showed his lower eyelid to be torn. He had probably caught it on a nail head while scratching his head on a post. Action broke loose in every direction as I ran to call the vet, someone else went to get a clean cloth to try and stop the bleeding and the girls became hysterical.
Our good country vet came right away and a couple of stitches put Teddy right again. The one thing that stands out the most through this episode was that Teddy was the best of patients. He stood quietly and allowed Dr. Linguist to stitch his eyelid. Often when dealing with horses, if you can distract them, it is easier to do a medical procedure. There was no way to hide what was happening from Teddy, however, he trusted us and remained calm.
The trust and obedience of an animal as large as a horse has amazed me time and time again. They will allow themselves to be led anywhere, and to be handled in ways that might be frightening or painful. If they truly trust their handler, a good horse will do most anything asked of it.
I often think that we could learn a lot from the unquestioning obedience of a horse. They put themselves into our hands and trust us to do what is best for them. This is what we should always do with our lives -put ourselves into our Father’s hands and trust that He will do what is best for us.
“Trust in the LORD and do good: dwelling in the land and enjoy safe pasture” (Psa. 37:3 NIV).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One