A good day gone wrong....

Sometimes I tell the girls something, and then I forget. It happens a lot. I will finish baking something and then one of them will walk in and say "You told me I could help with that". It's not that I try to leave them out, I just have so many things to do that I am just following my mental to do list without realizing that "this project or activity" would be fun for the princesses, and they were told they could help.

One of these situations happened not too long after we got our miniature ponies last fall. We went to the feed store to get wormer, and apparently I had told the oldest princess that I would show her how to worm a horse, and let her do one. I of course forgot this whole conversation....and wormed them alone one morning while the girls were still sleeping. Upon seeing the empty wormer package, she cried. She has this dream of growing up and running a horse farm, and she is relying on me to teach her everything I know. I had just wanted to mark something off of the to do list for today, and move on to the next.

With it being spring it is once again time to worm not only our new Halflinger, but our two minis as well. I promised myself, and her, that I would remember to show her. Two days ago would be the day. School work was completed fast to make a trip to the feed store possible. I let her help me pick out the wormer. We decided to get the expensive kind. Made us feel like we were taking better care of our animals I guess. ;-)

We came home with two little bags that cost and arm and a leg, and one excited girl. A whole tube of wormer will treat a 1,250 pound horse. We didn't need that much for our minis. They only way a little under 200 pounds. So I marked the weight on the tube, twisted the lock and told her how to administer it. I was holding the sweet little guys head to assist her in this learning process. It was like slow motion. I knew right away what had happened. The lock had not been tight enough, and she hadn't been told to just ease the paste in. Instead she gave it her all when she squeezed....and he got the whole tube. I let out a scream, stuck my fingers down his throat to try and pull out any excess paste, but he had already swallowed it. We ran in and called the vet and were told that he would probably be fine.

The next morning I had to be at work by 8, so I did my feeding chores early and went to check on the little guy. As soon as I made it to the horse barn I knew something wasn't right. Tippy, the new horse, who the past couple of days has not shown any signs of irritation at these little guys at all, was showing some now. Tom, the overdosed mini, was stumbling around like he couldn't see and was trying to nurse on Tippy. My suspicion is that he was doing this all night, for she hauled off and kicked him and sent him flying through the air. I knew he didn't stand a  chance if I left him in there. So I decided to put him in the chicken barn for the day. While I was leading him over it was obvious that he had lost his vision. :-(

All morning while I worked at the office I prayed. I prayed that God would heal him and one little girl in particular would not feel that she was to blame for this. As soon as the girls and I got home from the office we started our pony care. Lots of grass, mineral oil, water, but when he lost the use of his legs and kept falling over I couldn't take it anymore. We loaded him up in the back of my NEW CAR, and drove him to the vet. He was given a shot for pain and an anti- inflammatory shot to reduce the swelling of his brain. When asked if he was going to be okay I was not totally happy with the answer given. The vet didn't really know. The "expensive" wormer that I bought was a strong one that affects the nervous system. Some have recovered. Some have not.

I have my suspicions that he will recover, for I now the Lord loves that little princess as much as I do. And right now she is feeling a heap of guilt. I am feeling a heap of guilt as well. I should have showed her how to do the worming. I should have told her the dangers of giving too much. And on days like these I feel like I should have passed down my love for something easier to take care of....like a gold fish!!