FAXI'S CHRISTMAS STORY

This is about my horse Faxi. Faxi has always been a character. He has been misunderstood by others as well as myself. When I first bought Faxi we had a honeymoon period of a month or so. We went out on our own with no mishaps. I was oblivious to any fears he might have and therefore I believe my ease allowed him to be relaxed. It wasn't until I had my first runaway ride that things started to go downhill for him. I did not understand that he was just afraid. Unfortunately, the woman who had been hired to train him by his previous owners had done things to Faxi that were archaic, old school "training" methods and I believe she destroyed his trust in people. I did not understand how emotionally damaged he was. He had been pulled down with a Running W! At the time, I did not know exactly what this running W was and by the time I was told, I had already spent a one month trial period with Faxi. I was attached. He just has the greatest playful personality. He is kind hearted and without the fear and mistrust of humans that was instilled, I think in a horse way he would lay his life on the line for those he cares about.
Unfortunately, I am not guilt free as I added to Faxi's mistrust of people. I misunderstood his reactionary behaviour at times and didn't understand that I was adding to it. I became a nervous rider. I think he figured if I was scared then he was really going to be scared. Over time I did finally figure it out. The biggest job for me as a rider was to not get scared and/or mad. I also finally understood that it was up to me to figure him out and not look to the "experts" for opinions. Everyone has a different response from sell that horse to his hips are too high. I just came to understand that he lives with me and I know him. I have watched him become surrogate parent to my friend's orphaned 3 month old foal, even letting the little guy try to nurse. He protected him and was the best parent one could ever want if only he could have produced milk. When my mare had her foal, you could not ask for a better Uncle.
I slowly learned to enjoy his spunky and playful sides and when I would have before become mad=(scared),I now just laugh with him at his antics. It has worked wonders for both of us. I took up trick training with him along with lots of playing around in the field. ( I always have to be the cow). He loves to learn and is so smart. He runs to me when I call him. What is better than when your horse runs to you. Wow!
Thursday December 20th: I called Kelowna about Faxi yesterday morning and spoke with the Vet/Surgeon. He told me he had been thinking about Faxi and wanted to scope him again as there was so much blood the first time and he just wanted to double check, get a better look without so much blood flowing. After this second scope he called and told me that unlike the most usual area for a bleed, Faxi is bleeding from the outside artery which is more complicated and thus risky. From what I understand he will go in and tie off the bleeding artery and then needs to go in through Faxi's mouth, (vein). He said this is difficult to do sometimes and of course the longer they have to put him under anaesthetic the bigger the risk. Only that one side though. I hope he can make it. The operation will be done this afternoon and he will call me once Faxi is up on his feet again. He said about 7:00 p.m.
It all started on Monday morning. I went out to feed as usual and immediately noticed a slight dripping of blood from both of Faxi's nostrils. This was a shock but what made me realize that this was really serious was his lack of interest in the hay and slightly glazed-over look. One can always get a kick from one of the mares just for being Faxi but I knew more was going on. After calling my favorite vet, I recieved a right-on diagnosis, "Guttural Pouch Mycosis". Britt called the surgeon in Kelowna about doing a scope and with much wrangling of untarping the winter tarped trailer, realizing the insurance had expired 3 days previous, finding someone to look after my young grandson etc....... My friend and I headed off to Kelowna with Faxi. (Thank goodness for good friends who will drop what they are doing to hold a hand and give that extra support.)
This is the end of Faxi's story for the time being. It is 5:00 a.m. as I write this. 7:23 p.m. and I wait for my phone call from Grant to hear how the surgery went. I am very worried now. I lasted until 8:15 and decided to call rather than wait any longer. The surgery was done and Faxi was just back in his stall and "looking like a drunken sailor". I was so relieved that he had gotten through the surgery. It had been a challenging operation and now the recovery period is next.
Day 1 of post-op and things are going well. Faxi can't eat hay easily as his mouth is sore from being opened wide for the surgery and stiches in his pallet, he has a drain and large incision in his neck but I'm told his ears are perked forward. He is eating mash today and pooping which we all know as horse people is a good sign! What a week it has been for both Faxi and myself. I am fortunate to have a husband who is very compassionate about our animals and hasn't questioned the expense of this undertaking. I think I will be working a second job this spring but to save Faxi it is certainly worth it. The reason I am writing this is, one, because it gave me an outlet to sort out my feelings and what was happening, and two, to make others aware of the potential crisis a seemingly simple nose bleed can mean. We may only get this one chance to save our horse's life because even if the bleed stops temporarily, the second bleed may be fatal. There is lots of information about this illness on the web. Certainly worth checking out.
This is now 2 weeks since Faxi's surgery. He has been home since the 29th after spending 12 days in the hospital. He is slowly recovering and acting more himself all the time. So far so good but we aren't quite out of the woods yet.
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