First Ride Post Eye-Removal Surgery

Seventeen days after Apache's eye was surgically removed, I hauled her over to the Edgewood Equestrian Park on a windy day, to ride her for the first time.

She was a little amped up due to the wind and the group of people in the distance working on an old barn shed in the Wildlife West Nature Park.

 



My first view of Apache's missing right eye as seen from her back.

My friend Ginny was actually the first person to sit on Apache's back post-eye removal surgery because I thought it would be a good idea for me to be on the ground walking beside Apache the first time she carried someone because she trusts me and feels safe with me, and I could gauge her comfort level as I led Ginny around and through the obstacle course.

It was Ginny's first time riding a one-eyed horse, which she thought was pretty cool. And it was her first time riding Apache, which she said she loved. She rides high energy warm-bloods who like to go, go! And Apache is very relaxing to ride and so calm and gentle.

But I was eager to get back on my Apache's comfy back again, so after about 15 minutes, I climbed up and it. felt. like. home. 

Apache and I, along with my tribe of dear friends, making our way over to the obstacle course.

Apache surprised me because she felt the same to me. She maneuvered over all of the obstacles as if she had two eyes still.

While Apache and I made our way through and over the obstacles, my friends worked with their horses on the obstacles, too.

Ginny had a heck of a time trying to convince her mare, Mimi, to walk through the pool noodles.

At one point, Mimi burst through the pool noodles and ran right into Apache's back side...hard! (You can see Apache's tail in the photo below)

Apache was so brave and solid under that assault. She barely even moved...just a few steps forward to move us out of the way.

Afterwards, Apache and I offered to try and help Mimi get through the pool noodles calmly and with a bit of humor......

Mimi was watching, so we had hope!

Of course, we went through both sides. And we did manage to encourage Mimi to walk through a little bit slower, but she didn't really like it.

Unlike my Apache, the One-Eyed-Wonder-Horse! Not much bothers her. And definitely not a bunch of silly pool noodles. haha!

My friends, Yvonne and Roxanne were working with Roxanne's horse, Shadow, who'd not fond of crossing wooden bridges. Yvonne's mare, Etta Bay is like Apache and not bothered by much at all.

Awww! Look at my beautiful Apache mare up on top! I love this photo also because my friend Yvonne was smiling and so happy for Apache and I that day.

My pretty Apache mare and I standing on the wooden bridge.

This obstacle was just a little tougher. We had to climb into the center, and do a tight circle without stepping out of that circle.

But we did it! And then stepped down gracefully...at least Apache did anyway! lol!

Meanwhile Ginny tried to convince Mimi that crossing bridges was fun. Mimi said, "No thank you".

Yvonne and Etta Bay

Apache totally surpassed all of my expectations and erased any doubts or trepidation I had about riding her again, after I had her eye removed.

I was over-the-moon happy! And so deeply proud of my beautiful, brave mare!

Apache is truly my heart horse and I'm so blessed to have her in my life.

Love! Love! Love!

Well, one thing is for sure. Having only one eye is not going to hold back my amazing Apache mare. No way!
I tell her every day that she is the best horse in the entire world. And I mean it, too! 

Onward and Upward on this new journey together!

Post Eye Removal Surgery ~ 14 Days Stitches Removed

Two weeks after Apache's eye was removed, I took her back to the Vet Hospital to have her stitches removed. It only took a few minutes and then we were on our way home.

Apache acclimated well to having her eye removed and acts just the same as she has acted for the previous 7 years I've owned her.

At first I was not comfortable about being on Apache's blind side and it surprised me that Apache preferred for me to stand on her right side. She often nosed me over onto her blind side and would 'check in' with me, by brushing her muzzle and face against some part of my body every minute or so.

I was fascinated that the eye socket hadn't already sunk in but instead almost looked as if she still had an eye underneath the skin.

She is still my sweet, affectionate Apache mare. But now she is also my One-Eyed Wonder Horse!

My Vet recommended that I wait to ride Apache again until after her sutures were removed...so......

To Be Continued.....

Post Eye Removal Surgery ~ Days 9-13

Just a few photos showing Apache's eye socket as it was healing.

Apache was scheduled to have her sutures removed at 14 days post-surgery.

Post Eye Removal Surgery ~ Days 1-8

One the way home from the Vet Hospital to bring Apache home after her eye-removal surgery, big wet snowflakes came falling out of the sky. When I woke up the next morning, I was greeted by a winter wonderland on April 28th!

There was about 8" of heavy, we snow on the ground...and coating everything it could stick to. Like my chicken coop.



I was relieved that I had checked the weather before picking up Apache and had brought up several sections of my portable camping corral. As per the Vet's instructions, Apache was not supposed to get her surgery site wet. Although the snow made that challenging because the wind had changed direction and blown in from the east, into the barn stalls.
Between the corral panels and Apache's fly mask I did a pretty good job at keeping Apache's surgery site mostly dry.

But Apache doesn't like being stalled and I rarely ever keep her stalled, so she was feeling pretty cooped up inside her small area under the barn roof.
At least she had a good view of everything.

I wasn't supposed to feed Apache much unless she continued to poop equal to the amount she was fed. The problem with that was that Apache doesn't like to poop in her stall. But it was cold outside and the best way to keep a horse warm is to feed them.

Apache's appetite was great, so I continued to feed her small amounts of grass hay and grass hay pellets mixed with applesauce and her powdered antibiotics, while I monitored her and listened for gut sounds.

But Apache would have rather been let out of her stall. haha!
She was a good girl, though. And thankfully, all that heavy wet snow melted by the next day. 

The Vet's instructions required me to check her incision site each day for any drainage or excessive swelling. Although, it was a bit shocking to see her surgery site for the first time, it was also a relief. Because it looked like the surgery was a success and the area was already healing.
This was taken on Day 4 after surgery.

Apache was a little sensitive at first about me being on her blind side and I had to continue to remind her I was there if I needed to do anything to that side. Sometimes she bumped her nose into me, but it was always very gently.

As soon as the snow melted, I removed the portable camping corral panels so Apache had a much bigger pen to move around in. Even though it had been 7 days since her surgery, I was a little nervous about letting her out into the main paddock which is just over an acre in size. There are many trees and branches and logs and even the fenceline and I could picture her hurting herself.
So, I asked my Vet if she recommended me letting Apache out during the day and she said "Absolutely!"
So, I did.

Apache was happy to be able to move about freely and eagerly went down my neighbor's shared fenceline to visit with her horses and alpaca.

I left Apache out all day to enjoy herself and acclimate to navigating her space with only one eye.
But quite honestly, anyone walking past my horse paddocks would have never known that Apache was a one-eyed horse. She moved around with ease.



The next day, I let the llamas out of their paddock and opened up both paddocks for Apache and the llamas to move about and explore.
The llamas are always happy when I let them into the larger main paddock. 
Catlinite is one handsome dude!



Apache tried to befriend them and hang out with them, but Cataleya would spit at poor Apache. Naughty Drama Llama!

Apache "helped" me repair some loose fence sections on the shared fenceline, but she made me a little nervous because she liked to rest her chin on my head or put me on her blind side. I was concerned that she might forget that I was still there and step on me or bump into me. But she never did.

Apache also enjoyed scratching her belly on this stunted juniper bush.

I'm so happy that my Apache is enjoying life again and just doing what horses do.

Emergency Enucleation Surgery

I am so grateful to my tribe for supporting me and caring about Apache and I during this very stressful time. While Apache was having the enucleation surgery, I left my truck and horse trailer at the Vet Hospital and my friends took me out for lunch where they tried to distract me from worrying about my sweet mare.
It mostly worked for a while, but my thoughts kept straying towards Apache and worrying if she was ok.

While we were at the restaurant, Apache's Vet called to inform me that the surgery was a great success and that Apache was doing extremely well. Her heart rate had dropped which meant that she wasn't in any pain anymore. The Vet also told me that Apache would be staying at the horse hospital barn overnight for observation and she advised me to bring a flake of hay and some of Apache's Timothy hay pellets to mix with her powdered antibiotics.
So, after picking up Apache's feed, we drove back to the Vet Hospital to drop everything off and visit with my precious Apache mare.

She was tucked into a cozy stall and was still groggy from the sedation, and her head was wrapped in bandages. She seemed very out of it and I didn't expect any reaction from her, but I still approached and stroked her and gave her a hug...or two.

But she surprised me when I spoke to her, by lifting and turning her head towards me and quietly nickering. I immediately knew I had done the right thing by her, because she wasn't suffering in extreme pain anymore. Her reassuring nicker and acknowledgment let me know that.

The Vet said I would be able to come back the next day after 11am to take Apache back home. I was relieved that Apache was staying overnight at the horse hospital barn overnight, just in case anything went wrong post-surgery.

I went home that evening, and at the wise advise of my friends, I took a hot bath, drank a glass of wine and went straight to bed. It was my first good night of sleep in a long time.

To Be Continued.....

Equine Eye Rupture

I felt a sense of relief and knew I had made the right decision for Apache as soon as I arrived at the second Vet's facilities. There were several helpful, and kind Vet Assistants to get us settled into the horse hospital and keep Apache comfortable and safe.

And most importantly, I realized that if Apache needed to have her eye removed, I knew that the first Vet was not up for the surgery. Plus that Vet does not have any overnight equine stalls for observation post-surgery, nor any assistants to help him with the surgery. And I was not interested at all in assisting a Vet with having my mare's eye removed. Assisting the first Vet with the Ocular Lavage surgery almost caused me to pass out.

The Vet arrived and gave Apache a sedative, so she could easily remove Apache's stitches and examine the damaged eye.

She immediately told me that the news was bad and that my suspicions were right.
Apache's eye had ruptured.
Her iris was even protruding outside of the eye.

No wonder Apache had been in such horrendous pain. Not even the pain meds were able to take any of that terrible pain away. The Vet also told me that Apache's heart rate was very high which revealed extreme pain.
There was only one realistic option to choose for Apache:
 Enucleation Surgery (Eye Removal Surgery)

The Vet and Assistants immediately prepared Apache for the Enucleation and told me they would call me as soon as Apache was out of surgery

To Be Continued........  

I Had a Bad Feeling

The ocular lavage was supposed to make things easier for both myself and my mare, but it seemed that every day there was a new challenge. I was supposed to be administering her eye medicines 4-6 times every day but that only happened for the first two days. After that, there were problems with the lavage tubing becoming pinched shut just above the port, followed by the port itself leaking. It seemed that every day, I was calling the Vet to come over and fix the lavage system.....and paying a lot of money each time. 

But worst of all, was that Apache seemed to be feeling more pain every day, even with the daily pain meds I was giving her, along with the powdered antibiotics that I fed her with applesauce through a syringe. She was starting to act a lot different than the calm, gentle, quiet horse I knew. Instead, her behavior involved spinning in circles, twitching on the right side of her face and neck, flinging her neck to the right, and pinning her ears. She even lost her appetite and barely nibbled her hay or pellets.

At this point I discussed, with the Vet the option of removing Apache's eye, again. I just wanted her pain to be over. But he wasn't comfortable with that plan of action and felt it would be better to save her eye at all costs, even if the eye lost most, if not all, vision, and even at the risk of her injuring that blind, or mostly blind eye, again, and even at the risk of future infections and more pain.

 

I cried every day as it broke my heart to watch her in so much pain. And I watched her a lot as I had driven my horse trailer up to the barn and set it up so I could sleep inside and be easily available to administer the meds to her right eye many times a day.  

But it got to the point that Apache wouldn't even allow me to administer any of the meds through her lavage system. She wouldn't permit me to touch her on her right side anymore. She even threatened to rear when I tried.

And then, when I checked on her that afternoon, during a storm, I noticed that her eye was oozing thick white fluid and the eye was greatly swollen. And most importantly, Apache was in terrible pain.

I immediately called another Vet, that I knew specialized in equine surgery, for a second opinion and I was told to bring Apache in the next day.

I don't know how I knew, but I had a bad feeling that Apache's eye had ruptured.

I felt a little disloyal for calling another Vet, but my job as a dedicated horseowner is to make sure my horse has the best care possible and everything is being done to help keep her healthy, comfortable and pain free.

And at that point, I didn't feel like the first Vet was doing any of those things. So, I needed to be pro-active and make some very tough decisions, and deal with any uncomfortable consequences later. 

Most of all, I just wanted my mare to not suffer from severe pain anymore.


To Be Continued....