Wedding parades in Tunisia involve equestrian performances (known as fantasie) and often take place within towns and villages, sometimes on busy roads. Unfortunately, during one of these parades, Brahmi Sessi’s horse Helmi was injured. Thankfully, the SPANA team were on hand to help.
Brahmi and his horse Helmi were working together at a wedding parade to earn a small income for his family of eight, when poor Helmi was hit by a car. Brahmi and Helmi didn’t even see the vehicle coming and the driver, who had lost control, ploughed in to them both, throwing Brahmi to the ground.
The accident could have killed them but although Brahmi escaped unscathed, poor Helmi wasn’t quite as lucky. The horse was alive, but bruised and battered with a badly broken jaw and missing teeth. Although he was shakily standing on his feet, it was clear he was in shock.
Brahmi immediately brought his horse to the SPANA centre in Kasserine where vets got to work quickly to decide a course of action. After giving Helmi painkillers and sedating him they were able to secure his jaw into a position that aided recovery and relieved his discomfort.
The team gave Helmi antibiotics and insisted that he stay in the SPANA stables until he was fully recovered. Because of the extent of the injury it took more than 40 days to ensure that Helmi was completely healed and free from pain. Once recovered, he was discharged to his grateful owner who couldn’t believe his horse had survived the traumatic ordeal.
SPANA vets also let Brahmi and his family know that Helmi was to be fed soft food and greenery for the next month to rebuild strength in his jaw. With time and care, Helmi will return to normal and can put the terrible accident behind him, thanks to SPANA’s emergency intervention.
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