A long time friend and previous Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue adopter messaged us with a critical needs case in Mid-January.
A mare was posted for sale in Louisa, Kentucky. She was said to have a filly on her side, and they were asking $400 for her.
This was the image included in the ad posting. The filly wasn’t pictured.
The HOP supporter went back and forth with the owner trying to negotiate a way to save the mare without enabling the boy to feel that mare’s condition was acceptable.
Unfortunately, animal control isn’t especially effective in that area, and so asking for a visit wasn’t likely to yield results. More than that, though, our supporter didn’t feel the mare and filly would have much time to waste.
She negotiated a much lower price in the hopes it would make it harder for the teenage owner to purchase another horse, and we headed out to pick the pair up.
The mare was grossly dehydrated and underweight. Clearly, from the image, she was abused and despondent. Sadly, the filly was in critical condition. She was very near death. She was down frequently. She was a skeleton under her coat. Her manure contained piles of worms, and she was anemic. Her blood work suggested she may be in organ failure. She spent quite a bit of time on an IV following a middle of the night emergency vet call.
We really believed she would not survive. Pneumonia and Starvation in a baby does not cultivate much hope. She was only 4 months old and very stunted and so very thin. The weather was cold, and she seemed to have given up entirely.
They were named Ruby and Rose, quite aptly.
The shaggy, skinny little baby kept trucking day after day, proving we were wrong, that she had what it would take to pull through.
Mama was devoted and kind, and she let us continue to poke and coddle her baby to help get her well.
While it was far too cold for a bath, and while she smelled of urine and fecal matter to high heaven, she started to perk up.
Once Rose was sufficiently stable in a few weeks, we loaded the sweet pair up to go to our long time HOP foster mom who loves to rehab the momma and baby pairs.
Today, we are 5 months out from the rescue of Ruby, a lovely Quarter Horse type mare, and her Filly, Rose, a Tennessee Walking Horse cross gal (gaits all over the place).
The change is nothing short of Miraculous. We sincerely cannot believe the difference in only 5 short months.
To think this little horse nearly lost her life before it really began due to ignorance and sickening neglect is unspeakable.
#BECAUSEeveryHORSEdeservesaChanceataHappilyeverAfter
#SavingtheHorsesofAppalachia
To Donate to this lifesaving work or to become the sponsor of either of these beauties, visit here
To adopt Ruby or Rose, APPLY HERE
