UPDATE: Aug. 31, 2010: Finyle has had some ups and downs these past two days. We are hoping and praying she will pull through...but it is touch and go. Please keep positive thoughts for this sweet mare. She deserves a good long life.

UPDATE: Aug. 28, 2010: Finyle and Miracle gaining weight

We weighed Finyle today. She came to us a mere 580 pounds and pregnant, and today (almost 3 weeks to the day) she is a whopping 660 pounds.

With the help and support of so many, Finyle and Miracle are doing amazingly well. Thank you all for your help with these two amazing girls.

UPDATE: Aug. 13, 2010: Finyle and Miracle doing well

With Finyle being as compromised as she is, our vet suggested we get a milk replacer for the foal. The mare may not be producing enough milk for the Miracle to stay healthy. We want to do everything we can to keep them both healthy and Finyle on the road to recovery and gaining weight.
The foal seems frustrated and may not be getting all she needs because Finyle is so malnourished.

It will be another challenge to teach Miracle that the milk replacer is better for her than her momma's milk.




UPDATE: Aug. 12, 2010: Miracle in the barn!

Finyle came to us only a few days ago and, as you can see from her photo below, she arrived in horrific condition. To make matters more difficult, she was pregnant, with only days left in her pregnancy. On the night of August 12, it became clear that the time had come.

"It was pretty exhausting for Finyle once she went into labor. We thought that the baby might have an easier time of it if mom remained standing, letting gravity do some of the work, but Finyle didn't have enough strength to deliver in the standing position.

Once in labor, she went down. One of our wonderful volunteers, Tiffany, came to help like she always does. She literally delivered the baby herself. We all cheered and helped a little but Tiffany was doing most of the work. Momma couldn't get up, the foal wasn't coming out and momma was zoning out. I wondered if she would go into shock. She didn't seem like she was aware of what was going on. No one said a word but thoughts of losing both of them crossed our minds as we watched the struggle. With the mare down, gravity couldn't help get the baby out.

Tiffany pulled and pulled again for what seemed like an hour to finally get the little one out. I am sure it was only five minutes or so but our hearts were beating fast from the anxiety. "Come on, baby, come on." Once the sack broke, we watched as the baby just seemed stuck part way out. She was breathing but would she stop breathing if she couldn't get all the way out in time? Everyone's eyes were welling up with tears when she was finally born.

It's a girl! At 11:30 pm August 12th, a miracle happened, she was born. Her name, "Miracle!"

Aug. 10, 2010: This is a mare we bought for $200. The owner did not want to give her up, as a matter of fact he wanted $300. At the horse sale, she would be worth a few dollars if that and would have been sent to slaughter. No one would have known or cared that she is pregnant.

It is illegal to send a late-term pregnant mare to slaughter, but in her body condition would they know or would they care, would anyone have stopped her from getting on the slaughter truck?


She is an Arabian. The owner said she is a Polish Arabian named Finyle. She may be in her mid teens. I am sure someone loved her along the way, they would be heartbroken to see her in this condition. She is sweet as can be.
She is a 1 on the Hennekke Scale and is pregnant.
The vet said she is due to foal within three weeks, but thinks within the next ten days.

She has gone down three times. There is no muscle on her body to help her get up. She is caring a foal, which adds to her ordeal of being starved and neglected. It is totally understandable why she cannot get up on her own and heart-wrenching to see her try.

It takes many ropes and strong people to get her back to her feet. We do not have a sling but we do know how to put together a make-shift sling and get horses up.

We will do everything we can to keep her alive during this critical time.
Donations accepted for her care and vet bills.