As many of you know, almost one year ago, I pulled 13 slaughter bound mares with foals on their sides from the kill pen. This has turned into a huge project as the mares with babies on their sides were all in foal when I purchased them. The pregnancies brought the total from twenty-six to thirty-nine Mustangs. I’m currently working on establishing a 501c3, Arizona’s Angels to complete a barn build for the mustangs in Colorado and get these guys' stories out there. I have covered feed, board, and medical care of these horses personally up to this point because I’ve felt called to do so after learning about the ongoing genocide of these wild horses happening in the Midwest. All of the mustangs are thriving other than Ms Ruby.

This particular red mare we call Ruby has a unique story. She came in with the Mustangs and was roaming with wild horses in Arizona but it seems she’s been dumped. She is sweet as can be and the only mare in the group that was okay with being approached and haltered which means one of two things: she is either exceptionally smart and sick and knows that we are trying to help her or she was someone’s horse at some point. She is around 20 years old and she has a tooth infection that makes it difficult for her to eat. We were making moves to get her into surgery until we found out she was gonna foal out again. At that point, it’s too dangerous to sedate mom so the vet told us when the new baby is one month she’d be strong enough for mom to come in and do her surgery.

The tooth stayed relatively the same through the pregnancy but her cheek was very enlarged and swollen. I brought her to a lady called Brianna who has a lot of experience with Mustangs to foal out. She had a precious filly at Bri’s place we’ve called Hope. Miss Hope has gotten strong but mom is still weak and underweight. The vet just cleared mama for an extraction this coming Monday. She’s getting ready to go, practicing walking on a lead, etc. This is a risky surgery, but it’s a matter of life or death for this girl. She has no body fat on her just for herself but especially since making and sustaining life back to back. Our hopes for Ms. Ruby are a speedy recovery and improvement in her health so that she can live a long healthy life. If all goes to plan she will be back on track learning skills to be our first therapy horse. I’m asking for your help with this surgery today but I appreciate you caring enough to take the time to read their story if you are unable to donate. Thank you!!!! Isabelle