PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The horse community is a tight-knit group — and one locally-based rescue is proving just that by helping an orphaned filly thrive after its mother died.
It was a cold, foggy night back in January when Dusty Calcagno and Jeanette Franzen from Oregon City’s Arabian Horse Rescue drove 3.5 hours to Oakland, Oregon to rescue a 1-day-old filly. The filly’s mom had died after giving birth from a prolapsed uterus.
“This is our first experience, she was very sick when we picked her up,” Calcagno said. “She was septic, so she had a 10-day round of antibiotics and she was dehydrated and weak… but she came through it.”
They knew the filly, now called Manzi, would need a mom.
Supporters of the rescue from Prineville had just the mare for them — an Arabian horse named Claire. That’s when a veterinarian stepped in to further help the pairing be a success.
“They give them medication that simulates contractions, then after a period of time, they slowly introduce the baby to the mama, and the mama thinks she actually delivered the baby,” Calcagno explained.
It worked. The rescuers watched Manzi start to thrive as both she and Claire took to each other.
Franzen says these cases are usually with a mare who’s just lost a baby and a baby who’s lost a mom. She said she’s never seen a pairing like this.
“The fact that she was strong enough to make it through and then Claire and her took to each other, it was pretty amazing,” Calcagno said. “It wasn’t hard at all.”
Manzi will eventually be adopted out.
The Arabian Horse Rescue has saved 175 horses from all types of situations, but many times, they’re saving Arabian horses from being bought and shipped to Mexico, where they’re sold on the meat market. For more information about the work they do, visit their website.