Adopted foal brings a little bit of Magic to grieving mare

Willow was weeks away from foaling and her owner Lisa Wheatley had been keeping a close eye.

“On Sunday morning, I went out to do checks on all the horses, and found her with her baby on the ground,” said Lisa Wheatley, Willow’s owner.

The filly came 20 days early, too young to survive.

“We ended up letting Willow sit with the baby for the entire morning, letting her grieve,” said Wheatley. “It was one of the hardest things to watch that I’ve ever seen, watching her bite and lick the baby trying to wake it up.”

Wheatley took to Facebook in search of an orphan foal. Her post was shared hundreds of times and by Monday, Wheatley was in touch with a potential match: a young colt named Magic who had tragically lost his mom 24 hours after he was born.

“It was just a huge sigh of relief knowing that (Willow) wouldn’t have to suffer anymore and Magic would have a chance at life and a proper growth,” said Lisa.

Then, it was ‘go time.’

1:41 Maple Ridge firefighters rescue horse stuck in ditch

• Maple Ridge firefighters rescue horse stuck in ditch
• Horse Tale Rescue fundraiser
• Healing with Horses at Hinchinbrook

Previous Video

Next Video

Wheatley quickly reached out to the manager of Sunnyside Stables, Shaun Rathy, who had foaled out Willow before.

She drove Willow from her home in Strathmore, Alta., on Monday night and Magic arrived by Tuesday morning.

“It goes against mother nature to just put a new foal with a mare even if she just lost a foal,” said Rathy. “You have to basically trick the mare into thinking that she had that foal and then she’ll accept it right away because she thinks it’s her own foal.

“If you don’t do it right, it can take weeks for them to accept each other.”

But luckily for them, using Willow’s placenta on Magic took about 5 minutes for the pair to bond.

“I say it’s a match made in heaven,” said Wheatley.

1:33 Edmonton-area horse rescue at risk of closing

Rathy has helped around 40 orphan foals bond with mares, but this was Wheatley’s first experience.

“This was a huge eye-opener for me and a reminder that breeding horses is not all love and cuddles. There is a lot of grief and death that could happen at the odd chance, you never know,” said Wheatley.

It takes about six months for the little colt, Magic, to be weaned off by his adopted mother, Willow, and returned to his home.