THE VIRGINIAN PILOT reports:

The Corolla Wild Horse Fund has rescued a foal from the wild after he was found struggling without his family.

At the end of February, the group learned that Brio, a horse born last summer, seemed to be alone.

“While he was understandably calling for his mother and the other horses, he did not seem to be in any immediate physical danger,” herd manager Meg Puckett wrote in a Thursday Facebook post. “Since he was technically old enough to be weaned, we consulted with the vet and decided not to intervene right away, and wait to see if he joined back up with the group that contains his dad Rocky, grandmother, and Betsy, who was also born last year. His mom was nowhere to be found.”

Brio at the Corolla Wild Horse Fund rescue farm after he was removed from the beach.
(Corolla Wild Horse Fund)

Last week, Brio’s dad Rocky and the rest of the family, minus his mother, were within eyesight of Brio several times, and he never showed any interest in them, nor they in him.

A few days later, caretakers found Brio becoming weak, lethargic, losing weight and wobbly in his back legs.

“It was clear that Brio was certainly not going to thrive on his own, and most likely would not survive,” Puckett wrote.

Fund workers caught him and brought him to their rescue farm in Grandy, where it was found that Brio had pneumonia and was very thin. He was started on antibiotics and has a follow-up appointment next week about his legs.

Puckett said they’ve already seen improvement, with Brio more alert and aware of his surroundings and feeling better in general. Read more of this story »