- A severely malnourished horse who was left in the Arizona desert was finally rescued.
- The former racehorse was found in the worst circumstances, prompting authorities to track down her abusers.
- Blessing, the rescued horse, is now being taken cared of at Hope Ranch Arizona.
A severely malnourished horse found wandering around the desert near Gila Bend found a new home after a Buckeye ranch rescued the starving animal.
Misian Cory, the operator of Hope Ranch Arizona, took in the stray horse and is in the process of nursing her back to health by feeding her electrolytes and supplements.
“This is probably the most heartbreaking rescue that we’ve done,” she said. “I’ve never seen one that bad.”
Locals alerted Misian about the emaciated horse walking alone in the desert.
Misian and a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office deputy went to the desert to find the horse. They immediately gave her a bucket of water when they found her.
They brought her back to Buckeye, bathed her, trimmed her hooves, and took her to a veterinarian.
Misian thought the horse wouldn’t survive through the night because it appeared like she was hours or days away from death.
“She has zero body fat,” Misian said. “When you see her in person, it’s literally a walking skeleton. I don’t know how she made it this long honestly.”
But the horse survived. It was a miracle, Misian now calls her Blessing.
Now the ranch will begin the process of slowly easing Blessing into a normal diet by first feeding her about a quarter of what horses typically eat each day.
“You can’t feed her too much because that can also harm them when they’ve been that starved,” Cory said.
Hope Ranch, which looks after up to 20 rescue horses at a time, is also looking into who may have previously owned Blessing before she was found in the desert.
Misian said there’s a tattooed number on Blessing’s lip, which suggests she may have been a racehorse at some point.
She hopes those who dumped Blessing in the desert be prosecuted for animal cruelty.
“If you can’t take care of an animal,” Misian said, “then just surrender it to a place like us.”
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said it’s currently investigating Blessing’s possible abandonment.
Hope Ranch is accepting donations that will go toward’s Blessing’s medical expenses. The ranch is hoping Blessing may recover enough to someday be trained to provide equine therapy to young people.
Source: NBC12 News