Two abandoned horses found starving

EDGEWOOD, N.M. (KRQE) - Two starving and injured horses have been rescued in Santa Fe County after being abandoned in a field where they were left to fend for themselves.

Members of the Walking N Circles Horse Ranch and New Mexico Horse Rescue who picked up the horses said one of them, a mare in her 30s, was near death when they found her because of her lack of ability to feed herself.

"Her front teeth are worn down," Ranch Manager Colleen Novotny said. "Her back molars, there aren't any back there. There's nubs."

The mare, affectionately named Eleanor after Eleanor Roosevelt, is now being fed alfalfa in a soup form. It's the only way to get the mare nutrition, Navotny said.

Eleanor was so thin her ribs and hip bones are now protruding. She is also lethargic and having trouble seeing. Veterinarians estimated she is about 300 pounds underweight.

Along with Eleanor, rescuers found a gelding with a badly injured knee. He was able to eat but like Eleanor had no water.

Navotny said the horses drank several buckets of water immediately after being rescued.

While the New Mexico Livestock Board works to find the person who abandoned the horses, workers at New Mexico Horse Rescue are doing their best to nurse the horses back to health.

They said they will have to reevaluate Eleanor in another week to see if more treatment or euthanasia is the best option.

Novotny said unfortunately they are seeing more and more cases like this.

"We are overloaded," she continued. "We have 68 horses. Because of the hard times people are having, we get four to five calls a day"

Novotny said she doesn't know how many more horses she can take and is looking for people to adopt the animals that are well enough. The rescue outfit says it could also use volunteers or donations.

More information is available from the Walking N Circles Horse Ranch website.