VIDEO: Abandoned Baby Horse Sleeps With Teddy Bear

A foal named Breeze was abandoned by his mother. He was just a few hours old when farmers discovered him in 2013 and brought him to the Mare and Foal Sanctuary. Although the sanctuary staff was treating him well and feeding him, they could not replace the affection a mother provides. Breeze became depressed during the nighttime, not having his mother to snuggle beside. He was unable to sleep. To help him cope, a massive teddy bear was provided for him and the sleeping problem went away.

Here is some information on how foals develop, provided by Wikipedia.

Healthy foals grow quickly and can put on up to three pounds or over a kilo a day. A sound diet improves growth and leads to a healthier adult animal, although genetics also plays a part. In the first weeks of life the foal gets everything it needs from the mare’s milk. Like a human infant, it receives nourishment and antibodies from the colostrum in milk that is produced within the first few hours or days following parturition. The mare needs additional water to help her produce milk for the foal and may benefit from supplementary nutrition.
A foal will be able to run alongside of its dam within a few hours of birth.
A foal may start to eat solids from ten days of age, after eight to ten weeks it will need more nutrition than the mare’s milk can supply; supplementary feeding is required by then. It is important when adding solid food to the foal’s diet to not feed the foal excessively or feed an improperly balanced diet. This can trigger one of several possible growth disorders that can cause lifelong soundness problems. On the other hand, insufficient nutrition to mare or foal can cause stunted growth and other health problems for the foal as it gets older.

Read Breeze’s full story below, provided by rtds.org.

Breeze, a horse foal, was abandoned by his mother. The pony was discovered by a few farmers, who brought him to The Mare and Foal Sanctuary in 2013, when he was just a few hours old.
The baby couldn’t find his mother and was caught by the farmers suckling on their mares to try and find her.
“When members of the Sanctuary’s team arrived at the scene, Breeze collapsed and was in a state of severe shock and dehydration,” said Syra Bowden, executive director at The Mare and Foal Sanctuary.
Without his mother, Breeze was left malnourished, missing the vital nutrients she would transfer to him. Although sanctuary staff could feed him, they simply could not replace the affection a mother would provide.
Breeze became depressed during the night time. Typically a foal would snuggle beside his mother, left without one, he became a bit of an insomniac.
In order to help him cope, the sanctuary provided Breeze with a massive teddy bear. Breeze was instantly able to sleep like the baby he was.
“We always give our orphaned foals a giant cuddly toy as a companion,” Syra said. “They’re just like human babies in the way it provides them with comfort.”
Breeze was able to nursed back to help successfully, and thanks to Good Samaritans every orphaned horse will have a teddy bear to cuddle up to.

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