Needless to say, a foal can become orphaned for any number of natural causes, though tragic, this is part of nature’s process. Unfortunately, there are thousands of foals orphaned each year selfishly and senselessly. AAFER, Inc. is committed to rescuing orphaned foals regardless of their circumstances, however our primary focus will be to rescue Nurse Mare and PMU Foals due to their overabundance.

What are Nurse Mare Foals?

Nurse Mare Farms have been around for many years, but only recently has the public become aware of the details of how some of these farms operate….who benefits and who doesn’t.  A nurse mare foal is conceived for the sole purpose of bringing its mother into milk once it is born. Seldom are the nurse mare and her foal allowed to remain together and bond as the milk she is producing is to be used to nourish another mare’s “more valuable” foal. These “more valuable” foals are usually thoroughbreds. The gestation period for horses is 10-11 months, so a thoroughbred mare can give birth to one foal each year provided she is re-bred immediately after delivering a foal. The Jockey Club requirements stipulate that a thoroughbred mare cannot be artificially inseminated therefore she may have to be transported, as soon as 7-10 days after giving birth, to a stallion’s farm. The newborn racing foal is unable to accompany its mother because transporting it is far too risky, so a nurse mare is hired to raise the thoroughbred foal. The nurse mare’s foal is left behind, without anyone to feed and care for them, often to die or be slaughtered.

What are PMU Foals?

The PMU Industry manufactures medication to provide postmenopausal women with hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to offset the symptoms of menopause. This medication is derived from the urine of pregnant mares. There are some reputable PMU farms but there are also those that are not. Mares are impregnated and left for six or more months of their gestation period in standing stalls (some stalls are only three and a half feet wide) tethered to a “urine collection device” with little to no exercise or positive human contact. The mares are taken off their UCD just prior to foaling and allowed to foal in outside paddocks. Once again, the innocent foal is considered a byproduct often left to die or be slaughtered.

Regardless of whether it is a Nurse Mare or PMU foal, the outlook is mostly grim. The fashion and textile industry may use their hides as “pony skin” or they may go to the meat auctions, or resale agents, and sold to foreign countries that consider the meat a delicacy.