CHINCOTEAGUE, VA - The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company had difficult news to share regarding one of their mares this week.
According to the Fire Company, the stewards of the wild Chincoteague ponies, volunteers discovered a downed mare in the marsh of the South End of Assateague Island unable to stand on her own around 7 a.m. Wednesday. The Fire Company says the mare, who had a foal with her, presented classic symptoms of hypocalcemia, a calcium deficiency in the blood.
The Fire Company says they luckily had a veterinarian and horse vet tech with them during the discovery and volunteers quickly began moving resources to Assateague in order to help the wild pony. The mare, identified as Wildfire, was reportedly stuck in the mud of the marsh and was kept as comfortable as possible as calcium was administered.
Fire Company volunteers say that while the calcium appeared to help, the mare may have been downed in the marsh for some time, and efforts were made to get her off the marsh using a makeshift sled. Once on higher ground, more medicine and IV fluids were administered as volunteers noticed the effects of Wildfire’s ailment returning.
At about 2 p.m., an archway was constructed to hoist the mare to aid in blood flow and getting the animal to stand on her own. Wildfire acted completely fine and even had an appetite during the ordeal and allowed her filly nurse, the Fire Company says, and wasn’t in any noticeable pain.
Towards sundown, volunteers say they attempted one last effort to raise the mare’s back with another arch for support. They were finally able to get Wildfire to stand but her back legs had not moved and she lacked signs of some normal bodily functions. Around 9:30 p.m., another calcium IV was attempted but still the pony’s lower end showed no signs of activity. In the interest of letting the animal and her foal de-stress and possibly heal, volunteers decided to let the animal rest and would return in the morning.
On Thursday, May 2nd, volunteers returned to find the mare suffering from the same issues. A veterinarian recommended humane euthanasia and the filly was taken safely to Chincoteague to the Leonard Farm. Wildfire was humanely euthanized, the Volunteer Fire Company said Thursday.
The foal was introduced to Esther Jane, another nursing mare who already had a foal. Luckily, Esther Jane allowed the newly orphaned foal to nurse.
“This is nothing short of a miracle and the silver lining of this whole incredibly difficult situation,” The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company said in a social media post Thursday.
“This process involved 4 different veterinarians, 20 hours of hard labor, and much help from our volunteers and cowboys. We thank everyone who helped get us the medicine we needed as it came from all over and the people who picked it up and brought it to us. We thank our initial team of vets all the way from Louisiana who took a boat tour and ended up having a once in lifetime experience. We also would like to thank DSC Photography who alerted us to a potential problem.”
The Fire Company says it is currently unknown what caused Wildfire’s ailment as there was no evidence of physical injury and no pain despite the symptoms of paralysis.
“We are incredibly saddened by this incident but are thankful for good volunteers and a very strong filly that was nurtured by its mother through the worst health crisis imaginable.”