Rejected By His Mother, A Rare Wild Horse Foal Finds Love In A Grieving Mare

July 4, 2025

At the Minnesota Zoo, a heartbreaking beginning turned into a heartwarming new bond between two unlikely companions: a rejected wild horse foal and a grieving domestic mare.

Alice and Marat | Minnesota Zoo Foundation

Marat, an endangered Asian wild horse foal—one of only about 2,500 left in the world—was born on May 17 with limb deformities that made it hard for him to stand and walk, according to Dr. Annie Rivas, the zoo’s director of animal health.

“And because he was struggling to keep up with Mom in the herd, he was spending a lot of time lying down on the ground and unfortunately developed bacterial sepsis. So he was very, very sick,” Rivas explained.

After intensive medical treatment for both bacterial sepsis and pneumonia, Marat was stabilized. But when he was reintroduced to his mother, she no longer recognized him and refused to nurse him.

That’s when Alice entered the picture.

Alice, a gentle domesticated mare who had recently lost her own foal, was brought in as a possible foster. What happened next was nothing short of remarkable.

“She was still grieving, but immediately started nurturing Marat and allowing him to nurse,” Rivas said. “It was really kind of a perfect fairy-tale ending. ... They just bonded like that.”

Now, Alice and Marat are inseparable. She protects and nurtures him as if he were her own, and he continues to gain strength by her side. Though his infections have cleared, Marat still faces a long recovery ahead as he grows and works through his orthopedic challenges. The next four to six months are critical to his development.

The Minnesota Zoo is calling Marat’s birth a major conservation win. But his survival is also a story of second chances—and the healing power of unexpected love.