Hannah Montana and Tinkerbell are the newest staff at AHDF. These two tiny foals have a big job, to represent the AHDF as our mascots and later they will serve as Ambassadors and educators on many of the AHDF's issues.
Hannah Montana and Tinkerbell are nurse mare foals. This means that they were seprated from their mothers at a very young age and are being fed milk replacement and special grain several times a day.
The nurse mare industry is a small and little known issue in the equine industry. A brood mare's job is to deliver foals to supply the equine industry. When the mare is from an excellent bloodline or from a racing or show background gives birth they either must get back into shape for the show season or they are immediatly bred back. This means they have to be shipped and due to insurance restrictions their foals often cannot accompany them. This means they need to be nursed by another mare. These less expensive mares are bred so they will have milk and they are seperated from their own foals so they will accept the new foals. Their own foals used to be killed for their skins. Pony skins are used in the fashion industry. Today more and more of these nurse mare foals are rescued by organizations.
Hannah Montana was less than 2 weeks old when seperated from her mother and Tinkerbell was less than a month old. The AHDF decided these foals deserved a chance and they are at a foster home receiving intense care. Now the girls are thriving and developing personalities. Hannah is now nearly 3 months old and Tink is almost 4 months old. They are getting lessons in leading, lifting their feet and learning manners.
Please watch here for future updates on our little mascots.
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