Austin horse defying all odds

(ABC 6 News) – Roughly a month before the due date of their new horse. Faye and Stan Rudsenske were told they needed to take their mare wasn’t doing well and the vet advised them to take her down to Iowa State.

Their mare was there for ten days and on May 19th mare gave birth to 24 days premature pony. The mare died during birth. The new pony named Gold N Halo hanging on for dear life. Faye says the odds of survival of a horse born 24 days premature are slim to none.

“But she was 24 minutes without oxygen or a heartbeat. During the process, they broke some ribs on her and she also had other issues,” said Faye.

Halo was put on a feeding tube and oxygen and doctors continued to monitor her progress around the clock.

Finally, after three weeks halo was off the feeding tube and oxygen, and eventually 6 weeks after she was born Faye and Stan were able to take her home. But the battle was not over. Not only did halo have huge bed sores and was still very underweight but the medical bills were 21,000 dollars. Not to mention one hundred dollars for every bucket of milk formula Faye and Stan continue to feed her to make sure she keeps growing.

Faye and stan maxed out their credit cards and dipped into their 401k and were able to generate over three thousand dollars from go fund page. But Faye says it was all worth it.

Halo is now doing well. She runs and plays all day and can’t wait for feeding time.