AULT, Colo.— It's been six months since Winnie, Izzy and Roxy came into Morgan Ryan's life.
The three seemingly pregnant mustang mares were rescued from a kill pen in Oklahoma in October 2022. Since arriving to MoJo Acres Horse Rescue in Weld County, all three have made dramatic improvements — gaining a healthy weight, becoming more social and learning some basic training skills.
Denver7 | Gives
Seemingly pregnant horses rescued from Oklahoma kill pen now in Colorado
Roxy has taken the longest to come around, so she'll need some more time before she's adopted out, according to Ryan. She miscarried her foal roughly five months into her pregnancy.
"She's still really shy and wary of people,” said Ryan, owner of MoJo Acres.
Staff also learned that Izzy was not pregnant after all, and was instead just gaining weight. She’s learned some basic training and has a potential adopter lined up.
Ryan found Izzy's future family through Facebook.
"We just started talking, and she and her family are really excited to bring Izzy home at the end of May,” said Ryan. “You want to do everything possible to vet the people.”
Then there's Winnie, who is enjoying time with her new baby.
“Her name is Roisin," said Ryan. "It’s spelled kinda strange. It's Gaelic for little rose."
Roisin, nicknamed Ro, was born two weeks ago.
“Super healthy and strong and doing really, really well,” said Ryan. “Her mom's been a great protector for her.”
It'll be some time before the new addition is adopted out.
“We don't want to separate them too early. We want to make sure they're good mentally and physically,” said Ryan.
However, Ryan is considering keeping Ro at MoJo Acres.
"If she ends up fitting in here as kind of a lesson horse, something to educate people on, teaching groundwork with,” she said.
Denver7 | Gives
Viewers donate money to Denver7 Gives fund to help Colorado horse rescue
While it's only been six months since the horses arrived in Colorado, their road to recovery has felt long.
"You know, going back and watching the video of them just unloading here and still being terrified, they didn't want to deal with people,” Ryan recalled.
Now, the horses are more comfortable with human contact.
“When you open the door and they're whinnying at you — granted they're hungry, but they recognize what you've done for them,” said Ryan.
If you're interested in adopting one of the horses, you can connect with Ryan through her GoFundMe account.
Click here to go directly to the Denver7 Gives donation form then choose a campaign
Denver7 features the stories of people who need help and now you can help them with a cash donation through Denver7 Gives. One hundred percent of contributions to the fund will be used to help people in our local community.
Want more stories of hope and ways to help in your inbox? Sign up to get the weekly Denver7 Gives Email Newsletter 💌