What started as a tragic story Down Under ended happily when a dressage-caliber female horse “adopted” a newborn colt abandoned by its own mom.
In Victoria, Australia, last November, a gorgeous Dutch warmblood named Jazzabelle (or Jazzy) bore a stillborn calf to Melbourne-based breeder Sarah Brayshaw, who was subsequently grief-stricken by the ill-fated birth.
Brayshaw had known heartbreak sometimes accompanied her profession but was devastated nevertheless when it happened in her stable. The poor mother, Jazzy, then took ill herself and nearly passed away from a serious post partum infection.
Two days later, Brayshaw received a phone call out of the blue from Louisa Smith, advising that a client of hers, Leigh Church, also a horse owner, had a heartbreaking story of her own to tell.
Church has a mare named Black Betty, who not long ago gave birth to a tiny gypsy cob colt. The colt failed to latch on to mom to nurse, and the mare became distraught and angry with her tiny colt, ultimately rejecting him.
Sadly, they had to separate the colt from his mom.
Thankfully, Brayshaw picked up the phone that day. Smith asked whether Brayshaw would consider offering her disheartened Dutch warmblood the rejected gypsy cob.
She accepted Smith’s offer.
So, the pair of horse owners met up and both the mare and colt were introduced to each other—it was love at first sight for Jazzy.
The gypsy cob isn’t exactly a match for the dressage-caliber mare physically; he looks more like a “tiny fluffy puppy” than an elegant Dutch warmblood “leggy,” according to Brayshaw.
Yet, Jazzabelle’s maternal instinct kicked in, and she embraced the baby right away. Love truly knows no bounds.
“I’m not going to see him on the world dressage stage,” Brayshaw said. “But my heart is full for helping Jazzabelle, giving another foal life [and] doing something special unconditionally for another human being—a perfect stranger … who was also desperate to save her foal.”
“They definitely are the odd couple but it really is the most beautiful thing I have ever witnessed,” Church wrote.
The tricky adoption process was to be strictly supervised by an expert veterinary team.
Her hesitancy proved unfounded, though, as Jazzy was indeed head-over-heels in love with the colt—whom Church named Fury after the famous boxer, Tyson Fury.
The photos and videos she posted speak for themselves.
“I’m very happy to report that Jazzy [and] Fury are living their best life [and] continue to progress positively,” she captioned. “She’s one hell of a proud foster mum [and] he’s one hell of a fighter [and] character!”
