Tuesday, October 13, 2026
By Submitted Story on September 27, 2025
On Sept. 20, The Corolla Wild Horse Fund reported on an older stallion that was down, displaying signs of pain and discomfort, and seemed unable to get up. As a result, he was removed from the wild for veterinary treatment and was being closely monitored at the farm. (That post also debunked speculation on social media that the horse had been struck by a vehicle).
One week later, on Sept. 27, the Fund followed up with a detailed and largely encouraging update of his condition. Here are some excerpts.
JW has been slowly but surely improving in the week that he’s been at the farm. Our main goal for him right now is to make sure he is consistently eating and drinking, his bodily functions remain normal, and that he’s feeling settled and comfortable in his new home and around us. He’s been spending a lot of time resting, a lot of time grazing, and most recently, a lot of time enjoying getting scratches on his face and neck.
Our vet was over on Wednesday to do a recheck, and we elected not to do anything too invasive that would require us to restrain him since we’ve been so successful in gaining his trust, and because he has been consistently improving since we brought him in on Saturday
Late yesterday afternoon he passed a major milestone by drinking water out of the trough. It was cause for major celebration in the group text—if you have any experience with horses, you know what a relief it is to see an unwell horse take a big drink of water! He was pretty dehydrated when we brought him in on Saturday but is really doing much better now.
We are still very much in the “day at a time” stage with JW, but he has been steadily moving in the right direction, and we are very encouraged by his progress over the last six days. Like many of the other older horses on the farm he is going to require a high level of care and monitoring for the rest of his time with us, but we are well-equipped and well-experienced to handle that.
We could certainly use your help, though! The costs associated with keeping these older horses healthy and comfortable can get quite high. With JW’s addition to the herd at the farm, we will be going through more senior hay and feed, he will have on-going medical costs for the foreseeable future, we will probably need to order him some blankets for the winter. Your dedicated support means that we can roll with the punches as they come and remain confident that we will always be able to provide the lifesaving and life-supporting care that these horses require. There are lots of ways to get involved that will make a very significant difference in these horses’ lives: https://www.corollawildhorses.com/support-corolla-wild…/
