Grieving Mare Camy Gets a Second Shot at Motherhood Thanks to an Orphaned Baby Colt
“I am so blessed that she gets this opportunity to heal. It’s been a devastating time for everyone, but this absolutely helps mend our broken hearts.”
Some of the most tender stories begin with heartbreak.
Camy, a Thoroughbred mare, and a newborn colt named Arlo both experienced deep loss before they ever met. But what happened when they were brought together is proof that even in the animal kingdom, some sad stories have happy endings.
Camy was born in 2017. Her future seemed set for the racetrack, but a trailering accident in 2021 ended her racing career before it ever began. The accident left her with a battle scar on her right leg.
When one door closed, another opened. In 2023, Camy arrived at Never Dull Farm, a small breeding operation run by Jessica and Stefan Houweling near Rimbey, Alberta, in Canada. She joined the farm as a broodmare prospect.
A broodmare is a mare kept specifically for breeding and producing foals rather than for riding or competition — and for Camy, it was the start of a new chapter.
Camy was in foal to Thatcher, an Irish Draught also known as In Shining Armor, and was due in April 2026. On April 17, she gave birth to what the farm described as “the most perfect filly.” But the filly was stillborn.
A grieving mare with love left to give
The loss was devastating for everyone at Never Dull Farm. Yet even in grief, Camy had something left to give.
Despite what she had just been through, she was cleared to become a nurse mare—a mother who could care for and nurse a foal that was not biologically her own.
What happened next came together remarkably fast. In less than 48 hours, Never Dull Farm received a message from a complete stranger. The stranger had a local colt who had lost his mom to birth complications. The colt’s name was Arlo.
“They rushed out, grabbed Camy, and she was immediately smitten with baby Arlo,” they wrote in a video shared on TikTok.
The connection between mare and colt was immediate. On Instagram, Never Dull Farm shared that Camy “instantly accepted him” and that it was “the easiest grafting that vet had done.”
According to the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, grafting “involves getting a mare that is not related to the motherless foal to accept and nurse it as her own.”
For Camy and Arlo, the process could not have gone more smoothly.
Camy and Arlo aren’t alone in their healing process
In the TikTok video, Camy and Arlo were enjoying some of their first moments together.
In the clip, a woman joked in the background, “He looks just like you, Camy,” a lighthearted moment, since Camy is a brown horse and Arlo is black.
But it was the farm’s written words that captured what this bond truly meant.
“They are learning this together, and I am so blessed that she gets this opportunity to heal. It’s been a devastating time for everyone, but this absolutely helps mend our broken hearts,” they wrote.
Camy might’ve lost her filly. Arlo might’ve lost his dam. But these two precious horses found each other—and in caring for one another, they began to heal.
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