Horse on the edge of death delivers miracle to rescuers who saved her

Nearing 30 years old, Wilma was starved and neglected to near death and dumped with her best buddy for slaughter. She and 20-something Howie awaited their executions on an Oklahoma kill lot until a local rescue said they could make room for three suffering souls.

Wilma and Howie were in the poorest condition of any horse saved by Swingin' D Horse Rescue, a 501(c)(3) in Coweta, Oklahoma. Both skin and bones and eaten up with arthritis, Swingin' D owners were bracing for reality - that the pair could not be saved, and that the best they could provide was a peaceful, humane death - together.

After months of feeding and treating the pair, Wilma especially was in so much pain, she could barely move. With knees the size of grapefruits, she had trouble bending her legs to lay down, so she was always on her swollen legs and feet. Staff at the 'D knew, since they'd been together for so long, through horrific abuse and exploitation no creature should endure, one could not live without the other. The trauma would be too much for their already frail bodies.

Then, as the 'D prepared to make arrangements to let Howie and Wilma go, the vet make a shocking revelation. Wilma was not JUST suffering from arthritis. There was a logical explanation for many of the symptoms she exhibited. But she was still so thin, and so advanced in age, her handlers never would have dreamed...