Horse Illustrated Magazine

The Barnyard Sanctuary in Columbia, New Jersey rescues animals. On May 20, 2015, the animal rescue heard about two mini mares that were on the verge of being slaughtered. Staff quickly requested the help of donors so they could purchase the mares and bring them safely to the sanctuary, their Facebook page states. Two days later, they did.

One mare, a 15-year-old pinto, had a registered name of Subras Golden Girl. She was renamed deOro, which is Spanish for “of gold.” The Barnyard Sanctuary had no details on the 6-year-old grey Appaloosa. They brought her to the sanctuary and named her Starbrite. To their surprise, Starbrite gave birth to a filly last Friday, August 7.

“She is the tiniest little mini we have ever seen, too! Cute as a button,” The Barnyard Sanctuary wrote in a Facebook post. “She’s gray like her momma, but it’s obvious from her markings that dad was a paint. We named her Natane (pronounced Nah-Tah-Nay), which is Arapaho for ‘daughter.'”

According to The Dodo, both mother and daughter are thriving.

To see more of Starbrite and Natane, or to find out how to sponsor an animal at The Barnyard Sanctuary, visit their Facebook page.