Horse Illustrated Magazine

Remember the simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming story of Breeze the orphan foal? After being rescued by the Mare and Foal Sanctuary in England, Breeze was given an oversized teddy bear (named buttons) to keep him company and comfort him in his stall. Watch a video of baby Breeze snuggling with Buttons here.

That was just over three years ago. Breeze is now a full-grown pony, keeping his human caretakers on their toes at the Sanctuary. Recently, they decided to reunite Breeze with his favorite foalhood toy. It’s hard to say for sure if he remembered Buttons as the soft, reassuring presence from his early days as an orphan, but he certainly seemed happy to have the bear back.

“When we reunited Breeze with Buttons we could see how pleased he was,” says Mare and Foal Sanctuary deputy yard manager, Nicola Anstey. “There was a lot of sniffing and licking, then Breeze decided to give Buttons a tour of his new stable and carried him around by his ear. They then snuggled up together and Breeze snoozed the afternoon away.”

The result is the cutest role-reversal in history:

The Mare and Foal Sanctuary was established in 1988 in Devon, England, as a charity to rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome abused and unwanted horses. The sanctuary owns four separate facilities for retirement, rehabilitation, educating the public, and other functions. Find out more at www.mareandfoal.org.