Pacman was born wild and free on the Salt River. The Salt River Wild Horse Management Group quickly logged his birth date 4/2/2016 in the wild horse app and called him Pacman (for the mark on his forehead that literally looked like the Pacman from the old games!)

He roamed happily with his family on the banks of the river, until something bad happened to him! No one knows exactly what, but one day Pacman was found all alone by some compassionate hikers. They instinctively knew something was very wrong with him and they immediately called the SRWHMG emergency number (480) 868 9301. We are so thankful for all our supporters that love and care about these horses as much as we do, and for all the extra eyes on the river.

It was getting dark, but with our field team covering a lot of ground and the hikers showing the way, he was found whinnying for help. Looking at him, even in the dark, it was apparent that he was close to death. At the vet, the news was unbelievably bad. Pacman’s diagnosis was:

• Severely infected puncture wounds all over four legs, he could not stand on his left hind leg
• His blood work came back so severely septic
• His left lung was filled with fluids from severe pneumonia.
• He had a bellybutton infection.
• Heat stroke and dehydration.
• He had a large bone abscess in his left hind hock.
• His little hoofs were growing in the wrong direction.

Our hearts sank, the recommendation was to euthanize him humanely to help him out of his suffering. But we know that wild horses are very tough, and we do not take those kinds of decisions lightly. When little Pacman got up and begged for some milk, we decided against the vet’s recommendations.

Pacman celebrated his 8th birthday April 2nd, and he is healthy, happy and enjoys life with his buddies Rosco & Diamond.

If you would like to sponsor Pacman, please visit his sponsor page. Sponsor a Salt River Wild Horse