While orphan foals can eat by other means, Dr. Espy believes they benefit most from connecting with nurse mares. | Photo: iStock

Last year when birthing complications took the life of her mare, Nora Garza Uribe urgently needed a nurse mare for her newborn filly. So she turned to Facebook.

“It’s a scary thing when you find yourself with a helpless baby,” she said. “I bottle fed the foal every four hours, and someone was with her 24/7, but it wasn’t the same—she needed a mare.”

Now a year later, the filly, Xena, is