Rescued horse has surprise baby on a Millstone farm BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer A horse rescued from slaughter and later named Reba turned out to be pregnant and had a baby on a Millstone farm at 12:05 a.m. on April 29. Here, Reba is pictured with her foal at 1-minute-old. MILLSTONE - A four-legged bundle of joy arrived just after midnight April 29 at T. Eileen Munyak's farm on Stagecoach Road. The foal almost didn't make it into this world as its mother was rescued just a few weeks prior from an auction where she would have likely gone to slaughter. Barbara Luna, the executive director of Rerun, a national organization that helps find second careers for retired thoroughbred racehorses, had found out through a mass e-mail about the plight of a group of horses at Frank Carper's Camelot Stable auction in Cranbury. According to the e-mail, the horses had reportedly come to Cranbury from Gulfstream Park in Florida and were reportedly on their way to the New Holland, Pa., auction and possibly to slaughter. Because Camelot Stable is close to the stable where Luna boards her own horses, she went to check on the group. "Most of the reports [in the e-mail] were unfounded, but upon leaving, I saw 'Reba' in a pen with a fat little quarterhorse, and since she was emaciated and filthy, I asked Frank about her," Luna said. She continued, "He confirmed that although the previously mentioned horses were to be sold as riding horses, the mare was 'probably going to a bad place and headed to Kentucky' the next day." Munyak, who also received the mass e-mail, offered to house the mare. ReRun has enough on its plate placing retired racetrack horses, Luna said, so the organization usually does not purchase or take in older horses that are not directly off the track. However, the organization made an exception for Reba. Luna and Munyak bought Reba from Carper and brought her to Munyak's farm in Millstone. ReRun offered to pay for the horse's feed and any veterinarian bills. The organization also decided to adopt her out through a ReRun contract when she got better. A ReRun contract ensures adopted horses never end up in danger of slaughter or abuse, Luna said. When Luna and Munyak took Reba in, they did not know the horse was expecting. Luna and her daughter, Janna Foster, cleaned Reba up as soon as the horse got to the farm. While Reba looked like she may have had a foal at one point in her life, the horse was so thin, that they didn't guess she was pregnant. Munyak called Luna a few days after Reba's arrival to tell her the mare was expecting. "Suddenly what I thought was a belly full of worms started rounding out into a foal belly," Luna said. Veterinarian Ron McAllister confirmed the pregnancy and discovered she only had four to six weeks left before she would give birth. "Poor girl, she had been giving all of her nutrition to her foal since she apparently was not getting fed much wherever she had been," Luna said. The mare's racing tattoo, located on her upper lip was readable, so Luna researched it. She discovered Reba is actually a Jersey-bred 14-year-old that once went by the name Princess Ruffles. The mare raced at Monmouth Park in Oceanport over nine years ago. "We named her Reba before we knew that, because she is a tough little redhead, like Reba McIntyre," Luna said. Luna also discovered that Reba was bred just down the road from Munyak's farm and was sired by the now-deceased horse My Prince Charming. Since the person who bred Reba lives in Howell, Luna said her gut feeling is the horse never left this area since birth. Luna said she is trying to contact Reba's breeder to see who the mare had been given or sold to and to say what kind of condition the horse was found in. "She is a small, but well-put-together mare, which was apparent as soon as we got the dirt off of her and she had some of Eileen's TLC and good food," Luna said. Luna said the mare's Jockey Club breeding records show no live foals, so it is a mystery where and to what horse she was bred. "The foal is perfect - a very pretty filly," she said. Munyak said after Reba weans her foal, she could be adopted out as a riding horse. "She's a very sweet mare, but right now she's a concerned mom," Munyak said. Luna said ReRun would wait a while before putting Reba and the filly up for adoption, as they are considered special needs horses. "We'd love to get some sponsorship for her care, however, as her vet bills are high right now," Luna said. "It is all tax deductible and would be of great help to Eileen and ReRun, as we have others to take care of." A lifelong horsewoman, Luna said, "Hopefully, this will show people that organizations like ReRun deserve support until there is a better answer to the unwanted horse issue." Luna said Carper was very helpful and even answered dozens of phone calls regarding the plight of the group of horses. For more information about helping Reba or horses like her visit www.rerun.org.