24 Hours from Slaughter: A Valley Mare Comes Home

Lisa Markley of Scottsdale, Arizona, calls her mare Alester part of the family. She had owned Alester for a long time, bred many foals from her, and still kept two of those foals because she could not bear to part with them.

So when Markley sent Alester from Scottsdale to Minnesota for breeding, she expected her to come home. Alester became pregnant there — but she never made it back to Arizona. Somewhere along the way, a mix-up sent her down a different road entirely.

After investigating, Markley learned that an auction house had sold Alester on, and that she had ended up in El Paso, Texas. That news terrified her. Slaughterhouses sit near El Paso, and Alester was close to foaling — yet here she was, being loaded onto a trailer again, headed for an unknown destination.

Markley did what every owner in her position should do: she spread the word. She put Alester's story out through the Arabian horse community and asked everyone to watch for her. When days passed and she heard nothing, she booked a flight to El Paso for Sunday morning. No one would care for Alester the way she would, and she was determined to do everything she could to get her back.

Then, just before she boarded the plane, the call came. A good Samaritan in El Paso had spotted Alester, recognized that a mare like her was out of place, and bought her — just 24 hours before she was scheduled to be slaughtered.

That Sunday afternoon, Markley was reunited with Alester. Her husband drove a trailer from Scottsdale to El Paso, and together they brought Alester home to the Valley.

Alester's story is why we never stop looking, and why we never stop sharing. A missing horse can end up anywhere — sold at an auction, loaded on a trailer, headed across state lines. What brought Alester home was an owner who refused to give up, a community that spread the word, and a stranger who recognized a horse in the wrong place and acted.

If your horse goes missing, file a report at netposse.com right away. Put her face in front of thousands of eyes, and give the next good Samaritan something to recognize.

*Based on reporting by Tim Vetscher, ABC15 Arizona, April 1, 2012. Watch the original video here: https://youtu.be/ovdQsbo0VKQ?si=vzTjWRLc144dDpBB