EXCLUSIVE

New Found Glory’s guitarist Chad Gilbert, just saved a very special horse from getting turned into glue.

Chad tells TMZ he was doing a Twitter search recently for fan reactions to the band’s tour, and he came across an ad for an old mare that happens to share the band's name, but was just hours from getting slaughtered.

After doing some digging, he found out it would only cost a measly $350 to rescue the ole girl -- so he got approval from his bandmates to adopt her. Chad says, “everyone thought it would be great for the band."

He says they got the cash to auctioneer just in time, and then -- with the help of Freedom4Horses -- found an owner in Texas with wide open spaces where she can roam.