If Maddie was a headstrong mare, the people who owned her went about "breaking" that pride in the worst way possible.

They just left her alone.

Deprived of human attention and even food, she fell into such a sorry state she nearly died from the ordeal.

"The people who owned her really didn't know what to do with her," Angie Dannelley, a director at Flying Changes Equine Rescue, tells The Dodo. "She was kind of one of those really strong horses who needed experience."

And what did Maddie get instead?

"They basically left her to starve."

When rescuers found Maddie on that western Pennsylvania farm two years ago, she was declared the worst case the rescue had ever seen.

Too weak to even stand, Maddie collapsed in her stall as soon as she arrived at the sanctuary.

Flying Changes Equine Rescue