Miracle, the elderly mare that survived several gunshots in the head in a Southern New Mexico desert, arrived at her new home at The Horse Shelter in Cerrillos on Thursday.

Brian Drake, 36, of Las Cruces faces a fourth-degree felony charge of extreme animal cruelty for allegedly shooting the horse in early June near Radium Springs. Drake, who is not the horse's owner, could receive up to 18 months in prison if convicted.

The mare was a polo pony about a decade ago, said Robyn Gojkovich, an investigator with the Doña Ana Sheriff's Department. "She's probably in her 20s now," Gojkovich said.

And except for a bum front knee, the mare, whose real name was Fui, was perfectly ridable, she said. "She just couldn't go fast," Gojkovich said.

The mare had belonged to a girl who had outgrown the horse, and her father, whom Gojkovich didn't name, decided it was time to sell the mare. His friend Drake allegedly said he could take the mare to a horse trader who would auction her off at a livestock sale barn. Gojkovich said Drake picked up the horse and hauled her away, but found the horse trader wasn't at home.

According to the police report, Gojkovich and other investigators found, Drake allegedly drove the horse out into the desert and shot her in the head. She went down but then got back up. "Then he just started chasing her across the desert popping off shots. Probably chased her two miles," Gojkovich said. "We followed the blood trail across the desert."

The mare's bum front leg gave her a distinctive track so Gojkovich and others traced her blood and steps to a ranch house some four or five miles from where she was first shot.

The mare had wandered the desert for a day and a half before reaching an isolated ranch house. "This horse literally had to walk down a sidewalk to get to the front door. On both sides there were telephone poles broken off to form a kind of fence," said Curtis Childress, director of Doña Ana County Animal Control.

The horse may have pawed at the wall and door. A woman inside the house heard a knock and thought she had a visitor. "It had to be a scary sight when she opened the door," Childress said.

Childress and Gojkovich said they had never seen an animal live through the kinds of wounds the mare had and they dubbed her Miracle. "That horse had a will to survive," Childress said.

Miracle was shot at least four times in the head and neck. Two bullets remained lodged in her head, and veterinarians were able to remove one, Gojkovich said. One remains lodged behind her left eye, impairing her vision.

Miracle was cared for by a foster family in Radium Springs until coming to The Horse Shelter. "She's made almost a complete recovery," Gojkovich said.

The Horse Shelter http://www.thehorseshelter.org/

Contact Staci Matlock at 470-9843 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.