In war-torn Syria, the nearly eight years of bloody violence has spared very little. Among the lives and treasures lost are a quarter of the country's twelve-thousand thoroughbred Arabian horses. But a new site near the capital is trying to save what's left. Alaa Ebrahim reports.

This is Mary. In a country famous for its many breeds of prized Arabian horses, she is the last of her kind, the sole remaining female, of the Kuhailiat sub-breed. In calmer times, Mary was a star of the local pageant circuit. The mare was once worth nearly 50 thousand dollars. But those days are long gone now. Mary was living on a ranch in Eastern Ghouta when she was stolen. She spent the next 7 years unaccounted for, until government forces liberated the area from rebel control. To the soldiers who found her, Mary was a shadow of her former self.

DR. MOHAMAD SHARIDA VETERINARIAN "She had been there for two months and when we found her she was merely a skeleton with skin, barely able to stand for ten minutes, let alone walk. She was also traumatized, a result of her living in that war zone for months, eating almost nothing. We couldn't feed her freely, so we had to design a diet and ration it for her and proceed gently. We know that when militants looted the largest ranch in Ghouta, they killed horses that they couldn't take. This also adds to the trauma these horses experienced."

The price for Arabian horses starts at nearly 9 thousand dollars and can reach hundreds of thousands depending on their pedigree. When most of Syria's rural areas became battlefields, the horses felt the brunt of the war. These animals became a prime target for looters and a burden for their owners.

MOHAMAD GIATH AL-SAHIEB HEAD OF ARABIAN HORSES REGISTRATION BUREAU "We in the registration authority are keeping track of nearly 8,000 horses now, but since the beginning of the war, we lost over 3,000. What we are doing now is tattooing horses to keep track of them and collecting hair samples from newborns to ensure the line is pure. We have delegates traveling to eastern Syria, where ISIL was, to try and salvage horses there. But we have many cases where studs were smuggled out of Syria to Iraq and Lebanon."

This shelter in Al-Dimas, just west of Damascus, now houses nearly a hundred horses, mainly from the once-rebel-held neighborhood of Eastern Ghouta. Some of the animals' owners s are not known. Others have simply decided they can no longer provide for them. The costs of taking care of a horse, combined with the increasing economic hardship of the war, has driven many owners to abandon their animals.

AHAMD A-SAYES STABLEMAN & FORMER OWNER "Horses are very sensitive beasts. They sense and feel what's going on around them and they don't take to strangers easily. As a result, it's been very difficult for them to deal with, the sounds of the shelling they heard and what they've seen. So one must be careful around them. They will need a lot of care to survive, they startle easily and you can see in their eyes that they are broken."

For many rare horses, this shelter offers hope. Not just that they might survive, but that they might be able to leave behind a younger generation.

ALAA EBRAHIM DAMASCUS "This breed is known for its refined, wedge-shaped head, broad forehead, large eyes, large nostrils, and small muzzle. Along with its reputation for a light-weight build, these were all factors that made the Arabian horse among the most sought-after varieties. But on top of all its admirable physical qualities, it's the ability to endure under difficult circumstances and harsh weather that's helped it survive throughout the centuries. The Syrian War has brought a new challenge for this rare breed, but with a little help from human friends, it's one that they might ultimately be able to overcome. Alaa Ebrahim, CGTN, Damascus."