Diego the pony is so ugly he was nearly euthanized. But six-year-old Maddison Biddlecombe "fell in love" with the hideous foal and is fighting to rescue him from the glue factory. Meet The Beautiful Baby and the Equine Beast.

Diego has Wry Nose Syndrome, a terrible disease that gives "bent nose and undershot jaw" to the foals it inflicts. Normally, when a pony is this ugly, you kill it, because Wry Nose ugliness correlates with an inability to chew grass. But six-year-old Maddison Biddlecombe—the beautiful, blushing baby of Diego's owners—fell in love with the monstrosity:

Diego is my best friend and I don't care what he looks like, to me his face makes him special. He's so lovely. We have a lot of fun playing games and he likes to chase me around the field. I love him lots and he gives me kisses and cuddles. People shouldn't say he should be put down because of what he looks like, it doesn't matter to me.

Maddison is now raising $6000 to finance her beloved foal's plastic surgery: A new mouth and new nose for Diego. Given the firestorm of media coverage in England, she will probably be able to save Diego, and maybe get him a talking horse TV show while she's at it. (Assuming he can live down the humiliation of being the World's Ugliest Pony.)

And that is the heartwarming story of the charming child and the ugly-but-lovable beast. Happy trails. [DailyMail, image via Splash]