The wild stallion is gone

The wild stallion is gone,Matai has moved off to his new life today.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry, to be relieved or be sad. I miss his presence already, but at the same time I'm so relieved to have seen him go to such a good home. It also cannot be denied that having one less horse on the property is a relief at the moment, as we are definitely a bit short of grass and have more horses than ever. But most of all i just miss him, hes only been gone four hours, and i have noticed his absence, so has Sonny the colt Matai's paddock mate. Now who is going to give me a good morning whinny from their stable each morning, and an afternoon neigh as he trots to the gate to be brought in at night? Matai was one of those special horses, one of the animals that i will always remember, who taught me so much, and was just a happy little brown presence in my life.

Matai wasn't actually meant to go today, there was still so much i wanted to do with him, cliche last ride and photos etc etc But it just didn't happen and with the competition season fast approaching again, as well as four new horses arriving to be worked, i was having less and less time to spend with my special ex wild ex stallion. so when his new owner came by to drop off an old mare shed borrowed to keep her child pony company after her own horse died, we talked about it and she decided to take Matai home with her. Part of me screamed 'No don't take him! I'm not ready yet!' but the sensible part of me let out a huge sigh of relief.

She had already ridden him today and it just confirmed my belief that this was the right home for him. With his wound site from gelding still not healed, he also needs to be monitored closely, and i knew she would take such good care of him, probably even better than i could. So off he went. he just loaded quietly into her float and they drove off together to start there new journey. I watched him go and heard one last nay as he went out of sight and thought my heart would break, it felt like a huge sense of loss to see him go.

But now as i sit on the computer typing i read something that makes selling him all the worth while, as i checked my facebook account the first thing that came on my screen was this
"Just bought my wild pony home hes such a sweet heart thank you so much chloe im sure we r going 2 have so much fun 2gether!" this was posted proudly for all to see by Matai's new owner..

I think that horse is going to go on to have a very happy life indeed. Whats even better though, is that she excitedly plans to take him to all the kaimanawa shows, as well as competing him in dressage events. together they will be promoting the wild horses, hopefully next muster this means even more horses may be adopted into loving homes, this can only be a good thing!

Just as she was about to leave i snapped a couple of quick pics, of her and Matai together. There not flash, he looks like he normally looks, chilled out and covered in mud. But that's what its all about really, she loves him and doesn't expect him to be a flash glamour horse, and he just is happy and content with life. Happy horse, happy owner, i think this is true success, cant wait to see whats in store for these to, I'm sure this wont be the last any of us see of them.