NARCOOSSEE, Fla. – The owner of five mini horses who mysteriously showed up on a woman's farm has come forward to claim the horses.
Angie Small says the five mini horses ran through her front gate last week. It took the family a day to corral them all into a pen, which was their temporary home until the owner was found.
Small said the owner had been on vacation and a friend contacted him after seeing the horses on the news. The owner then contacted her and came to pick up some of the mini horses and is now rounding up the other ones Small had placed in other homes.
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"We checked with neighbors, nobody recognizes them. Nobody seems to know where they came from," Small said.
Small says she has reached out to animal control, local people that own horses, and she posted pictures of the mini horses on Facebook hoping to get some answers.
Small does not think the horses' owner dumped them. She says the appear to be well fed and taken care of.
"They're feet are trimmed, they don't look skinny, they don't look unhealthy. They got their winter fur on them so that makes them look a bit scroungy, but they really are cared for," Small said.
Small thinks the owner may not even know the horses are gone.
"A lot of people will buy the minis just to maintain their pastures, and turn them loose, they may not notice that they're missing and a lot of people have been traveling for the holidays too," she said.
The five minis are joining Small's farm for now until she can find their owner and bring them back to their own pasture.
"Hoping to get them home for Christmas," Small said. "They can stay here for a few more days at least until we figure out where they belong and if we can't figure out where they belong or nobody steps forward, we'll find them a good home."