the saga with the missing horses....

This is Roza...my pride and joy

and this is Sera  ...

we keep them at our work place while we are developing the farm and getting the land ready for animals....

but

somebody decided that they like them as well.........

and one morning they were gone......

We searched for them in all the usual spots they go to when they go walkabout....

the river

the picnic spot...with ripe mangoes

but NO, they were not there......

and then after searching for them  in all their adventure spots....we realised that they must have been stolen...

So I  printed these flyers on my printer and Claude took to  the streets and back roads.....

With him was an officer of the Fiji Police and Bosse, our Fijian right hand man and his nephew Amanea.... and did they search....,
                     following up on every lead from the villagers or locals...
and then they started to pick up a trail....more and more people saw the thieves with our horses.....

Whilst searching for our stolen horses, Claude got to see the interior of Fiji ...

                                beautiful rolling hills,

covered with lush vegetation and trees....

picturesque farms......

 Crossroads.....and any one of them could lead to the trail of the horses.....or not!

if he wasn't so intend on finding the horses, he probably would have enjoyed the scenery more.



The sun was just about to set and the odometer stood on 80 kilometers done....when Claude asked a little boy if he had seen the horses (showing him the flyer with pictures) and viola!!!..
                              the little boy did indeed see the guys on our horses and showed the road they took  -   a small road that Claude was about to miss.....

                      minutes later  Claude and the gang  found them....still riding our horses towards their final destination ,  only a few meters away.

Sera , the pregnant mare, was beyond exhaustion and immediately went to lie down in the grass..... 
Claude sat in the long grass with her , massaging her legs and muscles for hours until she managed to stand up.
Roza was as tired , but at least able to stand.

The thieves?  Well, two school boys....believe or not.  They took the horses to go to an uncle in the mountains, who happens to be a cattle/goat  merchant (aka thief...)
They are being charged and are in custody....

A big thanks to officer Saliceni and Fiji Police for their willingness to help and apprehend the perputrators and every villager/ farmer along the way who helped with information and advice, not forgetting Bosse and Amanea.

                                               Officer Saliceni of Fiji Police

The horses are still in the mountains with a friendly farmer .  We could not ride or walk them back - we thought they need to rest for a few days.  The vote is still out whether we should get a truck to load them onto to bring them back (no horse trailer/transporters here in Fiji) , or simply slowly walk/ride them back...It is about 15 km by road.

Bringing them home is going to be another adventure for another day......