SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A pony has been reunited with its owners after it was seen on a video posted to social media riding in the back seat of a pickup truck on a South Florida highway.
Madison Arana is now 5 years old, and if you ask her, she and Baby, her pony, have shared a lot of time together.
“I like to ride my pony, and I like to be with my pony, and I like to feed my horsey,” Madison said.
Baby lives on a farm in Southwest Miami-Dade, away from Madison’s home. Katherine Tobon, her mother, found out on Thursday that the pony had disappeared.
“I kind of told her when, you know, we thought we found him,” she said. “Well, that’s the magic question. I want to know that. I still don’t know that honestly.”
When Baby didn’t make it back to the stable Thursday night, Tobon posted a photo of the missing pony on social media, Friday morning, and it soon went viral. The social media site OnlyinDade picked up her post.
“You know, I felt a little hopeless,” Tobon said. “The first thing that came to mind was social media.”
Soon after, social media sleuths spotted the pony on the highway in the back seat of a red pickup truck.
“It caught our attention because we love dogs, and we thought it may be a dog,” Maria Sanchez, who took the video of the animal, said. “Once we got closer, we noticed that it was actually a horse.”
Within hours, the man driving the red truck found out the horse belonged to another person, and he immediately turned around. The family smiles because it seems to be a big misunderstanding.
“He said he bought it, yes, on the side of Homestead, so someone was selling him for $600,” Tobon said. “We finally got him, and we’re glad we have him.”
The man who was driving the horse spoke off camera to 7News. He said he would never take a pony from a child. In fact, he said he bought the animal as a gift to give to his best friend’s son.
“I always give everyone the benefit of the doubt,” Tobon said. “At the end of the day, I don’t know what really happened, but the fact that he called us, and the fact that he actually drove back, I do appreciate that and everyone that helped me, honestly.”
7News cameras captured Madison being reunited with her beloved pony.
“I know that some people are going to think this is silly,” Tobon said. “It’s just more than a pony. It’s just for her.”
Madison doesn’t think it is silly, and she cannot wait to spend more time with her pony.
“I like my horsey all day,” she said. “I like to be with my horsey.”
The family said the driver of the red truck did not accept the reward money or gas money. They said they will give the money to one of the social media detectives that helped track the pony down.
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