MUSTANG KAIA ~
Kaia is a truly wild soul. She is stunningly beautiful, her eyes sad and angry at the same time. But I don’t blame her…. You have to know her story to truly understand. Kaia was once wild, free living with her herd, her family on her land.
As with all our Mustangs, my heart breaks to think of the roundup, them crying out for their herd. To be thrown in a whole world they were not meant to understand. Some adjust, some never do, how do we expect a beautiful wild being to feel once captured and restricted, torn away from all they loved. Kaia’s mistrust began at the beginning, her anger righteous and validated in every way. By the time we found her, she was in a PA kill pen, beaten and bloody. Her face torn up, her Mustang Spirit showing in anger. All had given up on her, she was dangerous and now was in a terrifying position. When we called, the auction was actually happening, and at that moment in time, it was Kaia who was being forced to parade in front of all the kill buyers. It was then that we learned that one of the most notoriously cruel kill buyers was bidding on her. In that moment we knew we had to save her life from this horrifying ending. We outbid the kill buyer and got her to a safe place while she quarantined before coming to Unbridled. Kaia was to be the first rescued Mustang at our second location in Saddle River, NJ. We anxiously awaited her arrival, ready to love her unconditionally. We knew she was safe, we knew she would never know any hurt again. Naively we assumed she would know the second she arrived. We remember the day she stepped off the trailer, I honestly have never seen a more beautiful Mustang. We turned her out in a beautiful pasture and watched. She looked around curiously but so hesitant. She refused to acknowledge us humans that day. When she finally gave us her attention, we could see the mistrust in her eyes, we could see the anger. She was different than the others, if we tried to get close, she would warn us to stay away. She was aggressive and angry. When she would give me her eyes, they were wild and full of hurt. I could see the aftermath of abuse on her face, it was full of scars. But it was deeper than surface pain, it was internal, a pain that ran deep. Kaia is broken and beautiful and I truly believe the only way to make that right is to set her free back to her land with her herd…. Sadly that is not an option, so everyday we will emphasize with her, we will allow her to be herself and unconditionally love her. We will not try and change her, we will not break her, instead we will learn the unspoken language that happens between two energies… One that makes sense to her and to us. There is no set plan, no perfect way, but there is a way that she can keep her dignity and be her and that is our plan. It is recently that we have seen a twinkle back in her eyes, and felt the unseen capability Kaia has to heal the most broken in all of us.