UPDATE: Miniature horse Little Man found

Little Man, a miniature horse that brings light and therapy to residents of area long-term and nursing facilities, went missing in Red Lick Sunday afternoon after a photo shoot. The search continues for the 11-year-old rescue horse owned by Annette Mugno, who got Little Man three years ago for her father following an accident.
Little Man, a miniature horse that brings light and therapy to residents of area long-term and nursing facilities, went missing in Red Lick Sunday afternoon after a photo shoot. The search continues for the 11-year-old rescue horse owned by Annette Mugno, who got Little Man three years ago for her father following an accident.

 

UPDATE: 8:22 a.m. Tuesday -- Little Man has been found. Annette Mungo is on her way to get him where he was found two miles away on the other side of the woods. "We are happy he is safe and sound. I'm on my way to get him," she said.

 

 

TEXARKANA, Texas - The search continues for Little Man, the beloved popular miniature horse which went missing Sunday afternoon after a photo shoot in Red Lick.

Little Man's owner Annette Mugno said they had just finished the shoot and she was about 20 feet away when he went missing.

"This is uncharacteristic for him," she said. "He normally doesn't run off. Horses usually don't like to go by themselves in the thicket. I don't know if something in the woods scared him or he wandered off for greener pastures."

Little Man is an 11-year-old rescue horse she got a few years ago for her father after he was in an accident.

"We had to get rid of our horses after the accident and he had ridden forever," Mugno said. "They kinda got well together."

Since then, they take him to brighten the days of those in long term care and nursing facilities. They also dress him up for carnivals in clothes to match what her father is wearing.

"He's been really good for the residents of those facilities," she said. "It's just making me sick."

Mugno said she wasn't worried about him getting cold as the temperatures drop during this Arctic blast, but that deer hunters and wild animals might cause Little Man harm.

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STEPHEN B. THORNTON

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/STEPHEN B. THORNTON --01/12/15-- Dunbar Magnet Middle School sixth grader Serenity Robinson, left, jokingly reaches for a shooting stream of diet cola as classmates William Wilson and Desmond McDaniel, right, watch during a science experiment outside their school Monday in Little Rock. The experiment with Diet Coke and Mentos candies was to help illustrate a lesson on volcanic eruptions.

"My biggest concern right now is that we are in the middle of deer season," she said. "I don't want anyone to accidentally think he's a little deer."

On Sunday, multiple people helped look for Little Man, along with the Bowie County Sheriff's Department. Several people are also riding horses, Mugno said, with the hopes the horses will call to him and help pull him out of the woods. She added that she was cautious about having people out in the middle of the wooded areas because of deer season.

A drone has been suggested for use in the search, but she said there is a thick canopy of trees that would limit the drone's abilities.

"I've been around horses my entire life," Mugno said. "I've seen them running in clear cut areas for different reasons, but never to run into thickets of wood, away from people he's really attached to especially. If he had been running, I would have heard him since I was 20 feet away from him."

Little Man is also wearing a halter and a lead rope, which could also cause problems, she said.

"If he's hung up, he's so used to people that he would wait for us to come get him," Mugno said. "There are also wild animals and he could get hung up and not be able to get undone."

During the search, Jennifer Ogburn from The Burger Joint also delivered food to the house for the volunteers.

"That's been a blessing," she said. "I'm just so ready to find him, but we have just not seen anything."

Those who wish to volunteer in the search can call Mugno at 903-280-4304 or contact her on her Facebook page.

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