FIELDING, Utah — It was a beautiful reunion as a Utah man who thought he lost his best friend, found him 8 years later.
Shane Adams' horse, Mongo. never left his side until 8 years ago when he got away while the family was out camping near Cedar Mountain.
As it turns out, Mongo then spent those years galloping with wild mustangs in the West Desert.
“I thought he was dead, I believed in my mind he was dead,” said Adams.
That was until he got a message from the Bureau of Land Management on Sept. 27.
“If you’re the person that lost the horse a few years ago, in the West Desert, call me and send me her phone number,” read the message.
Adams said his life changed forever.
Every weekend for the first three years Mongo was missing, Adams said he went to different spots looking for him.
“But the big deal is I went through a lot of effort when I first lost him to make sure he was properly reported missing,” which was why BLM knew to reach out to him.
When he found out, Adams loaded his horse trailer and drove almost three hours to bring Mongo home. Then it was like Mongo never left.
“We’re getting back to where we were before because he was always my escape route,” he said.
Adams has been helping Mongo regain his weight after losing 400 pounds while out in the West Desert. It seems like Mongo hasn’t tried to take off once again, and is well taken care of.
After recovering from a stroke and all the challenges life has thrown at him, Adams says Mongo coming home has been his shining light.
“It makes me feel like I can actually recover more and do better, and get myself back," said Adams.
He wants to get Mongo ready for a riding adventure in the spring soon but might stay away from the desert.
