Rest Easy, Surfer
We are very sad to report that yesterday morning wild stallion Surfer suffered a fatal kick to the head. His injuries were localized and consistent with a kick from another horse. There was no other trauma to the rest of his body and nothing indicative of human interference. It’s likely he wasn’t even in a serious fight with another stallion; it was an unfortunately well-placed kick that could have just as easily come from a mare.
Surfer was about 15 years old and DNA testing has identified three offspring he produced – Riptide (who lives at the farm now) and Rabbit (who is deceased) in 2019, and a colt in 2022 who is still alive in the wild. His dam Mimosa passed away in 2024 due to age-related issues, and his sire was a stallion named Tyreek who was DNA tested in 2007. On his dam’s side, Surfer’s pedigree goes all the way back to iconic stallions Little Red Man and Star.
Surfer was beloved by staff, residents, and visitors alike. He was stunningly beautiful and charismatic, and carried himself with an air of confidence that always made him stand out. He was very wild and very driven, and today we are taking great comfort in the fact that he died of natural causes without ever having human hands laid on him.
We hope that Surfer’s death serves as a reminder of how fragile life can be for these horses. Even under the best of circumstances, nature can be very unforgiving. Surfer’s genetics were invaluable to the long-term health of the herd, and now his four-year-old son is left to carry on that legacy. We can’t control nature and there’s no guarantee that he will make it into adulthood and produce foals of his own, but we can control our own actions. Please help us give this youngster – and all of the horses – the best possible chance by not habituating them, driving slowly and carefully, and being good stewards of the environment.
Rest easy, Surfer. You will be missed.
