‘Amazing’ Mati to be featured in kids magazine Arabian foal made national news

BANGOR – Since she fell last month into a 12-foot-deep abandoned well, Mati the foal has become known nationwide and soon will be featured in a National Geographic Kids article.

In a very “Lassie”-like episode, the owner of Essex Stud Arabians boarding and breeding facility was alerted by barks from his border collie, Mollie, that Mati was in trouble.

After seeing that the foal’s mother also was whinnying and visibly upset, Kurt Smith went to investigate further and found Mati in the well.

Smith ran to the house and called the Bangor Fire Department. When firefighters arrived with a ladder, Smith went down into the well, slid ropes around Mati’s front legs and hindquarters and was able to pull her out of the well.

“I am delighted to inform that Mati is doing wonderful,” the foal’s owner, Lisa Kelly, said Monday in an e-mail interview.

After the Bangor Daily News article was picked up by The Associated Press, the story was featured on several Web sites and in other publications, and soon will be the topic of an Amazing Animals feature by Karine Aigner.

The section is a monthly feature in the magazine and the piece on Mati is scheduled to appear in the February issue, but that could change.

In a phone interview Monday, Aigner said she’s looking forward to her trip this week to Maine and the surf and turf lunch that Kelly and her husband, Tim Kelly, have planned.

“Plans are set,” Lisa Kelly said. “Tim and I are going to buy lobsters and steaks for a surf and turf lunch at the farm.”

The now 3-month-old foal also enjoyed her first bath Monday afternoon, though Lisa Kelly wasn’t exactly sure how it was going to turn out.

Although Mati hasn’t shown any signs of fear, Kelly was concerned the water might trigger memories of being stuck at the bottom of the 5-foot-wide, 12-foot-deep well, where there was 1 to 2 feet of very cold water in the bottom.

“I wasn’t sure how she would respond to the water since she stood standing in it for a few hours when she was in the well,” Kelly said.

But following the bath, Kelly said, “It went great, she seemed to not have any trouble with it at all.

Kelly washed the foal’s mother, Czarah, first and Mati got splashed a couple of times while trying to check out what was happening.

“She ran away initially [when she got sprayed], but once she realized it was fine, it went so well,” Kelly said.

Kelly had several sleepless nights after the accident thinking about what could have happened to the foal, but Mati has shown no signs of injury or fear since her fall.

“A miracle indeed,” Kelly said.