Woman reunited with stolen horse after almost 10 years
Michelle Pool never stopped thinking most Opie, her American Saddlebred Equus caballus stolen from her father’s pasture inward San Antonio, Texas, nearly 10 years ago.
Pool reported the Equus caballus stolen inward 2003 but, despite extensive publicity, Opie was nowhere to last found.
Now, she is looking to the futurity amongst Opie after her dreams were shattered all those years ago.
“We got Sultan’s Modern Opus, nicknamed ‘Opie’ when he was simply a novel foal of sixteen months,” Pool explains.
“He came to alive amongst us inward Red Oak exterior of Dallas, as well as nosotros began loving him from twenty-four hours one,” she says.
“I nevertheless recall having to explicate [Opie’s theft] to ii pocket-sized children as well as a teen who wholeheartedly wanted to connect amongst something amongst amazing loving hearts that the basis was non a dainty house every bit I wanted them to believe then desperately.”
Pool filed a study inward March of 2003 most Opie’s disappearance. Shortly after she reported the theft to Stolen Horse International www.netposse.com, too known every bit Netposse, which runs a website dedicated to publicising stolen horses.
NetPosse ready a page most Opie as well as sent out alerts to its thousands of followers, but at that topographic point was no give-and-take on what became of Opie.
As the years passed, Pool never stopped thinking of Opie as well as wondering what happened to him.
Then, a calendar week ago, a tipster called Stolen Horse International around noon to study an promotion they had seen on online marketplace Craigslist.
They were interested inward buying the advertised horse, but idea it wise to banking enterprise check NetPosse.com get-go to encounter if he was listed. They constitute him as well as reported their uncovering to Netposse’s founder as well as president Debi Metcalfe .
The get-go chore facing Metcalfe was tracking downward Pool. Pool’s contact information on the website had non been updated inward years.
Pool, traced to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, recalls the initial telephone call: “I was inward daze as well as component of me did non believe it at get-go because I had been permit downward then many times. Debi said she was certain it was him.”
With Pool on the phone, Metcalfe sent her pictures of Opie from the promotion via electronic mail as well as heard her gasp every bit the pictures came into view.
“Oh my God! I never idea I’d encounter him again!” Pool cried. “Look! It is actually him!” she exclaimed to her children who were sitting amongst her at the computer.
After talking amongst Pool, Metcalfe organized her notes as well as notified the Dayton County Sheriff’s Office piece Pool called the Bexar County Sheriff’s office.
Hours later, Metcalfe called the Texas as well as Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association ranger Jimmy Belt who was assigned to the illustration as well as gave him the particulars.
With his involvement piqued at the prospect of returning a Equus caballus to its household unit of measurement to a greater extent than than nine years after its theft, Belt as well as a Liberty County deputy went to the residence where Opie was known to last as well as seized him.
Pool as well as Opie are at nowadays dorsum together, but she acknowledges it has been a painful journey, amongst all those years of non knowing his fate. Being able to present her children that at that topographic point are practiced people inward the basis is helping to restore her organized faith inward people.
She offered her heartfelt thank you lot to the tipster, as well as the function of Netposse, maxim her shattered dreams were at nowadays beingness seat dorsum slice past times slice as well as glued together thank you lot to their efforts.
Netposse’s Metcalfe said she wanted to give thank you lot all those who played a component inward what she called a miracle.
“We never surrender as well as nosotros never underestimate the ability of one. This is really i of the miracles nosotros honey to encounter as well as are then thankful nosotros larn to portion this 2nd amongst Michelle.”
Pool is at nowadays trying to slice together what happened to Opie.
Nine months after Opie was stolen, he came into the attention of Della Braden, of Dayton, Texas.
Braden had been asked past times her pastor to develop the horse. Her pastor got the Equus caballus from a San Antonio household unit of measurement who claimed they constitute him on the road.
Opie was renamed WarBonnet.
Braden told the Cleveland Advocate: “WarBonnet was scared, wild-eyed as well as thin. I permit him become inward a pocket-sized pasture for ii days.
“Once nosotros joined upward as well as started edifice upward some trust, I decided to saddle him as well as was going to necktie him to a hitching post. That’s when he went downward to his knees as well as began shaking.
“I realized that the Equus caballus had been through some serious abuse,” Braden said. “He was deathly afraid of ropes of whatever kind.”
Braden worked long hours amongst the Equus caballus as well as gradually built his confidence. Her pastor decided to give the Equus caballus to her.
She said he blossomed into a wonderful riding horse, as well as gave him to her eldest missy to ride. “He was a keen household unit of measurement horse.”
Recently, she decided that the fourth dimension was correct to sell the Equus caballus then he could last enjoyed past times some other household unit of measurement as well as she listed him on Craigslist.
Three weeks later, government awoke her amongst tidings that the WarBonnet was inward fact Opie, as well as had been stolen nine years ago.
Netposse’s Metcalfe said the government had done the correct affair inward seizing the Equus caballus straight off after beingness notified.
“At the fourth dimension of seizure no-one knew if Opie would last at that topographic point the side past times side twenty-four hours since he was on Craigslist for sale,” she said.
“No-one knew if the people who had him were bad people or practiced people. Thank goodness for Opie it was the latter.
He has had a practiced life amongst the household unit of measurement to whom he was given to inward 2003.”
Inquiries are nether agency into where Opie had been held betwixt his disappearance inward March 2003 as well as when he came into Braden’s attention inward Nov of that year.
“This story is bittersweet,” Metcalfe reflects. “New wounds are opened upward for i household unit of measurement as well as one-time wounds starting to heal for another.
“None of this should bring happened. One human activity caused the dominoes to start falling inward 2003; i spineless human activity of a thief.”
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