Jessie’s story
My horse Jessie, a stunning, 16.2HH Irish Sport Horse was stolen from his field back in January 2014, and not by strangers, but by the person I thought was a friend, who I shared a field with. I became very ill in the middle of January, and nearly died from lower lobe pneumonia. The last day I saw Jessie was 20th January 2014. During this time, I arranged for another friend to look after Jess for me at the field I rented from a local farmer, along with my so called friend who kept her pony in the same field. Whilst I was ill, the other tenant put up an abandonment notice giving me 14 days to move my horse. She already knew when she put this notice up, Jess was not abandoned, and there was no way I was going to be able to do this due to being in hospital and then the recovery period after I was finally discharged from hospital. She already had a plan in mind to sell Jess, and I have confirmation from the person that drove him to Yorkshire that she was going to get £1500 for selling Jess, yet she was telling her friends and family, she was doing it for nothing because she loved horses (No she loved the cash that was going to save her neck from her illegal stuff supplier). Another way she ensured I would never be able to find another yard was to libel me on a local equestrian Facebook group, telling everyone that the RSPCA were extremely concerned about the serious state of neglect Jess was in (I have an email from RSPCA inspectors confirming they actually told the other tenant they would not be getting involved in the matter because there was nothing wrong with my horse and they confirm he was in normal bodily condition), she claimed I left jess rotting in a really muddy field (the same field her pony lives in too), she claimed I could not afford to pay stable rent. The funny thing is that I am an accountant and the other tenant’s income comes from extremely illegal activities, plus she told me she was claiming benefits.
The tenant arranged for Jess to be sold and to be taken in the middle of the night by a couple from Yorkshire. Jess was loaded on the trailer and driven away. By this point I was so low, and honestly wanted to die, my life had just been ripped apart by a truly evil human being and I never knew the loss of an animal would cause physical pain to such an extreme and I have had animals all my life ( including horses), but it did. The bond Jess and I shared was so strong, that if someone tried to handle him and do anything with him if I was not around he would go completely mad and literally terrorise everyone and literally stamp his feet until he saw me, then he would settle immediately. I could never let other people ride him alone without me because he would rear bolt upright, throw them off and run back to me, yes he is a bit of character.
I didn’t think I would ever hear Jessie whinny hello and goodbye, he would never follow me around like a puppy dog ever again, we would never be able to cuddle each other again and I would not get another back massage from jess.
Some days later, the man that took him contacted me and told me they were keeping Jess, I told them I want my horse back as he was never abandoned, but a friend was looking after him until I recovered. He was actually really nice to me telling me I can come and see Jess whenever I liked, this was all a front. I contacted the police again to let them know the man that had stolen jess has made contact. Their attitude was that they couldn’t do anything.
He contacted me again and told me Jessie’s injuries were so bad it would be months before he would be fit to ride, if ever. Now there was nothing wrong with jess when myself and the RSPCA last saw him, me on the 20th Jan, RSPCA on the 17th Jan. They told me he had run into the electric rope fencing back in my old field whilst he was in care of the other tenant (once you put up and abandonment notice you are fully responsible for the care and wellbeing of the horse as if it’s your own). Next thing I know is that he tells me that the vet would not treat Jessie’s injuries without his passport. I agreed to let them borrow the passport, as Jess was my first concern. I had to send this via the other tenant. Couple of days later, I get an email from them to tell me Jess is dangerous (I had told them what he is like if I am not there with him but they didn’t listen). The rather contradicted themselves as well, because couple of days after telling me it would be months before he could be ridden, they were riding him, and Jess reared up and threw his wife, and then crushed her against the wall before running off, falling over himself (out of fear), getting up and running away from them.
They told me they would have Jess destroyed, I told them I want my horse back as I never sold him, he was taken from me. Next thing is they had given him to some guy, who sold Jess for money within 2 days. This is the people that have him now.
So from March to end the June I had no idea whether Jess was dead or alive, but I kept up my regular postings and pictures of Jess to keep him in everyone’s mind that he was still missing an lost from us. Just before I found him, I almost gave up hope and considered taking my own life, because the thought of life without Jess was too much to bear. It was my wonderful friends that brought me out of this dark place to tell me I would find Jess because I was not the sort of person to ever give up looking. So I decided to fight again. Some weeks later, I got a message from someone to let me know they think they know who has Jess, and they were sending me a picture. The picture came through, and there he was, my lovely beautiful boy who looked as sad as I did. So many people commented on this picture on how sad he looks and that you could see he was really missing someone.
I got my solicitors involved and the costs have been mounting up and so far I have paid over £5000 in legal fees, mainly the cost of a specialist barrister at £500 per hour, and my solicitor at £250 per hour.
I am a single person with a small accounts and bookkeeping business. Although my business can sustain me and my normal costs, I have got to the point where I cannot afford to pay for anymore legal fees, which means I will have to give up trying to get my boy home. The people that have jess refuse to return him and will make sure they prolong this as much as possible because they have plenty of money so it’s nothing to them.
I promised Jess I would never give up and I don’t ever want to give up, and you have all been so supportive and got me through some of the darkest days of my life but now I am asking you all for your financial help, please even the smallest donation to his legal fund will make a difference.
One thing I will promise you all, is that if I ever get the financial damages for what has been done to me and Jess, all the donations will be repaid from the damages.
Thank you for taking the time to read our story. For full details, pictures of Jess over the years, please visit my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/karen.shaw.522 where there is also the notes from the barrister etc.
PLEASE HELP ME BRING MY BOY HOME!Karen Shaw