# Casper - 12.2hh grey pony, 16 years



## Kaida (14 January 2014)

On behalf of my very close friend, who is distraught as her pony has gone missing!  Through this post I have referred to her as 'friend' as she is very upset by all this and doesn't want people tracking her down just to give her abuse so I have said I will stick my neck out instead!

*HORSE: *Casper, 12.2 dapple grey gelding, big chunky neck!  16 YO.  He is actually a New Forest but it seems he has been advertised as a Welsh.  Advertised around 17 December 2013 and home believed to have been found within the last 2 weeks.

*WHAT IS BEING SOUGHT: *Any information!  My friend doesn't neccessarily want to take the pony away from his home, provided it is a good home, however needs to know he is safe and happy and either hand over legal ownership and the passport (he now apparently has a new passport but of course none of the extensive medical history, which at his age especially is pretty important!), come to some kind of loan agreement and she would be happy to pay a contribution, or make alternative provision for his keep and welfare.

*HISTORY:* She lives in London and was unable to personally care for her old pony, Casper, however her father checked on him regularly and he was kept on livery at a yard in Somerset where he had been for some years.  She had this pony as a 9 month old from the New Forest however he was always a bit of a one person pony so when she outgrew him she and her mother decided to retire him and keep him.  When her mother sadly died, friend was left with her mothers horse as well, who I now have on long term loan.  I didn't have space for Casper at the time but the livery yard in Somerset were happy to keep him and her father arranged payment with the yard owner.  Around a year and a half ago my mother happened to pop over there to check on him (me, my mother, my friend and her mother all kept our horses there for years so are very close!) and she noticed that Casper had got overweight on the lush grass and needed his feet trimming as well, so called me and I passed on the message...my friend was very worried and started trying to make alternative provision however a woman had recently moved to the yard with her dog rescue business, and offered to look after him for her on a loan basis.  Agreement was that she would contact my friend if she needed money.  In the last 12 months she contacted my friend to the tune of £500, which she willingly paid to know Casper was looked after and happy, at a place she knew well.

*SITUATION NOW:* Around 6 January, friend received a voicemail from the woman who had taken over his care, saying she and the guy who runs the yard were moving to Spain, and she had a new place she wanted to send Casper but they want a contribution of £20 a week.  Friend was okay with this in principle although wanted to know what the £20 was going towards (basically to find out whether this would include the incidentals she had been paying for before or whether this was everything!) and, more importantly, where he was going so she could go and see the place first, and get a formal loan agreement in place.  Woman was very insulted and left her a very angry voicemail along the lines of how dare she want a loan agreement, she's done so much for Casper etc etc etc....which indeed she had, however friend had been paying her whenever requested, and as the legal owner was perfectly within her rights to know where he was going and decide whether or not it was appropriate.  Woman essentially made Casper out to be a rescue case from friends neglect...yes he wasn't in great shape when she took him on, but that's why friend was looking for an alternative home and why she accepted woman's offer to look after him.  Following friend's response that she perfectly understood that woman had done so much for him, and wasn't taking away from that, received a response saying woman wasn't going to bother friend again.  I appreciate this is getting convoluted but I assure you, nearly over!

Anyway, after a week still hadn't heard anything about the new home, so sent the following message (please note the amount quoted was following a text where the cost was broken down to a weekly amount and that's what it came out at):

"Hello C----- - I haven't heard back from you about my last message. I will need a name, address and telephone number of the person Casper is going to, plus their bank account details so I can contribute £15 p/w to his keep, which I think is fair.  If you do want to become his owner and pay for his keep yourself, I will gladly hand over his passport provided you still give me an address etc, as I still want to confirm where he will be going and to complete a change of ownership form to this effect."

To this, she got a response saying that they don't want money, he's sorted happy and that's that.  Friend responded saying she still needed details of where he is going, and got the response "hes gone and hes very happy h----...hes got the right care and i will give them your number and if she wants to phoen you thats fine..." followed by "hes got a passport now h---- in his new owners name"

Of course friend and I were seriously alarmed!  The only real response to this is that it's illegal and she has stolen the horse.  Friend's father, who is local to the yard, went up there on Saturday to see if they were around as they want to resolve this amicably if possible but no-one was there.  I have since found that this pony was advertised on Facebook and Horses4Homes, who have confirmed that the advertiser contacted them on 3 January to remove the advert as they found a home.

*The advert: "*Do you know anyone who would take a 16 year old little welsh pony, he's called Casper, not a riding pony due to back problem , he has been here on the land his whole life and was dumped by the old owner after she couldn't ride him any more, so we took him over as he was totally neglected, he goes in at night and has hardly any grass as he gets laminitis ,also trying to home two little british Saanen goats both girls, lead trained lol. Anyone got any room for a companion pony (or a couple of goats)?" 

*The truth: *New Forest...not welsh.  He had NOT been on the land his whole life - originally he was kept at another yard and we all moved there together when he was about 3.  Okay that's still a large chunk of time but it isn't like he was bred there!  He was NOT dumped by the old owner and until a year and a half ago her father was paying livery to the yard owner, at which point this woman took over his care.  In the last 12 months alone friend has paid £500 to this woman when she has contacted her asking for money for his care.  He was NOT abandoned because she couldn't ride him any more, as the post insinuates, but instead when she moved to London for university and work her father kept checking on him (although obviously this did slide a bit but NOT totally neglected!) and when she was advised that he needed better care, she immediately started trying to find an alternative provision for him. This woman stepped forward and offered to care for him at this point.
*
Appeal:* As stated above, friend just wants to find her pony!!  If he is happy and healthy and the new 'owners' want to, friend is happy to formally sign him over and give them his proper passport with all his medical history in it.  Alternatively can enter a formal loan agreement, either full loan or otherwise friend is happy to pay for his keep.  Finally, if new 'owner' is not happy with him or he is not happy and healthy there, friend will find an alternative home for him.  Please please please, if you know anything, please get in touch!!!

Photos are older so he is a bit paler now, however more recent photos will be uploaded later today once friend has sent them to me...

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/1415040_10153679591080587_801087314_o.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/1553043_10153679591100587_1693658848_o.jpg


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## Kaida (14 January 2014)

Okay - he's a LOT paler now, here are updated pics...basically a small white pony.  His nose is the only really distinctive thing but he is still known as 'Casper' so hopefully the description will be enough!!

https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/p206x206/1017290_10153679948630587_872069851_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/1531770_10153679948615587_679651287_o.jpg


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## Kaida (17 January 2014)

Casper has been safely found (via Facebook!) and is going to stay where he is but under a loan agreement.


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## Adopter (17 January 2014)

Thank you for updating, must Bea relief for everyone to find him and get things on a proper footing.


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## Kaida (18 January 2014)

Yes! We are very relieved


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## Joanne4584 (18 January 2014)

That's good to hear. I'm glad it got sorted xx


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## Zebedee (18 January 2014)

How kind of you to type out that post to help your friend. It sounds as of she had don all she could in terms of payment to keep him safe as well. We used to have three ancient ponies on behalf of an absent owner who paid sporadically (never used to hear anything for months then a lump sum would arrive !).


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## Kaida (19 January 2014)

She was distraught, and we have been very close friends for about 20 years so I offered to help find him. To be honest, I've known him since he was a yearling too so I was getting a bit choked up about it! Just very glad that he has been found and the person he's with is very happy to put a loan agreement together!


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