Saturday, October 10, 2015

Where Is Dreamer's Faith?

She was stolen on, or the day before, Labor Day (7 September 2015).  Two men took her away from her family.  She's a little girl, alone, lonely, and greatly missed.  Is she still alive?  Is she being fed what she needs?  Is she being handled and taught her manners?  Has she already been killed to feed people in Europe and Asia, or is she starving to death in some back alley, desperately wanting food, water, fresh air and freedom?  No one knows. - Except, maybe the two men who took her from her family, and from her home.
   She's a very pretty little girl - a Chincoteague pony, born this past spring.  She is the daughter of Dreamer's Gift and Courtney's Boy.  She was born wild and free on the island of Assateague in the state of Virginia.  Faith was made much of during Pony Penning week because of her unusual markings - and she was one of the foals chosen as a "buy back" by the Pony Committee of the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, for breeding purposes, because of her bloodlines and her different markings.  Faith was only four or five months old when she was stolen last month.  She had received a freeze brand reading 15 on her left hip, since that is the year of her birth.
   She was with her sire, Courtney's Boy, several friends of her own age who were also "buy back" foals, and a few mares with foals whose new owners are due to pick them up next weekend, during the Fall Round-up.  This particular small group of horses/ponies were being kept on the CVFC's Carnival Ground corral on Main Street, on Chincoteague.  Two men with a white Chevrolet dually truck and a white horse trailer were seen trying to separate Faith from the rest of the ponies.  No one who saw the men in the corral thought it was strange; our Salt Water Cowboys visit frequently, as does our veterinarian.
   This is the first time in the 90 year history of the Fire Department's owning and selling of the ponies, made famous by Marguerite Henry's Newberry Award winning book Misty of Chincoteague, that a pony has been stolen from either Assateague or Chincoteague Island.  I hope it is the last.  The filly's markings are impossible to mistake.  She is a red (or chestnut) paint.  She has four high white stockings, and the left fore goes up to her elbow.  On her right side is an odd puddle of white that has a chestnut heart shape behind her withers and on her backbone.  On her left side, on her neck, withers, and shoulder is a bird in flight - or a cross made of clouds being blown by the wind.  She has a small star above her wide-set brown eyes in the shape of a backwards comma or apostrophe.  And she has that 15 freeze brand on her left hip.
   There is a REWARD offered.   She is stolen property, and her theft is a felony, considering what was donated to the CVFC for the right to name her.  If you see her, hear about her, or hear about any young horse or pony being kept hidden, please contact your local law enforcement agency - police or sheriff.  The local contact for the Chincoteague Police Department is Corporal Tyler Greenly and his phone number is (757) 336-3155.
   Here are photos of Dreamer's Faith, at one day old, and at 4 months old:
Dreamer's Faith, one day old
 

 Dreamer's Faith, four months old
In this photo, you can see the rectangle on her left hip where the 15 freeze brand was applied.


2 comments:

Lisa I. said...

This makes me so sad. Please keep us updated. I don't understand people doing things like this.

Anonymous said...

Seeing blogs like this brings back so many memories. Thank you for putting this out there. Me and my family were the Buyback owners of Faith, and it's amazing that I can still find people who spread the word about her. I scroll through your pony pictures all the time, and it's great to see the foals from years past and all sorts of other things. Keep doing what you do, and thank you for making a page about Faith. It feels like a day since 2015.