'It's been like a dream': Sheffield mum full of emotion after stolen horse is returned after more than a year
A Sheffield mum has told how her whole family are over the moon after their prize pony was returned to them more than a year after being stolen from a secure stable.
Stacey Gill and her family waited 13 months to be reunited with Mr Sheffield, who was taken from his stable in Grenoside in August 2023.
“He’s home and it still feels like a dream,” Stacey told The Star. “It’s been like a dream. I’ve had that many dreams about him coming home and I used to dream about just finding him in a field and him looking at me. It’s bizarre.”
Mr Sheffield and his family were reunited after an anonymous tip to the registered charity Beautys Legacy - who help bring stolen and lost animals back to their owners.
Stacey added: “The kids have been absolutely buzzing. When we got the call from Beautys Legacy they were crying, I was crying. For 13 hours I couldn’t stop crying.”
However, Mr Sheffield didn’t return home as he’d left. The people who had stolen him had kept him in horrific conditions. It is thought likely that he was kept in a dark room, with no light, since he was taken.
“It makes me sick to my stomach thinking about what they must have done to him,” Stacey said.
Lisa Dean, senior animal welfare officer at Beautys Legacy, said: “It was heartbreaking actually. It’s really heartbreaking.
“He was very thin and filthy and dirty. He hasn’t been out and he’s been kept in darkness and flinched when he came into daylight.
“I have never seen a horse like that. It was horrific.”
Mr Sheffield was still donning his winter coat when he was recovered last week, which would have subsided during the summer had he had access to the outside world.
Stacey said: “We need to make sure he’s secure and it can’t happen again and get him back to his healthy self again.
“His legs were just clumps of hair and he’s been standing in his own poo for a year.”
Beautys Legacy shared a video of the moment Stacey was reunited with Mr Sheffield for the first time. The emotions all spilled out as their pair came together for the first time in over a year.
“I was so scared,” Stacey said, “I was nervous he wouldn’t recognised me, but he did.
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“It was relief. Just relief. That’s the best way I can describe it. To have him there, it was surreal but it was relief. I’m upset about what they have done to him, but I can sort that. I’m just happy to have him back.”
Lisa and Beautys Legacy have created a GoFundMe page to support Mr Sheffield through his recovery and rehabilitation. It has raised nearly £7,000 at the time of writing.
“Thank you to everyone who has donated or done anything over the last year,” Stacey said. “Thank you so much.”