Update on Search for Harley
August 27, 2003

About 18 months after they had gotten Harley, I called the Leedys to tell them I would be coming to visit. They were gone and so was Harley. I later found out they had moved to Pennsylvania and sold Harley.

I contacted the Leedys to ask them who bought the horse. They originally refused to help, saying they couldn't possibly remember who bought Harley from them. I managed to convince them that they could request a microfiche copy of the deposited check from their bank, and they agreed to pursue this angle on my behalf. I also wrote the checks directly to the bank to cover the fees, so I could tell if and when they were deposited.

A few weeks before Christmas, I received the microfiche copy of the check from the Leedys. It was dated March 3, 1996 (ironically, Harley's 7th birthday) and came complete with the name, address, phone number and social security number of the buyer, a woman named Izabela Jedral, in Brandywine, MD. She had sold Harley within the week to Zelko Krcmar, a dealer in the Washington, D.C. area who frequently ships horses to Canada for sale through his son, Robert.

As of March 7, 1999, Zelko told me that Harley had been sold to a lawyer in the Toronto area and that he had vetted completely sound for her. He thought Harley had been resold, but was not sure. He told me that he was stabled at Elderberry Farms, owned by seven-time Olympian Jimmy Elder.

I was able to contact Jim Elder, who confirmed that Harley had been in his barn and had been owned by a woman named Catherine Willson. She called him Barrister. She sold him again fairly recently.

Jim Elder passed my phone number on to Catherine Willson, who called me last night. She was extremely wary about my intentions, wanting to know why I wanted to find my horse and what I would do once I found him. I assured her that I merely wanted to know he was okay, and that I wanted to make an offer to buy him back. She told me the new owners would not sell him and refused to give me their names. She would not give me her telephone number or any other means of contacting her. I asked her if she would pass my number and address on to the new owners. She finally asked if I would be willing to sign a release relinquishing any claim to Harley and said she would be back in touch with me.

August 27, 2003
It has been more than four years since my last contact with Catherine Willson. She never did send me so much as a picture of Harley to verify that the horse she had was my boy.

I consulted several lawyers in this matter, who all advised me that because Harley had crossed an international boundary (from the U.S. into Canada), pursuing the matter legally would be extremely expensive and probably fruitless. I did file a theft report with the Anne Arundel Police Department, as advised by my lawyer.

Eventually, I ran out of money to find Harley, and I just had to let him go. It still breaks my heart to think of what might have happened to him once the sesamoid fracture was discovered or reopened. Did he get a rightfully deserved retirement? Did the injury get covered up so he could be sold again? Did he get sold to slaughter when he became irreversibly lame, or was he given a humane death by people who loved him? I've accepted that I may never know, but I leave this page up in the hopes that someone might recognize him and get in touch with me about his fate.

I also hope that someone might learn from my mistake. I thought a free lease was a perfect situation for Harley, and I thought the people who took him were trustworthy. The lesson is to always have a contract and to keep in touch. Make sure your horse is somewhere that you can show up unannounced to be sure he's being taken care of properly. If only I had been more diligent with Harley, I never would have lost him.

Please e-mail me at smmcgowan@aol.com

or write me at PO Box 324, Union Bridge, MD 21791

or call 410-775-2747

Thanks,

Siobhan (pronounced "Shivonne") McGowan-DeLancey