by - Noelle Krueger

 After the heartbreaking loss of our 13-month-old thoroughbred filly to osteosarcoma in 2014, my mother and I found ourselves at a crossroads. We had just embarked on a new farm venture, and the weight of her absence was palpable, coupled with the daunting task of managing a farm on our own. Yet, in the midst of our grief, we found the strength to carry on, constantly reminiscing about that little chestnut with four stockings and a dotted blaze, wishing for a different outcome.  

Several months after her passing, I found myself on 'dreamhorse.com,' a glimmer of hope in my first year of college. Each day, the void left by our filly's departure seemed to deepen, and I found solace in the idea of welcoming a new horse into our lives. 

One day, a filly in Florida caught my eye- she bore a striking resemblance to our late Persephone, with the same markings and a name that echoed my own. Intrigued, I clicked through her pictures, imagining the horse-rider duo' Noelle and Elle.' 

I shared her ad with my mother, exclaiming, 'What a cute hunter prospect,' before continuing with my day. As a seasoned Hunter Jumper trainer, my mom agreed, noting the filly's adorable daisy cutter trot, but lamenting her distance.  

A few months later, while cleaning some stalls, my mom called me to the barn's main entrance. A large semi-trailer is parked in the driveway of our farm with the ramp lowered- I look at her, confused, as I know we weren't expecting a new boarder that day. She looks at me, smiles, and climbs up the ramp, leading down a lone petite thoroughbred mare with four white stockings and a blaze with flaxen mane and tail. "Elle" had arrived from Florida to our Chicago-based farm! 

As we settled her into the farm, I found her Jockey Club papers registered as "Wearing Wings." As we grew together, I realized how fitting that name was. Soon after her arrival, her personality flourished, and we learned the barn name "Elle" was not quite a fit for this filly. After much debate, given her fiery nature, we named her "Shakira," which she seemed to agree with. She responded to her new name in the fields, eagerly trotting to the fence line awaiting carrots. 

Our bond grew stronger as we embarked on the under-saddle process together. She was the first horse I started from the ground up, and she took to everything with such grace and enthusiasm. It was clear that her passion lay in jumping, and I was grateful for the opportunity to nurture that passion.  

As she grew up, we schooled her over logs, Swedish oxers, and liver pools, and there was never any hesitation in her steps—she loved it. 

For her first show, we trailered her to the Midwest Horse Fair. She was placed in a competitive group of seasoned show horses in an arena surrounded by bleachers full of people—she walked right off the trailer. She did not bat an eye to the crowds, the speakers, or the jumps. 

As a college student, I did my best to take her to a few local shows when I could afford, but I started to feel like she could do so much more. 

As she got fitter, she got stronger, bolder, and more passionate about jumping: she truly started to exemplify the top of the temperament scale at red hot- my initial thoughts of having a flashy hunter named "Elle" quickly had dissipated into a reality of a spicy chestnut jumper mare named "Shakira." For this reason, I started to show her under the name "Rabiosa" for amusement: the name of one of Latin singer Shakira's hit songs- meaning "rabid/wild animal." And "Rabiosa" and I had a blast together. 

A couple of years later, we were told the farm my mother had been managing would be torn down by the village that owned it. We were shocked and upset- we sent pleas to the board to reconsider. We created a petition with the community, but ultimately, it fell out of our control despite everyone's best efforts. 

We were devastated at losing such a beautiful property and a place we called home for several years. My mother had been considering moving out of state for a while, and the sudden loss of the farm pushed her to leave Illinois altogether.  

When it came time to select what horses would go with her to restart her business from the ground up over 1000 miles away, the difficult decision was made that Shakira, our fiery chestnut mare, would probably be "too much" horse for many riders. Since I was working part-time and attending full-time classes as a pre-medical student, I could not pay for the full board on Shakira elsewhere.

 While having Shakira stabled at my mother's business, I could work off some of the board, but losing the business meant I could no longer have the luxury of this arrangement. I spent agonizing hours trying to find a situation that would work. Still, after being unable to maintain leasers on Shakira, given her intimidating personality under saddle, I made the painful decision to list her for sale- unfortunately, I did not have another option. 

It was a heart-wrenching moment when Shakira was purchased by a lady on the East Coast. In July of 2017, we had to say goodbye. I held onto the hope that one day, when circumstances allowed, I would be able to bring her back into my life. 

Fast-forward a few years, and the lady who bought her to continue her in the hunter-jumper world decided to sell her. She was sold to another lady on the East Coast who mostly did Western pleasure. I was introduced to her through social media, and we stayed connected. 

I continued into my pre-medical training and watched Shakira, who was being called "Wings" by her new owners, through the eyes of social media. 

Time passed, and I got into medical school, so I started not having as much time to check for updates on Shakira. After missing her 10th birthday in April 2021, I noticed that it had been a while since I had seen an update from her. I contacted that new owner and discovered she had been sold elsewhere a few months ago. 

Unfortunately, the circumstances surrounding where and who purchased her were unclear- I was ultimately told she was likely with a family in Virginia somewhere. I started to look in East Coast horse groups for any evidence of Shakira but had yet to be successful. 

After not being able to find any actual answers or confirm her whereabouts or safety, I decided to place a 'Searching for a Horse" report listing on Stolen Horse International's NetPosse website, www.netposse.org, with utmost caution. Knowing Shakira's temperament and personality, I had a bad feeling she could quickly end up in the wrong hands. 

When her NetPosse Alert listing was posted on the Facebook page, Stolen Horse International-NetPosse Missing and Stolen Equine, hundreds of people helped to share it across the country. 

I continued my search in the East Coast horse groups, feed lots, and slaughter lots to no avail. Months started to go by, and despite so much love and support from the horse community, we could not find her. 

To say I was devasted was an understatement- this mare confidently took me over my (and her!) first cross-country jumps, slept in my lap at horse shows, nickered at me from the fence line early in the mornings while I cleaned stalls, and was the first young horse I developed. I felt that same hole I felt from losing Persephone all those years ago.  

Two years passed, and Shakira's whereabouts remained shrouded in mystery. I finished medical school, was matched into an internal medicine program in Chicago, and was about to start my first year as a resident doctor. 

In those years of silence, I saved up money to own a horse, purchased Carmella, my buckskin thoroughbred mare, and sent her to my mother, who now resides in South Florida, to continue her jumping education while working in Chicago. 

On June 29th, 2023, the Stolen Horse International NetPosse report I had created in 2021 led a girl to my social media page. She stated she had seen a mare very similar to mine being offered for sale on Facebook. She screenshotted the pictures of this ad of a petite chestnut mare with four white stockings and a very characteristic blaze, and I burst into tears. After over two years of silence, we found her! 

I immediately called my mom, and we both became emotional. My mom, who now runs a successful hunter-jumper business in South Florida, lamented how she wished we had kept Shakira all these years. 

She realized that while in the Midwest, riders traditionally preferred the big-bodied, slow-hunter types, South Floridians seemed to love jumpers, and even the local shows have "tadpole jumpers" for the kids. 

She had several youngsters in her program looking for a bold, confident jumper type, which she did not have in her program yet and was starting to look for a prospect to fit that role. We immediately contacted Shakira's seller, and within a few days, we signed a contract to bring her back home! 

We learned from the lady who acquired her that she had been living in a field with cows for months. Her mane and tail had been matted, and her tail was so unkempt that most of it had to be cut off. Her feet were overgrown, her teeth needed to be done, and her belly was bloated. This lady helped to clean her up, worm her, and slowly restart her under saddle. 

After organizing a haul about a month later, Shakira was on her way home to us again, returning to her home state of Florida. 

As soon as I could, I flew down to see my girl after six years apart. When I said her name for the first time, she stuck her head out the window of her stall, and the rest is history.  

In 2024, after proper vet care, farrier care, saddle fitting, and being reintroduced into a program, Shakira has returned stronger than ever. 

This month, Shakira went to her first big show at WEC Ocala and competed in up to 1.15-meter jumpers with a young rider. I dreamed of seeing "Wearing Wings" on the billboard at WEC. 

I am forever grateful to Stolen Horse International and their NetPosse supporters for helping us find our girl, and I am so happy to see her thriving and doing what she loves again. 

Thank you to everyone who helped us all these years to try to find her: your efforts were never in vain, and Wearing Wings is home sweet home. 

We hope you enjoyed this NetPosse Alert happy ending. Wearing Wings Netposse link is: Wearing Wings | NetPosse ID #4233