PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, August 3, 2012

For more information, contact: Stole Horse International PO Box 1341, Shelby, NC 28151 704-484-2165,  Email: stolenhorse@netposse.com www.netposse.com

Opie was stolen 10 years from San Antonio. Saturday his owner will see him for the first time in Cleveland, TX!

You don't want to miss this reunion!

HOUSTON AREA - Horse theft is a crime that is alive and thriving in the U.S. today with thousands of horses missing each year. With the help of volunteers through Stolen Horse International, aka NetPosse.com, many horses are recovered and there is hope for victims like Michelle Pool, even almost 10 years after her horse was stolen.

Pool filed a report in March of 2003 for Opie, her spotted American Saddlebred horse stolen from her father’s pasture on Highway 181 in San Antonio, Texas. Shortly after she reported her stolen horse to Shelby, NC's Stolen Horse International, his webpage, http://netposse.com/view_report.asp?reportid=1687, was put on the website at www.netposse.com, and NetPosse Alerts were sent to thousands who sent them to thousands. But Opie was not anywhere in sight. As the years passed, Pool never quit thinking of Opie and wondering what happened to him.

After almost ten years, she does not have to wonder anymore! On Monday, July 30, 2012, a Deanna Bordelon called Stolen Horse International around noon to report an ad she'd seen on Craigslist. With an interest in possibly buying the horse Bordelon had searched the NetPosse.com website first to see if he was one of the horses listed. She was shocked to see him there but excited that she may help reunite him with his owner.

After receiving the wonderful news, the first thing Debi Metcalfe, President and founder of the nonprofit organization, had to do was find Michelle Pool! Pool’s contact information on the website had not been updated in years. 

Pool, who now lives in Eureka Springs, Arkansas says this about that surprising phone call: “I was in shock and part of me did not believe it at first because I had been let down so many times. Debi said she was sure it was him.”

Tonight Pool is traveling all night long to Texas to pick up her horse Opie. Nothing is going to stop her now from seeing her boy on Saturday! Not even mechanical failures on the road!

Shortly after she started the trip her trailer developed brake problems which caused the trailer to fishtail. Thank goodness Walmart was nearby. She pulled in, bought parts, fixed the brakes and hit the road again.

"I am nervous, excited and stressed. I can't wait to see him. I don't know if he will remember me but we will be able to get to know each other again," said Pool to Metcalfe from her truck on highway 540 as she was leaving Rogers, Arkansas. "I also hope that I will be able to meet Deanna and thank her for what she has done for me."

"The shattered dreams I had are being put back piece by piece and glued together all with the help of two AMAZING people … the tipster DeAnna and Debi with Stolen Horse International – NetPosse.com THANK YOU!”

Stolen Horse International would like to thank everyone who played a part in this miracle. "We never give up and we never underestimate the power of one,” says Metcalfe. “This is truly one of the miracles we love to see and I wish I could be there tomorrow to share this moment with two women that feel like old friends already. I will be there in my heart," Metcalfe concludes.

Contact Michelle Pool on her cell phone at 210-618-4970 for her estimated time of arrival. Deanna Bordelon in Dayton can be reached at 832-299-4669. Contact Debi Metcalfe at 704-484-2165 or 704-472-4314.

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Stolen Horse International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. SHI was founded in 1998 by Debi Metcalfe after she and her family spent nearly a year trying to locate Idaho, their spotted racking horse mare. Idaho was recovered when a flyer they had posted at a convenience store resulted in the tip that led them to their horse in another state.

Press Release July 31, 2012

Read August 1, 2012 update here: http://netposse.com/newsviewer.asp?id=712

Opie's webpage