A SHETLAND pony foal that was stolen from the Truro area at just two months old has been found safe and been reunited with her owner and mother.

Smallholder Jean Curd, of Allet Farm, discovered Lucy was missing when she checked on her small herd early on July 12. Devon and Cornwall Police issued a media appeal to #BringLucyHome after Lucy, the chestnut, skewbald foal, was stolen.

The story touched the hearts of people across the whole of the country, with the appeal being shared widely, reaching well over a million people on social media, and attracting local and national broadcasting coverage.

Officers continued to follow up on information provided to them by members of the public and on Thursday, August 21, Lucy was finally found all the way up in Hertfordshire.

Speaking to the Voice, Jean said: “Initially we were hopeful, we though she might be found somewhere close, or that she might just have escaped and we missed her, which is silly because that was no way she was going to get over that fence. So there was that hope that she was still around here somewhere and then when we couldn’t find her, we’d hoped that somebody would realise that she was too young and would bring her back.

“I would go out every morning and check in the fields to see if somebody had brought her back. I’d walk around the fields just to be certain. Logic doesn’t really come into it, it’s all emotion and wishful thinking. Over time I got really worried that she would be dead because I didn’t know that anybody would be able to look after her well enough. She was so young without her mother’s milk, but she’s strong, tough and she survived.

“I got to the point where I was like, ‘that’s it’, we’re never going to get her back after five weeks, and then out of the blue I got a phone call in the middle of the day to say we found her. It was disbelief.”

Following intelligence provided by a member of the public, the rural affairs team at Devon and Cornwall Police made contact with officers from the rural crime team at Hertfordshire Constabulary who carried out a search at a caravan park in the Hertfordshire force area.

The team located Lucy and seized her from the property, and she was back home in with her owner Jean and mum Nancy by 11pm on the same day.

Jean continued: “We had fears as to how she was, I’d seen some pictures, so we knew she wasn’t too bad. When she arrived she was not overly clean and was a bit grubby and smelly. We got the vet out the following morning.

“Nancy didn’t recognise her, because she’d been in different places she just didn’t smell right and that’s the big issue. That’s one of the reasons why we’ve kept them apart right now because I need them to just build that bond which they will do.”

Reacting to the public appeal on social media, Jean concluded: “I was shocked and pleasantly surprised, it was lovely. She was found on the other side of the country, and we’d never have been able to have found her without the help of people on social media.

“The police too have been wonderful, they’ve been so supportive, so concerned, and I can’t thank them enough. The actual team that went in and picked her up were just so caring and so determined to get her back for us.

“The public and the police have been wonderful, I can’t thank them enough, it’s just lovely.”