Once freed from the gate the foal's back legs were stiff.
I arrived at approximately 6 pm.
When I went into the small barn, which is more of a shed, I saw the mom and her foal.
The stall had about 3 feet of manure in it and the mare was eating hay that was also her bedding.
The baby was uncovered and cold. I immediately got a bottle from Stephanie, fed the foal and asked Stephanie to milk the mother and get more milk to feed the filly.
I covered the foal in blankets and rubbed her.
I squeezed her back legs and was happy to get a response to the pressure.
I lifted her up and she was putting some weight on her back legs but she was not strong enough to keep standing on her own.
I laid her back down and fed her again.
She had a vigorous appetite.
I told Stephanie that the mare and foal needed to go to the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph and that I would arrange for transportation.
She said she couldn’t afford trailering, so I said I would pay for it.
Stephanie’s mother was there as well. I told both of them that they must stay with the baby all night feeding her, keeping her warm and allowing her to sleep between feedings.
I warned them that she would die if they did not do as I asked.
They both agreed to stay all night in their vehicle and care for the foal until I picked her up in the morning.
I received a text from Stephanie around 6:15 am saying she just went back to Toronto (an hour away from the foal) to nap and that I could load her and take her.
I said she had to be present as I didn't want to later be accused of stealing her.
She then said she had to take her dad to the hospital and would not be able to get back to the barn till later.
I asked her when the foal was last fed. She said 7:15 a.m. which didn't make sense as she sent me a text at 6:15 a.m. that she was an hour away napping - and wouldn't be able to come to the property until later in the morning. She didn't get to the barn until after 9 a.m.
I looked after my horses and then headed over to the property Stephanie leases to wait for Stephanie and to feed the foal while I waited.
When I got there I could see the baby half covered with the blankets and she had digging marks all around her, made by the mother trying to get her up.
The foal was dead.
Stephanie did not stay the night and texted Dianne during the night to say she didn’t stay because she was too tired.
When Stephanie arrived, I looked at her and told her the foal was dead.
I asked her if she stayed all night and she swore she did and said she fed her every twenty minutes and rubbed her all night to keep her warm.
That didn't make sense based on what she'd texted Dianne Beleskey.
I am including a screenshot (below) of the message Stephanie sent to Dianne on Sunday evening February 2, stating that she'd left.
Stephanie did not appear upset in any way, she Just wanted to know how to dispose of the body. I told her to call a dead stock company but instead after 2 days of the dead foal lying in the stall with the mother, she dragged it to the woods for coyotes to eat.
I would also like to note that inside the "barn" any water buckets were frozen solid and the outside water troughs were empty.
I am haunted by this situation.
Had I known what I was dealing with I would have stayed.
I’m certain the foal would have lived.
At that point, I vowed that this beautiful foal's death would not be in vain and that I would do anything and everything I could to stop Stephanie Redlick from inflicting such cruelty on any other trusting beautiful soul.
Horses only have us to protect them and now after a week of endless phone calls and police visits I am frustrated that it feels like my complaints and concerns are falling on deaf ears.
