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Jennie Rhodes
Friday, 28 March 2025, 20:02
A Welsh pony called Olly has turned up in Andalucía after allegedly being stolen from his original owner in Manchester in 2019.
Molly Grace, who manages Fundación EquiScire, a rescue and rehabilitation centre for horses in Vejer de la Frontera, Cadiz, told SUR in English that Olly had been loaned to a family in Leeds by his owner, Julie Sykes, who had cared for him since he was just eight months old.
Julie runs a small business called Merrylegs Ponies, offering pony rides and visiting hospitals, nursing homes and schools with her ponies. However, in 2019, financial difficulties forced her to temporarily close her business, which has since reopened.
Molly explains that during this time, Julie placed several of her ponies on loan, which, according to Molly and Julie, who spoke to radio presenter Denise Southworth on WFM radio based in Wythenshawe, Manchester about the case on Tuesday 25 March, is "a common practice in the equestrian world". Julie signed an agreement with the family stating that Olly would be returned when the time was right. However, speaking on the radio programme Julie claimed that the agreement "isn't worth the paper it was [written] on".
Shortly afterwards, the people who then had Olly told Julie that they were planning to move to France with the pony. Although Julie said she was "wary", she eventually agreed. However, when she later asked for Olly back, the loaner claimed she no longer had him.
Without Julie’s permission, she had loaned Olly to a family in Leeds but only gave Julie an address; they didn't give her names or a telephone number. Feeling that something was "seriously wrong", Julie filed an official police report about her missing pony, but Julie explains that police told her it was "a civil matter" and not something they would get involved in.
Julie eventually managed to track down the people who allegedly had Olly. However, when she approached them Julie explained that the family reported her to the police for harassment.
In 2022 and now believing that by this point Olly was in Spain, Julie turned to social media and posted on Spanish horse and animal Facebook groups, asking for information and help.
She started to receive reports confirming that the loaner had relocated to Freila, Granada, where they had started a trekking centre. Molly explains that the "breakthrough came when a neighbour noticed a small white pony repeatedly escaping into a nearby field". The pony allegedly often went without food or water for long periods.
Apparently the owners of the trekking centre offered to sell Olly to the neighbour, who recalled seeing Facebook posts about a missing pony and contacted Julie.
Certain it was Olly, Julie asked the neighbour to keep an eye on him while she figured out a plan to get the pony back. Then in mid-2024, the neighbour informed Julie that the loaner was putting Olly up for sale, this time for 1,500 euros, which Molly says is "an exorbitant price for a pony of his age." By this time Olly would have been 16.
Julie made enquiries about following a legal route to get her pony back, but she told the radio programme that she'd had quotes of 500 to 900 euros just for a letter to be sent and that there would be additional fees as the case continued. It was a price she couldn't afford, so she decided she would try to buy Olly back, but she explains that she had to "do it anonymously" as she believed the people who now had him wouldn't sell the pony to her.
Julie looked for help in Spain and in February found Fundación EquiScire. Molly told SUR in English, "I offered to act as the buyer and arranged for Olly to be brought to safety at my centre. I was able to negotiate a lesser price for Olly and the thief agreed to 1,300 euros without his riding equipment."
Molly set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to get Olly back to Julie and says that "within 12 hours Karina Reilly from European Equine Transport Ltd. saw our plea and offered to transport Olly home for just the cost of import tax, which could range from £400 to £700".
Julie confirmed on the radio programme that she has covered the costs of buying Olly and is now just hoping to raise enough money to pay for the import tax.
She ended the interview by saying that once Olly is home she plans to raise awareness about what has happened to her and said that it's "very common" in the equestrian world. She says that what happened to Olly "is theft" and she is planning to start a petition to get the law changed.
Click on the GoFundMe page to read more about the story.
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