NEWS
Womans Search for Childhood Horse Brings Her to Schoharie County
SCHOHARIE -
Three decades ago Laurie DeFeo was forced to give up her beloved childhood horse Tara when her parents divorced and subsequently sold the family's horse farm. Tara was given up to a girl who promised to keep the small grey Arabian, but would end up selling the horse anyway.
| Tara in a photo taken in 1990 |
Laurie would eventually find the filly and her newborn foal Sabrina in 1990 at Perry Farm in Putnam Valley, Putnam County, New York. The farm was owned by Diane Janecek and after visiting her old horse, Laurie knew that she could still not care for Tara and the recently born foal, but was glad she was healthy and well taken care of.
| Tara and her young foal Sabrina |
Twenty years later Laurie was in the process of settling in Millbrook, a small Duchess County Village that is home to numerous national celebrities and hosts several horse farms. The latter of which stirred decades old memories of Tara within her former owner and spurred the now grown woman to find out what ever did happen to her horse.
Her search led to John Coyne, a former employee of the long shuttered Perry Farm, who remembers transporting Tara and Sabrina to a horse farm somewhere in Schoharie County, or at the border of a nearby county. His fuzzy memory of the long since forgotten journey places the farm near the Harpersfield/Jefferson town line, however nothing more has been discovered.
| Sabrina has a distinctive blaze with a half moon shape over her right eye |
Since then Laurie has been traveling up to Schoharie County on the weekends; driving around, leaving flyers in mailboxes, talking to people and trying to find anyone who may know her horse's whereabouts. She has received tremendous support from the area, but unfortunately no leads on either Tara or Sabrina have turned up.
Although realizing her search is a long shot, Laurie feels compelled to unearth the story of Tara and Sabrina. She recently reached out to the Schoharie News on the advice of a local horse owner in hopes of spreading her story across the county and finally learning where her horses are or what their stories were.
Laurie offered the following description of Tara and Sabrina:
Tara is 3/4 Arabian, and was about 10 years old at the time (her birthday is Memorial Day). Her coloring is a very light dapple grey/almost white; she is on the small side, just under 15 hands. She is smart, and a bit headstrong and feisty. Tara had just given birth to a chestnut foal named (at the time) Sabrina. Sabrina could have grayed out like her mother, and of course its possible their names were changed.
Tara would now be 35 years old if she is still alive, while Sabrina would be approximately 23. Laurie has felt compelled to search for both horses and would gladly give either Tara or Sabrina, or both a home again if need be. Or simply, she would just like to know that they are safe and happy.
If you have any knowledge of Tara or Sabrina's whereabouts, please contact either the Schoharie News at aaaabraves@yahoo.com or Laurie directly at ldefeo@msn.com with any and all information that may lead to a resolution in Ms. DeFeo's inspiring and touching story of love, devotion and search for closure.