Gray Gatsby is a beautiful dappled grey gelding with four white socks and a white blaze (which is the stripe down his handsome face). I truly cannot get over how pretty and unique his coloring and markings are every time I look at him. 

He was born with one or more deformed legs and sadly at just around 4 years old was sent to an auction to be shipped to slaughter. Ashley DiFelice stepped in and rescued him and brought him to the former Twist of Fate property in October of 2018. She only posted about him on the TOF Patreon twice, and for the last sentence of the final posting Ashley wrote "I can't wait to see him blossom here". (Her posts grievously have a lot of what would eventually become one dark irony after another). 

After I posted the petition back in April of this year and shared some of the details of the case, I had some people contact me that were looking for certain animals. One of them was Gatsby's former sponsor, a woman named Dorren. Dorren was sponsoring Gatsby and another horse at TOF, Brandi, a beautiful roan mare that was around 20 years old. 

Dorren sponsored Brandi for 4-5 years and became Gatsby's sponsor on November 1st, 2018.  She sponsored him for a little over 3 years, plus she would send money for fundraisers for new rescues or when Gatsby needed money for his medications, one of them being for pain management for his foot/leg. As we were discussing their history we both wondered if he ever even once got those medications or if Ashley just kept the money instead. 

At some point Ashley just stopped updating Dorren on the life and progress of the two horses, so their sponsor started routinely asking how they were doing and requesting updates and photos. Ashley would always say that she would get back to her, that she was too busy right now but would get her the info, or she would just ignore her entirely. Unfortunately Dorren had to stop sponsoring both horses in the spring of 2022 when she got injured and lost her job, but she would still send money here and there when she could and she continued to message Ashley during that time to ask about both horses. She never heard anything back from her. 

Once news of the cruelty case broke, Dorren started looking through the rescue and sanctuary pages for info or photos of Brandi and Gatsby. She was able to locate Brandi, who survived Ashley's cruelty and neglect and was adopted into a private home. But there was no word about Gatsby. She reached out to me to see if I knew anything, and I told her that unfortunately he wasn't on the list of survivors. I told her that it was possible that he was one of the horses that she took with her, or maybe he was at the boarding facility in Pennsylvania, where she had a few other horses. Neither of us believed that this was the case though, mostly due to the fact that she had been ignoring the inquiries about him for so long - we both suspected the worst, and Dorren believed that he may have died on the property a long time ago. 

When I first started writing this story Gatsby's status was going to be "missing and presumed dead". However...

I contacted a few of the rescues & sanctuaries last night as I was researching and writing this because I was trying to find out what kind of horse he is. I tried to do a Google image search but that mostly brought up depressing photos of racehorses and thoroughbreds that were for sale/sold. I found a few likely terms but since I don't know anything about horses or what any of the horse lingo means to know if the terms were correct, I figured I would ask the experts. (This info is on my list of things to learn though!). 

Caitlin of Rancho Relaxo, Allison of Red Feather Equine Sanctuary, and Lesley of Bluemont Equine Sanctuary were able to help me identify what kind of horse Gatsby is and how to describe him, and in talking to them and sharing what little information I had about Gatsby he was able to be located:

Back in July for the one year mark of the discovery of the abuse at the former Twist of Fate, Caitlin of Rancho Relaxo (@boochaces) posted a few videos, and one of them was of Tommy*, a horse that they took in that was blind, emaciated, and suffering from untreated Cushing's Disease. Tommy was also living with other malnourished horses as well as the dead bodies of his friends, one of whom he had to step on or over if he wanted to find shade or cover from the rain. The video showed a very brief, split second shot of the leg of a deceased horse on the floor near the doorway of a barn. Sadly Gatsby has been identified as that horse. It's unknown how long Gatsby was lying there before and after he passed...possibly weeks.

I contacted Gatsby's sponsor, friend, and protector Dorren last night when I found out so that I could let her know privately first. Even though she had suspected for a long time that Gatsby was no longer alive she was still devastated to hear this news. Please leave Dorren some words of love, comfort, and support in the comments below. And Dorren - thank you. I wouldn't have been able to tell Gatsby's story without all of your help, and you are both his hero and mine. 

Gatsby's story has been one of the hardest to write about and it only got harder and more upsetting during the process. The harsh realities of Ashley's actions and crimes are a lot for any of us to witness or bear, especially since they have all been so deliberate and so cruel. It's simply heartbreaking, over and over. Gatsby was eventually given the respect and dignity of a proper burial, and there are so many people that love him and mourn him, even though Ashley did not and does not. 

We miss you, Gatsby. 

 

Thank you for being here.   

 

*Tommy's story will be shared soon.

 

 

Also:

Please continue to share the petition - Ashley DiFelice's next court date is September 14th, and since the court is aware of the petition we'd like to get as many signatures and comments on it as possible before then.

According to their site, "at 15,000 signatures this petition becomes one of the top signed on change.org".

Thank you!