Stunning Yuma was not on the original Twist of Fate property in New Jersey, USA where Ashley DiFelice and her young son were living - he was being boarded at a facility in Pennsylvania by Ashley along with eleven other horses. Because these horses were at an offsite property they DID have someone looking after them and fortunately had food and fresh water.
When Ashley's neglect and cruelty was discovered at the end of July 2022 she agreed to close the doors of her "sanctuary" and surrender all the animals. (She would later change her mind about a select few and illegally take them across state lines to her father's house in Pennsylvania.)*
Around two weeks later in August the rescues that had stepped in to rehome all of the TOF animals found out that Ashley had 12 additional horses at this property. Ashley owed the 80+ year old woman who owned the property over $8,000 in unpaid board and the owner had given Ashley the benefit of the doubt but was basically taken advantage of. At a previous time the owner and another boarder had gotten some funds together to get the horses vet and farrier care because Ashley never came through for that either. In the meantime while the sanctuaries and rescues Wild Lands Wild Horses, Riley Farm, Bluemont Equine Sanctuary, Rancho Relaxo and Goats of Anarchy started the search for new homes for the horses, Riley Farm paid the woman $800 for the current month to be able to keep them there and buy them some time to find them their new forever homes. (This unexpected $800 is another entry in a very very long list of expenses & costs that many sanctuaries took on solely because of Ashley's actions or as a result of them.) Fortunately with a fundraiser, supporters came through and Riley was able to raise almost double the amount needed to board the horses while they found new homes.
Ashley agreed to surrender 8 of the 12 horses, and she took the remaining four off the property without even telling the property owner or paying her back what she owed. I have no idea where the other four are or what happened to them (I don't believe that anyone does). Ashley either kept them, sold them, or gave them away. I cannot believe that she thought that she should have any say in where these horses went OR that she would not surrender them all. To these horses: I hope that you're still alive, that you're being fed, are free to just be horses and not exploited for riding or other purposes and that you're okay.
The 8 horses discarded by Ashley but saved by others are Joe, Buck, Remmy, Bubbles, Lily, Anna & Ravenna*, and Yuma.
Yuma is a dun mustang that's around 20 years old that was gelded (neutered) very late in life. Dun is a coat color dilution characterized by lightening of the coat with the head, lower legs, mane and tail undiluted. Oftentimes, dun is also characterized by "primitive markings" such as a dark dorsal stripe, barring of the legs, shoulder stripes, and "cobwebbing" on the forehead. He was originally born wild and free in Nevada but rounded up as a yearling and for 13 years his history was unknown - he bounced around from house to house until he landed in a kill pen in Texas. He then found his way to Ashley and the offsite property.
From the boarding facility Yuma went to Triple 7 Rescue & Rehab for a refresher in gentling, or just being able to be handled by a human without any stress. Triple 7 got to work, even starting out with getting a large matted clump about the size of a baseball bat out of his tail! Eventually Yuma went to stay with Jamie Baldanza (@thismustanglife) as a foster home.
Unfortunately on September 8th Yuma had an emergency and was colicing, or having abdominal pain and discomfort. The vet was called out and thought it might have just been a gas colic and tubed him, suggesting that if Yuma didn't poop the next morning to bring him in. The next day Yuma was brought to the hospital and was given fluids and put under 24 hour supervision. Jamie said that Yuma is overall a pretty stoic horse, so it was hard to tell how he was feeling or reacting to treatment, and even though he was in pain he wasn't showing it. The vet said that she couldn't feel an impaction but that it was possible that there was still one there. The immediate concerns were for the amount of reflux in his stomach and his heartrate which was high, indicating that he was in pain.
The vet pumped the reflux fluid in his stomach, tested it and found it to be high in protein which likely indicated an issue with his small intestine. The plan moving forward was to continue pumping his stomach, test the fluid for protein levels, and give him IV fluids to replace what was removed. It was determined that if the protein level elevates, the volume increases, or his heart rate doesn't go down then she wanted to go in for surgery.
Yuma ended up needing the surgery, and the vet found two impactions - one in his colon, and the other in his small intestine. Due to the expense, the vet had to first get permission from Jamie in order to remove the 2nd impaction. It was removed, and the vet added that Yuma is the "most complex horse she's seen" mostly because all the tests were showing that he was in severe pain but he wasn't showing it, which just goes to show how strong Yuma is. Due to how much extra care he needed, his growing hospital expenses, and how much she loved him Jamie decided to officially adopt Yuma herself and stop the process of looking for a different forever home for him.
After the surgery Yuma spent some time at the hospital for observation and care. He had a slight fever here and there but was overall doing very well, started his refeeding program and even finally pooped, eventually perking up and getting back to his old feisty self. He had a high digital pulse so he was put in ice boots to keep him from foundering (developing inflammation in his feet, which causes severe pain).
A note: while the horses at the offsite property were being fed and looked after, they still unfortunately had untreated issues and weren't tended to like they should have been under the care of a regular sanctuary. Flies were rampant for all of them and Yuma had allergies and was overweight and could have possibly foundered at that time as well. Yuma's colic started because he hadn't had his teeth done for years and therefore wasn't able to cut through and chew his food properly and then on top of the stress his stomach had moving from pasture grass to hay created the issues. While in surgery, huge chunks of hay were pulled out of his small intestines and colon. But after his surgery and while he was in the hospital he had his teeth done - he had some really sharp incisors that were filed down, a missing tooth, and one angled tooth that was jabbing into his tongue causing all types of sores and making it difficult and painful to eat hay.
The smallest actions and efforts could've helped him all along, like getting his teeth done, but Ashley didn't bother.
On September 21st after 12 days in the hospital, Yuma got to come home with Jamie to continue recovering and healing. He had a long road ahead of him with almost 3 months of stall rest and a careful refeeding program. Yuma eventually got to meet some friends and move into a small pasture, and then into the grassy field with the other senior boys. These days Yuma is doing wonderfully and enjoys hanging out with the other horses and laying in the sunshine, finally able to relax after all that he's been through. Thank you to Triple 7 Rescue and Jamie for helping him heal and get to this point!
Jamie is an AMAZING photographer and often photographs animals in sanctuaries (most often at Sky Dog Sanctuary - @skydogsanctuary), as well as the wild horses in Theodore National Park and the public lands that the Bureau of Land Management controls. Regarding the BLM, they determine how many wild horses can live on the land, taking into account the other animals on the land as well as the interests of the ranchers* and the National Park Service. If the population goes over a certain amount, then the government conducts a roundup and it will remove the horses. Those wild horses are then offered up to the public for adoption. According to Jamie, if a wild horse is offered to the public three times and no one adopts him/her, then the horse can be sold for $25 without limitations, which means that anyone can just pick up a horse and do whatever they want with them - this leads to the slaughter pipeline and kill buyers are looking for these deals where they can pick up free or cheap horses. Jamie has adopted several of these "3 strike" horses and brought them home to her sanctuary. You can also view more of her beautiful photography on her website!
Jamie also started a nonprofit, Wild Lands Wild Horses (@wlwh_fund) that raises funds and awareness for wild horses and burros through film, rescue, education, and more. Please check out their website and Instagram, and if you'd like to support her cause, you can make a donation through PayPal or Venmo (both linked on the WLWH website), their GoFundMe, or send them something from their Amazon Wishlist. And if you'd like to donate on a monthly basis you can join their Patreon. Looking for other ways to support? Jamie sells her stunning horse photos as prints! And WLWH also has cute tees, tanks and sweatshirts available on Bonfire, including a Yuma design!
I spoke with Jamie and she said that Yuma is still in need of a few monthly co-sponsors! Please reach out to her on Instagram if you'd like to help.
You can watch 'Pass SAFE Act Now - a film by Skydog Sanctuary and This Mustang Life' narrated by Daryl Hannah on YouTube, and you can also check out WLWH's official YouTube channel.
Please give Jamie a follow on both of her IG accounts (@thismustanglife) and @wlwh_fund) to help support the amazing work that she's doing for horses and all animals. To read more about The Safe Act to save and protect horses, please click on their site here. There are links on the site to donate to that cause too, as well as tips on how you can help.
*Just a reminder - the main reason why the BLM is rounding up horses is to make room for even more cattle/"beef" farmers, which means that the cost of your steaks or burgers is not only that of the lives of the cows, but also the lives of most of these wild horses and burros as well. Please learn about where the animals that are used for your food come from and what they have to endure, as well as the effects on the surrounding animals and environment. To learn more about the best way that you can help ALL animals along with a long list of resources, please click here.
*To read about the animals that Ashley took with her and still has, you can read updates #35 and 36 here and here.
*Anna, Ravenna, & the others listed will have their stories shared in an upcoming post!
A note regarding Ashley's court date on November 2nd & why I didn't share an update about it:
It's because I'm really confused - in summary, Ashley was never in court on Thursday the 2nd.
After her appearance on October 12th I had seen in numerous places that her hearing was rescheduled from that day for November 2nd and that additional charges would be coming. I have been posting this for a few weeks and was never corrected or saw anything to the contrary. On the evening of November 1st I contacted two sanctuaries to see if they had the info for joining the hearing and in the meantime I emailed the prosecution team for the same info. I never heard anything back from the sanctuaries but received an email from the prosecution that she wasn't scheduled to appear in court today (the 2nd). I asked them when her next hearing is and I am still waiting on answer.
According to her court documents on njcourts.gov the date has not been updated since her last court appearance on October 12th. This is odd because it has always been updated with the date of her next hearing almost immediately following her last hearing, yet this information hasn't been added in 3 weeks. To look up this form and the complaint details, you can find the instructions and link in a previous post that I created here.
As far as I know, additional charges are coming but I do not know what those will be for or when she will be charged.
Normally I write 3 updates/week (change.org's max), mostly to share the stories of the Twist of Fate animals and since I allotted for one of the updates this week to be about her court hearing that never happened I will most likely only have time to share the two this week. I should be back to the regular schedule next week!
Thank you so much for being here and for your support!
This is the spot where I normally share the date of her next court hearing, but unfortunately I currently do not know when that will be! Please stay tuned, and I will update as soon as I hear anything.
Please continue to share the petition. Thank you!