Missing horse found thanks to nosebleed clue

It was a small but crucial clue that helped former Lawrence resident Nikki Plint track down her old friend, a retired racehorse whom her family adopted 14 years ago..

Jake the retired racehorse with former owner Nikki Plint in his younger days.

Thanks to the power of social media, former Lawrence resident Nikki Plint will soon be reunited with an old friend.

On Tuesday, Ms Plint made an appeal on Facebook to help locate Jake, a retired racehorse whom her family adopted 14 years ago.

“When we got him, he was half-starved and looked like he had been through a fence,” she said.

“At the time, he didn’t have a name so we ended up calling him Jake. We later found out his race name was Moneyrow.”

Ms Plint said that while the jet black thoroughbred was retired from the racetrack, Jake was still full of energy.

“He definitely taught me a lot!” she said.

Jake the retired Grafton racehorse will celebrate his 24th birthday this year.

“He was such a hot horse; full of energy and liked to have a buck when he could. We used to gallop everywhere around the paddock because he hated walking. Once he got worked up, he’d start to canter sideways. He’d also get nosebleeds all the time.”

As the years went on and Ms Plint entered adulthood, work commitments drew her to Cessnock.

“I was keeping Jake and another horse at my parents’ property with plans to save up the money and move them here with me,” she said.

However, those plans were soon abandoned when she learned the family property had been sold. Thankfully, a family friend offered to adopt Jake.

But, just two years later, she learned that Jake had been rehomed again.

“I was just really sad when I heard about that,” she said.

“I’d always wanted him to go to a good home and was so worried about what would happen to him.”

Determined not to lose track of Jake, Ms Plint put the call out on social media that she was looking for her old stable mate.

“I posted on Facebook, shared it everywhere and got an overwhelming response,” she said.

“A woman got in touch and told me she used to work with him at the racetrack when he was around three years old. I also learned that his name before we got him was Conroy.”

Although there are more wisps of grey throughout his black hair, Jake will live out his days in a safe space near Grafton.

After Ms Plint’s post was shared across multiple Clarence Valley social media groups, it wasn’t long before she got the news she had been waiting for.

“A woman told me that she had just dropped off a horse at someone’s place the other day, an old black horse that got nosebleeds. Those nose bleeds are like his calling card,” she said.

“It turns out, he’s with a nice family and has a friend with him that’s also an ex-racehorse. He is safe and happy and retired in a big, grassy paddock.”

Ms Plint said that she plans to reunite with Jake as soon as she can.

“I never expected this search to have a happy outcome, but thanks to the power of social media, the next time I’m in Grafton, I’ll get to go and see him,” she said.