Search continues for Myakka City horse

Connie Smith hasn’t had a good night’s sleep since Jan. 10 when she realized one of her horses was missing from outside her Myakka City home.

The 16-year-old grey mare, a draft cross, has a white coat with bluish gray undertones and was aptly named Cloud. Smith rescued her 12 years ago from what she called an "overbreeding barn," which is essentially a puppy mill for horses. 

Smith’s husband, Jimmy Edwards, owns Florida Beach Horses, which offers guided rides on the beach along with opportunities to swim with the horses.

The business is offering a $10,000 reward for any information that leads to the safe return of Cloud, which is one of the beach horses used for rides around Palma Sola Bay. 

So far, only scammers have called with bogus tips. 

Smith has a “gut feeling” that Cloud didn’t leave on her own because it doesn’t add up with the horse’s behavior or surroundings. 

There were no fences down or gates open. In the nearly three years they’ve lived on Betts Road, Cloud has never wandered off or jumped the fence. 

If Cloud did jump the fence, Smith said she would have had to jump several of the neighbors’ fences, too. It’s more likely that she would have stayed to graze or looked for a way to get back inside Smith’s fence to be with the herd. 

Sgt. Robert Hendrickson of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said there's only evidence to prove there’s a missing horse, not if the horse was lost or stolen. Hendrickson is the supervisor of the county's Rural Unit. 

Smith doesn’t have proof, but the timing raises red flags for her. She said the Garden Brothers Circus had a tent set up at Dakin Dairy between December and January during the same time period that Cloud disappeared. 

Courtesy image

According to Smith, when Cloud was fed on the evening of Jan. 9, the circus was packing up to leave. By the next morning’s feeding, Cloud was gone. 

“Something in my heart is just telling me there’s something to all this,” she said. 

Smith said the horses can’t be seen from the main road, but can be seen from the dairy’s property where the circus camp was set up. 

Hendrickson wouldn't comment because it is an open investigation.

Smith values Cloud at over $25,000 because she’s a working horse and still of breeding age, but that’s not why there’s a $10,000 reward. She said Cloud is part of her family. 

Smith’s worries are parental. Cloud gets anxious when shut up in a stall too long, and she’s still recovering from injuries.

On Nov. 29, their trailer was T-boned on State Road 70. Cloud was one of eight horses in the trailer when it flipped. Another horse, Hoss, died in the crash. 

Smith said Cloud didn’t have any open wounds left, but she was still experiencing muscle swelling and receiving electromagnetic wave treatments. 

Smith doesn’t believe Cloud is lost because of how much they searched with drones and on horseback, but it does happen. 

Hendrickson said a bull and two cows went missing during Hurricane Ian in 2022. They were found about three months ago, and by that time the bull and two cows had three offspring. 

They were found because they had become a nuisance by regularly crossing State Road 64. Residents and drivers kept reporting the loose livestock to police. Finally, someone got a photo that revealed a brand.

“They were living just fine on their own in the woods,” Hendrickson said. “Granted, that is an unusual case.”

In most cases, he said lost livestock turn up within a week or two. 

If Cloud is found to be stolen and an arrest is made, Hendrickson said the charge would be the same as if a car was stolen. Grand theft is at least a third-degree felony that can result in penalties of up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. 

"I pray every morning," Smith said. "It's a needle in a haystack, but I'm always going to keep up hope that she'll show up or somebody will want to speak out for the $10,000."