Peggy Lundin got a surprising early Christmas present when the phone call came in, informing her they had found Holy Boy.

Holy Boy, her 20-year old palomino American Quarter Horse, had been missing since a business deal to sell the horse had soured in March 2013.

At the time Lundin was dealing with a divorce and no longer had the pasture land to keep her horses. The money she made from selling another horse had helped her make ends meet a few months earlier so she approached the same man to see about selling Holy Boy.

“I thought since I had dealt with him in the past, he was someone I could trust and could work with,” she said.

The man agreed to pay $1,500 for the horse a week after it was delivered. Lundin, 54, said she tried multiple times to collect the money but found it difficult to hound the man while dealing with the divorce and her full time job. Besides all that, her best friend was diagnosed with cancer.

“She became my entire focus until she died the end of March 2014,” Lundin said.

After her friend’s death, she renewed efforts to get payment for her horse, even going to the man’s property with the intent of taking the animal back.

He was gone. The man Lundin had sold the horse to was in jail, serving a sentence for shooting at the ground while having an argument with a neighbor. Holy Boy was nowhere to be found.

“He had no brand,” she said. “I’ve been a mess for the last year. I should have had him branded, but hindsight is 20/20.”

After attempting to contact with the man and his fiancee, Lundin was sent a bill in the mail, charging her $3,000 for boarding Holy Boy. The invoice stated because the boarding bill was unpaid, the horse would be taken as payment.

She sought help from public officials in tracking down the missing horse, but to no avail.

Only through private investigators, Lundin’s own perseverance and the kindness of a stranger did she come close to finding Holy Boy.

She posted information and photos on Facebook that were shared by friends and family across the region, finally reaching a man who had purchased a similar horse.

“I finally got a call saying, ‘I think we found your horse,’” she said.

A rancher who had recently purchased a 20-year old Palomino found himself in the middle of the mounting legal battle. He was the missing link in getting Holy Boy back.

“His kindness and gentleness were overwhelming compared to what I had been dealing with,” Lundin said. “He said when he bought the horse, he was in horrible shape, shaggy and with shoes from the year before. He had his two nieces help nurse [the horse] back to health.”

The two arranged to meet and transfer the horse at the Flathead County Fairgrounds.

“I drove into the fairgrounds and saw a stock trailer,” Lundin said. “I stuck my hand in the window and he instantly nuzzled me. I couldn’t get him out of there fast enough.”

She had offered a reward for anyone who could help her locate Holy Boy, but the man refused.

“He was happy we were back together. It was a beautiful reunion,” she said.

After more than a year of a strange missing horse saga, Holy Boy was back with Lundin and now is living on her sister’s property near Fortine.

“I’ll be going up for a ride sometime in the next few weeks,” she said.

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.