Gypsy handles in west malling!

[dancebaben]

Both the boys had gypsy handles in their manes tonight.
Sadly no way of moving the boys, have removed Joes headcollar and brushed out and mane conditioned both of them so there is no trace. All headcollars have gone from the field now and i've called the police so all patrols are on the look out.

Texted everyone i know and now putting this here... we're in West malling just in case you'd forgotten!

Apache is microchipped and very distinguishable and is of no use to anyone... wonky knees, unusually marked and strange coloured... little Joe...... well let's hope he doesn't go anywhere cos we won't get him back again.


Terrified.

Here's the photo...

 

[crunchie1]

This is probably a very daft question so I'm sorry in advance, but what is a Gypsy Handle ?

I hope everything is ok with your horses though.

 

[lhotse]

Here we go again..................................................
.......................................
There is absolutely no evidence of any horse being stolen after being 'marked' in such a way.
It's a wind plait.
No need to panic.

 

[christi]

Brace yourself for the replies you will get in here xxx

 

[Bryndu]

My ponies have devised a cunning 'reverse' gypsy handle....it is called bloody gorse!!!!!
Bryndu

 

[Cedars]

Sodignsdfgnsfgunspdfugpsadfiugbapdifhgahfdbgaphfdgbapifdugbapfudvnapdsufnapsiufgbapsdfiunapjfgnapifdugbapiufgbapu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

 

[DragonSlayer]

Sodignsdfgnsfgunspdfugpsadfiugbapdifhgahfdbgaphfdgbapifdugbapfudvnapdsufnapsiufgbapsdfiunapjfgnapifdugbapiufgbapu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

Breathe, daammit!

~Gets out the smelling salts~

Ok.....1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10.....aaaaaaand breathe......

Watch your blood pressure....!

 

[*hic*]

Here's the photo...

Oooh, nice wind plait

 

[TopDollar]

These wind plait threads worry me!

I'm just say here thinking that there may be the wrong kind of person reading these threads. Isn't this giving people the opportunity needed? We've all started this craze off which none of us think has anything behind it so what's stopping organised horse theives now going and doing this for real? We'll all be sat at home banging away on here about how it's all a load of old b*ll*cks and then bam!

Sorry if I sound over the top, but I think we should be alert to these things without making every other thread on here the subject of wind plaits.

Please don't take this as argument. I'm trying to be sensible.

 

[SusannaF]

It seems unfair to blame "gypsies" for something the wind did, or that the horse created by rubbing against something.
I don't think any horse thieves will start plaiting up horses for theft as a result of threads like this. The same arguments apply – why take five minutes "marking" a horse and therefore alerting its owner instead of just stealing it?

 

[Tinseltoes]

Oooh, nice wind plait

lol lol Yes Thats deffinatly A WIND TANGLE My little one gets them constantly¬¬

 

[*hic*]

These wind plait threads worry me!

I'm just say here thinking that there may be the wrong kind of person reading these threads. Isn't this giving people the opportunity needed? We've all started this craze off which none of us think has anything behind it so what's stopping organised horse theives now going and doing this for real? We'll all be sat at home banging away on here about how it's all a load of old b*ll*cks and then bam!

Sorry if I sound over the top, but I think we should be alert to these things without making every other thread on here the subject of wind plaits.

Please don't take this as argument. I'm trying to be sensible.

OK, so, being sensible. Instead of just watching a field and deciding to take the big grey and the little bay with a white face you think people are now going to watch fields, decide to take the big grey and the little bay with a white face, get in the field, put plaits in, and then come back another night to remove the horses, having given the owners time to discover the plaits.

Put yourself in the thieves shoes - which would you rather do? Me, for my level of intelligence, I'd watch the field and take the horses as soon as possible. I certainly wouldn't put identification on any horse I was going to steal. The only reason for entering a field before stealing the horse would be to find out how easy it is to catch - but each time you go into the field you are increasing your chances of detection.

No, I'm afraid I can't see any "real" horse thief bothering to mark their target out first - not with any sign obvious to the owners anyway.

There will of course be people who see this and realise they could have a good old laugh at someone else's panic by putting a plait in their horse's mane, heaven knows with some of the hysteria on here I'd be tempted myself if I lived near any of the hysterics.

 

[Tinseltoes]

OK, so, being sensible. Instead of just watching a field and deciding to take the big grey and the little bay with a white face you think people are now going to watch fields, decide to take the big grey and the little bay with a white face, get in the field, put plaits in, and then come back another night to remove the horses, having given the owners time to discover the plaits.

Put yourself in the thieves shoes - which would you rather do? Me, for my level of intelligence, I'd watch the field and take the horses as soon as possible. I certainly wouldn't put identification on any horse I was going to steal. The only reason for entering a field before stealing the horse would be to find out how easy it is to catch - but each time you go into the field you are increasing your chances of detection.

No, I'm afraid I can't see any "real" horse thief bothering to mark their target out first - not with any sign obvious to the owners anyway.

There will of course be people who see this and realise they could have a good old laugh at someone else's panic by putting a plait in their horse's mane, heaven knows with some of the hysteria on here I'd be tempted myself if I lived near any of the hysterics.

I have to agree BUT people do NOT listen to us,they will believe what they want,no matter how much its a rumour. I have heard of thieves leaving things outside the gate etc.

 

[Cedars]

I have a plan. How about, when everyone sees their horses today, you TRY to make a plait that actually looks like that. Then take a photo!

Do you have ANY idea how hard it would be to do that plait?!?!?!

 

[nettle]

I have a plan. How about, when everyone sees their horses today, you TRY to make a plait that actually looks like that. Then take a photo!

Do you have ANY idea how hard it would be to do that plait?!?!?!

Very good point!

 

[Lila]

No need to be so rude to the OP she is a genuinely worried owner.
Some of you on here are harsh at times its totally uncalled for. There's a few posts on here that fair enough they are stupid and the OP (not this one) deserves everything he/she gets. But please don't slate someone who is concerned its only natural if you love your animal so much

 

[christi]

No need to be so rude to the OP she is a genuinely worried owner.
Some of you on here are harsh at times its totally uncalled for. There's a few posts on here that fair enough they are stupid and the OP (not this one) deserves everything he/she gets. But please don't slate someone who is concerned its only natural if you love your animal so much

Agreed .

 

[Serenity087]

As I've started saying - would you, if you were a thief, put a postit note on a car saying "steal this one"?

No?

Then what sort of idiot plaits a horse up before stealing it. I mean really. Horse owners knew about this crazy trend before the thieves did!

It's a fairy plait, nothing to do with gypsies. If you're that worried, hog them, then the gypsies won't know which one to steal!

 

[Tinypony]

Op, don't worry, the wind did that. Two out of my three have versions of that in their manes at the moment. The one that hasn't is a bit short of mane, it he wasn't I'm sure he'd have one too. I've actually been at my field all day once, and had one of those tangles appear while I was there, because it was windy.
Do the police really respond to these reports by putting patrols on the "lookout"?

Mind you, the snow you had up in West Malling yesterday, I'd really wonder how the heck any horse thieves were planning to get their victims out of the area. Main roads were rough, but side roads were almost impassable weren't they? Certainly with a horse lorry or trailer. I'm a few miles from West Malling and had to walk to my yard. Snow in my field was a foot deep in some places. Hardly ideal circumstances for horse theft was it?

 

[Tinseltoes]

My little one had them and they had to be cut out as impossible to get out otherwise. Amazes me how they get them so often,but thats life.Its done by the wind.

 

[am3l1a]

i thought thieves put plaits in the mane to see if it was brushed out so they'd know how often they are taken care of and whether anyone would notice sraight away that the horse was gone.

some of these posts are really harsh, if i was upset and worried about my horse, i wouldnt want to come on here and be bullied into thinking i was being silly. i would come on here to warn others near to me and be given some reassurrance.

tbh, i was told this place was really good and that everyone was so nice. the majority are, then you have the prats left who read your posts and judge your thoughts and worries.

 

[Battyoldbint]

think my little lad got very small gypsy after him lol, hes got 1 in his feathers

 

[Zebedee]

think my little lad got very small gypsy after him lol, hes got 1 in his feathers

 

[Tinypony]

i thought thieves put plaits in the mane to see if it was brushed out so they'd know how often they are taken care of and whether anyone would notice sraight away that the horse was gone.

Well, I'm saying this kindly, no, that is not what the plaits are about, and what is shown in those photos isn't a plait anyway. Anyone who has horses with a longer mane that go out in the wind will recognise them as being a natural result of weather, and also I think sometimes caused by rolling.
People may sound harsh, but there have been loads of threads about this, and time and time again people have taken the trouble to contact the police to confirm that there are NO recorded thefts of horses that have been "marked" in this way. There have also been real facts and figures quoted that prove that horse theft in general has decreased.
The best way to protect your horse is to get it freezemarked. I hope nobody who is worried about finding these plaits, or who is passing texts around, or telling others to take "extra precautions" owns a horse that isn't freezemarked...

p.s. I don't know who told you everyone is "nice" here, because they aren't. Some are afraid to post here because there are members who can be quite forthright in their opinions, and every now and then someone is actually quite nasty. However, I think it can be quite interesting.

 

[chestercharlie]

OP I would be much more worried if I saw plastic bags or another type of marker tied to my fence, or fence was broken....spray on the floor along fence line type of thing, thieves really tend not to hang around and plait...they mark a place to break into your field rather than the horse....usually.

Markers you are looking for are usually NOT on the horse, they take photos or their pick of what they like at the time,

 

[ISHmad]

And if it hasn't been said before on the thread one of the very best deterrents is to make sure that your horse is freezemarked.

 

[Cahill]

imo it`s rural myth.
i have watched my cobs make these `plaits`in each others mane by twizzleing the hair with their top lips whilst grooming each other.

(sometimes they are very difficult to remove.i apply baby oil and usually pick them out the next day.)

 

[christi]

i do agree , there are ways of getting one's point across without being rude and nasty .
( she knows who she is )

OP just ignore the posts that are nasty , sadly you find it seems to be the same people over and over again who are yet to grasp the art of "typing" without being rude and nasty.

 

[TallyHo123]

My youngster gets these all the time! I better start camping out outside her field just be safe!

baaaaah how many times have we had these posts?!?!

 

[Serenity087]

Sorry if I seem rude with these sorts of scarmongering posts, but they are DANGEROUS. They cause hysteria where there is none. Horses get moved, owners get frightened, and that sort of confused environment is IDEAL for accidents and real thefts to take place!!

Tagging fields is also a myth. If I paniced every time I found rubbish in the bushes...

Make sure your horses are freezemarked and microchipped and that fields are secure. Shouldn't take a wind plait to get you thinking of it anyway!