Horse has been plaited in the field

If I had a pound for every time one of these has been posted...!

Has there ever been a factual, recorded, documented case of this actually happening?

Better watch out, someone must be creeping up and marking me out as well, I often come back in from the field plaited. I'll double check the doors are locked at night.
 
To avoid your horse from being stolen or to ensure it is recovered if it strays or is stolen get it Freezemarked as anyone can read a Freezemark.
Microchipping is a total waste of time as there is no central data base for them so if a horse is recovered with a micro-chip in it the chances are that it will not be on one of the databases which means they are unable to identify the owner.
As stated above it is not only travellers that steal horses.
In many cases of mares being stolen they are used for breeding and left in a remote field to run free with stallions.
Some tavellers will leave markers prior to them returning to steal them.
Best advice is Freezemark your horse and take a photo of it from the front, back, each side and underneath and keep them so that if your horse goes missing you can immediately circulate them to UK Alliance Horsewatck etc.
Also post code or Smartwater www.smartwater.com everything else.
You would be amazed at how many items are recovered but it is impossible to identify the owner because they are not marked!
 
jemima*askin said:
It's a load of rubbish.

Yet again I'll state that one of mine is frequently plaited although he's the oldest and ugliest and obviously least valuable in the field, he's one of the few that are freezemarked, he's also very nervous of having his mane touched by anyone and is terrified of strangers and I'd doubt one could get within 10 yards.

If someone wants to steal your horse they won't alert you by marking it. They'll use a mobile phone and take a picture, get a fix on the location, take pictures of any problems to be overcome in getting it out of the field. WHat they won't do is fanny about in your field plaiting it!
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So how does the plait get there, by magic :eek: I agree with your no nonsense reply as well.
 
honetpot said:
I think there is more of a problem of finding an extra pony in your field. Has happened to at least three people I know
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Agree with this - most horses aren't worth enough these days to justify the expense and risks of stealing them. There are far fewer on Horsewatch these days, mostly missing on loan, and you can pick up horses free, or almost, so really not worth the hassle. I suspect the travellers referred to earler might well have been pulling your chain :D
 
Faracat said:
So far, every 'plait' that has been photographed and posted on this forum (that I have seen) has actually been a wind tangle.
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The thing is, a photo on a forum isn't evidence anyway, as we don't really know how it got there. ;)

There's a photo doing the rounds on Facebook showing a plait held together with a band, warning that this is what travellers do before stealing, and youngsters believe it and repost.
 
This statement was put on Herts Police Equine FB page this week

Mane and Tail Plaiting!

Hertfordshire Constabulary regularly receive calls and reports of horses and ponies with plaits in their mane or tail.. Plaits have always thought to have been a way of 'marking' horses for theft. But there are NO REPORTS in the UK of any horses/ponies being stolen/or attempst being made to steal them after beng plaited.

Some plaits are actually 'wind tangles' and occur naturally in longer manes.
 
Thistle said:
This statement was put on Herts Police Equine FB page this week

Mane and Tail Plaiting!

Hertfordshire Constabulary regularly receive calls and reports of horses and ponies with plaits in their mane or tail.. Plaits have always thought to have been a way of 'marking' horses for theft. But there are NO REPORTS in the UK of any horses/ponies being stolen/or attempst being made to steal them after beng plaited.

Some plaits are actually 'wind tangles' and occur naturally in longer manes.
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At last, a statement.

I rang the local police a few years back and they said exactly the same thing.
 
Thank you for your replies.

Two different authorities have given us very differing advice very much like this forum.

I'm no longer panicking but will keep a closer eye on him.
 
If I were a naughty teenager I would delight in plaiting random horses' manes and then watching utter panic unravel within the local horsey world - local tack shops sold out of stock marker and purple spray and a sea of multi coloured, hogged horses as a result.

Honestly, in the 21st century, if you were going to steal a horse would any sane thief plait its mane up first?!
 
A few occurred round by us and was put down to a magic rite to do with the moon. How true that was i don't know but look out for druids just in case!
 
I bet their plaits are better than I could do anyway...


On a serious note - no one is going to plait a horse and then come back and steal it. Same thing happened with dog thefts and putting coloured stickers on gate posts - one colour meaning "nothing of use" and another meaning " steal these". I am sure if I found a sticker on my gate, it would be pink, meaning " give the poor girl a decent dog, her's are bed hogging muppets who couldn't guard to save their life"
 
RunToEarth said:
If I were a naughty teenager I would delight in plaiting random horses' manes and then watching utter panic unravel within the local horsey world - local tack shops sold out of stock marker and purple spray and a sea of multi coloured, hogged horses as a result.

Honestly, in the 21st century, if you were going to steal a horse would any sane thief plait its mane up first?!
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Really? The teenagers around my way smoke, drink and take drugs but it takes all sorts :D
 
shannonandtay said:
Really? The teenagers around my way smoke, drink and take drugs but it takes all sorts :D
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The local kids drink and have sex next to my horse's paddock and chuck the leftovers (cans, bottles and condoms) over the fence in to his field. Installing fake CCTV camera (with solar powered flashing LED to look realistic) today. Someone recently slung a sack full of grass cuttings in to his field too - charming!
 
I had my mares tail plaited and yes they did come back to get her. She lives out in summer and a couple of years ago i went into field and noticed her tail had been plaited. Its too good of plait for the wind and with her having a thick tail they had plaited it in the middle so it wasn't obvious. I brought her in to the stables that night made sure she was safe and sat in the bushes and waited. Yes, 3 men came that night and looked all over the field for her. I could hear them at times they were that close. And yes they were gypsies. (sorry but a fact). I use that field for hay now, even though its hedged all the way round with a ditch running round the road side aswell, the gate is about 7-8 foot tall solid wood with razor wire on the top and has a bolt across and a padlock.
 
I have to say, I thought it was total rubbish until I saw a horse passing down the processing line at a well known equine abattoir with a plait in it's mane, near the wither.

I went straight home and got my horse microchipped!
 
TheMule said:
I have to say, I thought it was total rubbish until I saw a horse passing down the processing line at a well known equine abattoir with a plait in it's mane, near the wither.

I went straight home and got my horse microchipped!
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How is that anything to do with it having been marked for being stolen? Why should it have been a stolen horse, and how would anyone know who put the plait there and why?

As pointed out earlier, microchipping doesn't deter thieves.
 
FionaM12 said:
How is that anything to do with it having been marked for being stolen? Why should it have been a stolen horse, and how would anyone know who put the plait there and why?

As pointed out earlier, microchipping doesn't deter thieves.
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As I understand it, most stolen horses are now slaughtered, which is why they are stolen in the first place nowadays. So a plait could be significant. I don't know how they get round the passport thing though although there was quite a lot of malpractice exposed around the horsemeat scandal. Agree with you on the microchipping bit though. I do err on the side of agreeing with the posters who have personal experience though.
 
Horlicks is sufficiently experienced to know whether it's a wind tangle or an intentional plait. Irrespective of whether its a 'mark' I'd be hacked off that someone had been in my field with my horse. Perhaps send your 'very friendly local policeman in uniform' down there a few times (when the horses are not pushing him over!) and perhaps put some signs up - Horse Watch, or cctv or something? Chains would also be a bonus. Although of course if someone is determined, very little would really stop them, I'd always like to hope that making it more difficult may mean they don't choose me.
 
I always thought this was a urban myth until this happened .
I mean much easier to ring your toe rag mate and say take the 13.2 piebald than entrust it to a plait ,
Couple of coloured cobs in a mixed field found with plaits owners all concerned and had the whole lot freeze marked .
It was done very quickly as company happened to be nearby in forty eight hours .two days after they where done when the ponies were checked in the morning the two that had been plaited had their manes smeared with human poo !!!!!
Could be coincidence a random nutter passed and thought I'll just smear poo on those horses or that someone was showing their displeasure at the freeze marking.
It makes you think.
OP I would post signs saying all horses microchipped about the boundary.
Horse rustling is really rare but thats no consolation if it happens to yours.
 
Goldenstar said:
I always thought this was a urban myth until this happened .
I mean much easier to ring your toe rag mate and say take the 13.2 piebald than entrust it to a plait ,
Couple of coloured cobs in a mixed field found with plaits owners all concerned and had the whole lot freeze marked .
It was done very quickly as company happened to be nearby in forty eight hours .two days after they where done when the ponies were checked in the morning the two that had been plaited had their manes smeared with human poo !!!!!
Could be coincidence a random nutter passed and thought I'll just smear poo on those horses or that someone was showing their displeasure at the freeze marking.
It makes you think.
OP I would post signs saying all horses microchipped about the boundary.
Horse rustling is really rare but thats no consolation if it happens to yours.
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:eek::eek:
 
Goldenstar said:
I always thought this was a urban myth until this happened .
I mean much easier to ring your toe rag mate and say take the 13.2 piebald than entrust it to a plait ,
Couple of coloured cobs in a mixed field found with plaits owners all concerned and had the whole lot freeze marked .
It was done very quickly as company happened to be nearby in forty eight hours .two days after they where done when the ponies were checked in the morning the two that had been plaited had their manes smeared with human poo !!!!!
Could be coincidence a random nutter passed and thought I'll just smear poo on those horses or that someone was showing their displeasure at the freeze marking.
It makes you think.
OP I would post signs saying all horses microchipped about the boundary.
Horse rustling is really rare but thats no consolation if it happens to yours.
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Interesting, I must admit that over the years I've seen/heard evidence (heresay and direct friends) stacking up in favour of the fact that at least some travellers still do this. I've never quite been sure where the 'urban myth/load of rubbish' brigade get their evidence from though......
 
Gosh, there are so many parts of this that are bonkers!

(a) Yes, horses in our fields often have wind plaits. Sometimes the wind plaits look almost like real plaits - difference is, they're a pain to get out again. And the really really strange thing is - they happen quite often when it's windy!

(b) Only the horses with long manes get plaited. Oddly, they are also the old, retired, injured ones. The ones that are actively being ridden usually have shorter manes.

(c) In our field at the moment, there are 4 horses, 3 with unpulled/trimmed manes. Two are very skinny TBs with injuries and are neither rideable nor any use in terms of £/kg. One is very skinny and injured but has a short mane. One (mine) is large, strapping, ridden regularly and has a long flowing mane. Guess which ones get the plaits?

(d) If someone who wanted a big strapping horse for Findus purposes crept into the field one night and carefully plaited my horse, I would despair at their limited IQ, since I would arrive next day, carefully untangle the plait, and then the person collecting the next night would feel around until they found the windplaits in the scrawny TBs and take them.

The whole thing makes absolutely no sense at all :rolleyes:
 
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