I found some suspicious plait type tangles in horses mane today.

Debz87

Debz87

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Went to check on my bosses two horses that are kept in a field about 2 miles from the main yard and was straightaway drawn to each of the horses having strange twists in their manes.
The horses are in their 20's and no longer ridden, they have the run of a small field with a shelter in it, there are trees and bushes surrounding the field and as they have long manes it is common to see tangles in their manes.......but these were very obvious looking and I am sure they were done by a person.
i took photos that i will try to add soon for opinions.
We then removed the twists which were really tightly formed and then had to wet the hair as the way the hair had been tangled made the mane form a tight curl.
The field is quite safe and off the back of somebodies house, however there is a dark private road to one side of the field and various footpaths.
Fingers crossed it is nothing but you can never be sure!
This was in the south bucks area so if anyone else experiences this please be alert and let others know just incase.
 
Your horse is definitely going to be stolen. You must react immediately, otherwise the thieves will have already stolen your horse.

It is a game. They warn you, then race to see how quickly they can get the horse out whilst you're upping security.

I repeat - THIS IS A CERTAINTY. Run now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I told my boss who they belong to but she feels the same as montyforever, we have checked the gates and fencing and the tangles have been taken out.
It was highly suspicious but i don't see the point in someone putting marks on 2 horses that are the only 2 horses in the field and pretty much that area.
I did wonder whether it was someone doing it to see how often the horses are checked upon.
We have alot of gypsies in the area, some poor womans 2 german shepherd puppies were let out by a delivery man by accident last week and they have disappeared, everyone thinks they were picked up by gypsies.
These horses get checked everyday and i have done all i can, just wanted to warn others just incase.
 
:O awful about the german shepperd pups.

I am, of course, taking the piss, but there have been no cases of horses being nicked.

Also, the one case that I have heard if the woman who posted on here yesterday - however, thats like saying "my horse had mud on it and it was then stolen", they may well not have any connection as wind plaits happen SO regularly in the field. Particular in the great conditions we have atm - wind, rain, mud everywhere!
 
Some friends of mine have laser security across their horses stable doors as they are own a few top competition horses so if anything breaks them the alarm goes off and thieves got over the doors and put a plait in one of the horses manes earlier this year, the horse was stabled all throughout winter! so not done by wind, trees etc in the field.
They found big tyre tracks in the carpark too, police did take an interest for a while.
just goes to show that they can get through most security measures.
 
LOL Debz read your post....so they plait the horses manes so that in the dark they can easily find which horse they want to steal.....just in case they get the wrong box?!?!??!
 
Eh??? My friends have 4 horses and they targetted their best one, they were only interested in him.
They don't work alone do they and a torch doesn't go amiss!
 
The reason people give for why the thieves would plait is so that they can find the horses easily in the field as they just have to run their hands up their necks and they don't need a torch.

However, you're saying you know a friend who had her horse in its stable that had its mane plaited by thieves. WHY would they do that?! Think it through!!! There is NO reason! My little one gets twists in her mane rubbing up against her hay rack - are you seriously telling me that the thieves would come on to the yard, PLAIT A MANE, then go away? If the horse was THAT impressive?
 
The thieves apparently send someone to mark whichever horse they need and then someone else comes a day or too later to take the marked horse.
the plait was right underneath the mane, if you didn't groom your horse everyday you wouldn't have found it.
the owner was quick enough to realise and moved the horses off of the yard to various friends spare stables etc whilst they installed security lighting etc and informed the police who made frequent visits to the yard, they tyre tracks were found a day or two later, the new security probably put them off.
 
I do agree with you Debz, it is a sign that is used often. And its not something that a horse can rub into its mane and magically form a plait. Fingers crossed they are still there in morning. I hope to god they are.

xx
 
Im sorry flamehead, but do you have some sort of problem?
I merely came on here to notify people of what i found which may or may not be way horses can be marked to be stolen.
i have answered all your questions you have asked and yet its all Bu11shit! Well if you think it's all Bu11shit don't bother commenting on my posts and let genuinely concerned people have a say!
 
http://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/community_safety/horsewatch/current_appeals.aspx
Interesting article .




in may of this year i also found my horse to have a plait in her mane , and she had also been marked with some sort of ink !

i keep her at home in a very remote rural area , so it was not children messing about .

i contacted the police and horswatch at the time and both were very very helpful and understanding of my worry and upset !

so i would never mock anyone who posts about this !
 
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another article i found

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On Monday (2 Nov 09) night a horse was stolen from a field in the Guildford area. The people who took her sawed through a wooden post and rail fence to get out and this happened between 3pm and 6pm in the afternoon.

The police were informed and so were the microchip company who circulated her details to all the ferry ports etc.

As you can imagine the owner was completely distraught.

Late Tuesday (3 Nov 09) afternoon she received a phone call from the police to say her horse had been found in Hollyhead, Wales . She was tied to a railing at the ferry port and the ferry to Ireland had gone without her. So today she is driving to Wales to pick her up.

Several things have come to light in this story:

1. A week ago her horse had a small plait in its mane when she went to get her in from the field. She describes it as very small, almost like a tangle. She disregarded it as kids messing about (her horses are out in a field with others). However, this is how people mark horses to be stolen later. Ie. One person marks them, another then comes later and knows which one to take.

2. The ferry port at Hollyhead do not check horses passports or microchips. This horse was travelling without a passport.

3. The police believe the reason this horse was left behind was because she was microchipped. Although the UK is lax about passport and microchip checking, it is apparently more common for horses to be scanned on entering Ireland . The people who take them will scan them and dump them if they find a microchip. This horse also had a large obvious scar so this may have been a contributing factor.

The police told her that horses being dumped at a ferry terminal is not uncommon and they usually turn out to be stolen. They have had horses left in a lorry on the actually ferry!

This story has a happy ending for H and E, but it makes you wonder how many other stolen horses were on that ferry to Ireland .

The owner has asked me not to give any more details because of the police investigation that is on going, but has given her permission for me to relay this story, mainly to highlight:

1. If you find your horse with a small plait in its mane or tail please do not ignore it. I thought it was common knowledge that people knew about this, but several people I've spoken to since were not aware of it.
2. If your horse isn’t microchipped please consider doing it. The owner of this horse describes her as ‘nothing flashy, just a normal 14.2 bay mare’ so please don’t think it couldn’t happen to you.

Please do not ask me to provide more details regarding the horse or owner as I can’t, but please spare a happy thought today for H and E who should be having a (probably very emotional) reunion in Hollyhead later on today.

The more people who know about plaits and microchips the better.
 
Debz I'm with you on this one.
No p!$$ taking!!
It happened at a yard near us - they plaited the horses - IN THEIR STABLES - and a few days later they found people on the yard taking pictures of the horses which had been plaited. (ETA one was competing at some top dressage levels so obv a very nice horse - they didn't take him straight away either) They think they were trying to sell them on the net and would take them as and when they were sold. It also happened near uni, except the security was good enough that the people were caught on the yard straight away.
There's also been a few cases of plaits being put in to mark the horses for taking near us too =/ its worrying.
Keep an eye out for anything being changed or moved or left open (gates headcollars etc) but fingers crossed it may just be your horses rubbing their manes or the wind or something
K x
 
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Thankyou christi, nice to have some seriousness about such a serious matter! I know tangles can appear but as i said in my original post this wasn't any old tangle, i remove the odd tangle whenever they get them which is quite rare but these were really tightly wound.
I'm really glad you added the above post to back up that my previous post was not Bu11shit!
 
Have said this before and somehow I figure I will have to say it some more. There has been no increase in the numbers of horses stolen over the last two years since people began to notice this yes I know it spoils the fun but it is FACT.

Horses with long manes are prone to tangles which the overwhelming majority of these are, they are not proper plaits starting from the top of the mane, they are twists that are started by foreign bodies further down the mane or one or two hairs becoming entangled with each other and drawing in surrounding hairs making the twist bigger.

There is no need to panic at all over this, we went through this last year and none of the horse reported as having a twist in the mane on this forum or indeed through horsewatch were stolen, neither were three of my horses that developed them slowly last winter I watched them develop on a daily basis!!

Just think carefully why would anyone go to the trouble of doing this to what amounts to hundreds of horses country wide to just leave them where they are? This is just the same as the Eastern European photographers of last year or the assumption that any horse that dies from an unaccounted for injury must have been slashed. The crime figures simply do not support these assumptions which are only serving to spread fear of what is a VERY VERY rare occurrence the theft of a horse!

Yes some horse are stolen but over the past few years around 65 horses have been reported as stolen countrywide per year, with quite a few of those having been found or the allegation of theft having been withdrawn. That is a tiny proportion of the number of horses in this country. A lot of those stolen were coloured so extra vigilance here is a very worthwhile exercise for owners and a lot of minis and Shetlands were taken too. So extra work done by owners of these types of horses would be time well spent!
 
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Well that is up to you, there have been noted cases of horses stolen that have been found with twist type plaits.
I groom these horse regularly and their manes are kept in good order, I take out any tangles as if they are allowed to develop they can cause discomfort to the horse from the hair pulling.
I know what a tangle looks like and how it can develop, as mentioned before these are not the same as i have found before.
It is really important people do not become complacent, this is a serious issue and people need to be warned.
The plaits are not neat little obvious plaits, they are made to look like a tangle a horse would get in the field but that are obvious enough to someone who knows what they are looking for.
 
The fact remains that the numbers of horses reported stolen in the past three years has remained constant at around 65 per year. Lets put this into perspective, the latest estimate of the UK horse population is estimated at 1.3 million so as a horse owner you have a one in TWENTY THOUSAND chance of your horse being stolen.

I don't have my full records to hand but around 28% of those taken over a period in 2009 show coloured patterns. Around 36% were described as cobs, and 20% were Shetlands or miniatures and a number of Donkeys were taken together some of which have been recovered.

If owners of these types of animals take extra precautions then the already small figures of stolen horses might be reduce still further. These are tangible figures that should help people to protect from theft from actual records rather than spreading panic with no helpful targeting of resources.

The message is if you have Cobs, Minatures/shetlands especially those that are coloured or own donkeys then you should ensure that the animals are adequately marked, that you have pictures of the horse/pony to hand in summer and winter coats, that you put up notices showing your animals are marked, check the animals regularly and make sure that gates are locked/ secured.

PS in none of the official records of these thefts are a tangle or plait if you must mentioned. So please if you have the crime numbers of these cases quote them. Plus I am curious to know how you make a plait look like a tangle?
 
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The story of the horse stolen in Surrey and found tied up outside Holyhead port is believed to be an urban myth - no crime ref no, or actual person seems to have come forward about it.

We find 'plaits' in our ponies manes all the time, even if they're kept regularly brushed - we have ponies with long manes which they like to rub, and the wind does it's bit.
 
Debz87 as you're so good at answering questions on this could you explain to me why and how on this.

I have a number of horses, the ones in work have pulled manes, generally look like quality animals, and are friendly - will come to you in the field, they are mostly not freezemarked. Of my horses the one which gets plaited most frequently is an elderly, plain-headed, Welsh with a full mane and tail. He's very visibly freezemarked but the most striking thing about him is that he's pretty much uncatchable, we finally managed to get him to the farrier by taking all the other horses out of the field after he'd missed his appointment twice as no-one could catch him. He is so wary of headcollars that even in an 11 x 13 stable you can't get one on him unless you have followed his routine precisely - and it has to be his own headcollar.

So WHY would thieves choose an old plain freezemarked wary Welsh pony over the big smart friendly warmbloods and HOW did they get near him when people he knows can't get up to him and touch his mane?
 
Debs87

The Holyhead story is ***p. Neither the police or Holyhead Dock have a record of it happening. And think about your friends story - if they had identified a horse they wanted they would have said bay, 3rd box along not marked it & arouse suspicion. It is quite likely that someone was casing the yard - they probably have a lot of expensive kit around & that goes missing all too regularly. I get Bedfordshire ringmaster messages - have been for a couple of years. I think I have had 1 about stolen horses. I get 1 a week about stolen kit.
And honestly they can get pretty complex "wind" plaits by rubbing against door frames etc. I can untangle my lot & one can get himself new "plaits" while I poo pick the field!
Just get then freezemarked otherwise you are in for a long worrying winter.
 
My daughters old pony came in from the field last winter with the most intricate "plait" type thing in her mane which looked as if it could well have been done by a human, however would have take hours it was that complicated!! She is a retired hairy shetland who is visibly wonky when she walks due to an old injury. The rest of the horses on the yard were warmbloold inc my friend 10k oldenburg mare.... i must say although i was very sceptical about the whole thing the way the mane had been twisted and twirled was quite amazing! i was a little concerned even though i couldnt work out why she would be stolen out of all of them!! however it soon became clear that the little monkey was reaching through the fencing into a big bush of brambles which were getting caught in her mane and causing these "plaits".
I wouldnt worry i'm sure it is something as simple as this, the whole thing has been blown out of proportion and i'm sure that even if theives were using this to mark horses before, with all the talk and panic about it they would have thought of another tactic by now!!!!
 
Bloody hell! All i wanted to do was warn people of the possiblity of suspicious plait type tangles!
if i hadn't said anything and horses in the area were stolen etc i would have felt very bad, I just wanted to keep people in the area vigilant.
I did not intend to open myself for attack!
I appreciate that some horses with long manes regularly get tangles and as I started off saying what i found didn't appear to be they typical type tangles and seemed odd both horses at them at the same time in the same place, yes it could be a coincidence but i would rather be safe than sorry.
I was continiously warned by others earlier this year about the plait marking, in particular the owners of the horse that was found it the stable with the plait which i will point out again was DISCREET!
Some of you make it sound as if I just made all this up, if your not genuinely interested in the actual point of this post then don't get invloved, it's like a playground on here with people that like to bully their way around and try and make people feel stupid and I'm sorry im not sad enough to know EXACT numbers of cases, i just know it has happened and if i can spread the word and prevent one horse from being stolen through word of mouth or whatever I have done my bit.
 
Alot of people feel that this is just alot of rubbish and that horses are not being stolen.

I just want to add that it was actually on teletext local news last week warning horse owners to be on their guard, There have been cases where plaits have been found in horses manes and then a few days later they have been taken.

I just feel that its not worth the risk. I really hope its nothing and that its just become tangled.
 
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