Stolen? Missing presumed stolen?

[JillA]

Please please please - if your horse or pony is missing from their field, please don't jump to the conclusion someone has stolen him or her.
Very many whose owners have done so and put their energies into recovering a stolen horse would have done much better if they had rather assumed they have escaped and got themselves into real trouble.
I know of several which, despite a "thorough search" (one helped by the local police) have been found dead a few days later. They may very well have been saved from a lingering probably painful death if owners hadn't assumed they were stolen, but concentrated their energies on searching every local ditch gully water course and thick hedge (one found INSIDE a thick hedge). I don't know the details but it sounds as though Tic Toc was one such, and of the Horsewatch emails I receive, there is a high proportion of ones found locally, sometimes alive, often not.
Stealing horses isn't worth it these days, especially small ponies - the benefits of having got hold of an all but worthless animal aren't worth the risks of being discovered. So search. Search. And then search some more, you might be saving a life.

 

[natmac84]

FULLY understand and appriciate what you are saying here....BUT... i think your timings a little wrong and insensative as its goes to press about TIC-TOC......only my opinion though

 

[Zero00000]

FULLY understand and appriciate what you are saying here....BUT... i think your timings a little wrong and insensative as its goes to press about TIC-TOC......only my opinion though

Agree! Also, I dont know many people that horses that go missing, that do not thoroughly search the area around their fields......

 

[JillA]

FULLY understand and appriciate what you are saying here....BUT... i think your timings a little wrong and insensative as its goes to press about TIC-TOC......only my opinion though

In their shoes I think I would want to warn everyone else, and hope some good would come out of such a tragedy - how else would you come to terms? They must be saying "what if" a million times over.

 

[MyBoyChe]

Whilst I agree with the OPs original sentiments I also think the timing is a bit off. Suggesting that maybe they could have done more to find him if their energies had been directed differently is only going to increase their anguish, not whats needed really is it!

 

[Capriole]

I agree OP. I actually think it's also a good time to be raising the point, too.

 

[LaMooch]

I agree OP and yes the time maybe wrong in some peoples eyes but it is fresh in people minds so best time to say this.

 

[putasocinit]

I agree with OP if some good can come from it, then thats what life and death are all about. I still wonder if the piebald that went missing in 2012 was stolen, sadly he could be in the same situation. And search from the fence line out by at least 1 mile horses with others in fields will not stray far on their own.

 

[DebbieCG]

This is a message today from TicToc's owner, shared on the Help find TicToc fb page late this afternoon, she does state "Tic Toc was discovered in a ditch within a mile of our yard, a ditch that had been walked along countless times from the day he went missing. The circumstances of how he got there or for how long he had been there im sure will never be truly known."

My thoughts go out to TicToc's family.

Full message here:

"Although my grief is overwhelming and the sadness that has been brought upon me is great... i am posting this to say an enormous thankyou to everybody who has supported me in the search for Tic Toc. You have all been truly amazing. It is very hard for me to come to terms with his death right now but i owe it to all of you to say thankyou. Tic Toc was discovered in a ditch within a mile of our yard, a ditch that had been walked along countless times from the day he went missing. The circumstances of how he got there or for how long he had been there im sure will never be truly known. I totally broke down and found it too unbearab...le to look at him, he was in a terrible state, i was overcome with distress and found it impossible to be able to deal with it. Thankfully i had a good friend who suffered the ordeal of recovering him and dealt with his removal. There really isnt much more i can say....i am in shock, sad, distraught and totally devasted but at least the search for him has ended...i was convinced he would turn up alive somewhere and there was nothing we didnt try in the search to bring him home, but at least i finally know his fate. Im sorry if i dont reply to the thousands of messages that i have received for a while....i just need time to come to terms with my loss. Caroline Crouchman, Michelle Low and Kerry Louise Palin i cant thank you enough for supporting me as admins, i could no way have dealt with the sheer volume of leads without your support. Rachel Kaziewicz, Audrey Grahame for giving me hope to keep going each time i hit rock bottom and Philip Ward-Burton for being you. Claire Hunsley i owe you so much for selling him to Josh and I, Josh was a very lucky child to have had a pony as wonderful as him and i am truly honoured you gave us the oppertunity to own him, we were very lucky and for that i thank you. RIP Tic Toc you will always be in our hearts and we will never forget you. Thank you once again to you all. Catriona."