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wipeout

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On Friday night, 2 men in a transit van were spotted in the lane outside the farm looking around and across fields etc. By the time anyone got outside they had vanished.
Overnight last night one of the mares in the field has had three sections of tail cut. They are definite cuts rather than pulls or chews.

I have heard of thieves cutting tails as "markers" but have no personal experience of this.
Does this sound suspicious to you?
 
Always better to be safe than sorry i think so i'd alert everybody you can and put up extra security or ensure current security e.g. locks on gates or anything are thouroughly checked.

Hopefully its nothing but always good to expect the worst.

Hope everythings ok
 
It's suspicious whether they are markers or not - my boy had half his tail cut off by gypsies 2 years ago to put on rocking horses and it's only now got back to normal length.
I would keep extra vigalent over the next few weeks - possibly even move the horses to a different field if possible. Make sure all gates are locked, everything kept away, no horses have headcollars left on etc.
I hope that we are proved wrong!
 
Near Tunbridge Wells.

We are just worried that they may come back. It seems particularly strange that it is the nicest horse in the field and she isn't one who would normally let strangers approach her. My land lady bred her here on the farm so she has never been in a lorry or trailer.
 
Im very near t.wells and recently seen vans. . . im saying recent i mean a good four months ago.

I would do everything you can security wise, and move fields if possible.

Hope it all works out
 
also, what colour is the tail hair?

violins bows, etc., are (or used to be (i dont play, so...) )strung with white horse tail hair,
 
Cutting a section from a horses tail is a very odd thing to do anyway but using it as a marker could indicate further trouble down the road- be sure to padlock gates (and padlock the hinge end if you have gates which can be lifted off- so many people don't bother
shocked.gif
!) if you have fencing that would be fairly easy to dismantle/cut through it may also be worth moving the horses all together for a period of time??
 
The best security methods are the simple one's....

The quickest, easiest and most effective method is for the owners on the yard to arrange random visits to the premises often... day and night!

Doesn't take a lot if everybody takes part.... turning up at random times of the night with headlights blazing and a good strong torch to have a mooch around.

The visits need to be random in time, never the same time gap between visits... and when attending, make it visible... Headlights on, park in a obvious position outside the yard, drive the lane outside if there is one, do it in the most obvious manner.... hazard lights on, hi vis....

Any dodgy soul will think twice if theres a risk of being disturbed... especially if they take the time to watch the yard and see night time activity first!!
 
IF this is a marker then I would plaiit the tail overnight so that the cuts cannot be seen.
There was a spate of tail cutting down here a while ago, and a lot of horses had their tails cut.
 
There are a few of us living here, we are all sleeping with the wiondows open. We have taken various security measures which I won't mention on here.

One of the liveries has just mentioned that horse hair jewellery is very fashionable at the moment. The mare is bay so tail hair is black.
 
Apparently they mark the horses they want to take at a later time by cutting or platting sections of mane or tail. It somehow makes them identifiable. Not sure if this is becasue they get someone else to do the actual theft or what but it's supposed to be fairly common.
 
We have German Shepherds here, I wouldn't mess with them!

The police have been informed but it'll be a miracle if we see anything of them.
 
Hiya!
I know this is sick, but it might not be a marker for stealing the mare...it could be to indicate she is a mare. There are some sick people in the world. I would put a camera up if possible, then it will help put them behind bars where they belong. (Let the dogs have a chew on them too!)
 
Platting or cutting of tails is marking them for theft so you are right to be cautious.

Your best bet would be to move the horse completely off site and keep it somewhere else for 4 weeks and have all the horses freezemarked on their shoulders and micro-chipped as a matter of urgency.

Unfortuntaley those that steal horses will be able to calmy load the most difficult of horses without disturbing anyone nearby.

Your only chance of recovering a stolen horse is if it is freezemarked and microchipped. (Microchipping is not enough).

Padlocked gates and fences are no deterent.

Also ask your local police force to stop any trailers or horseboxes travelling between midnight and 4.00 a.m. as this is a very sucessfull tactic which has been used to prevent horse theft in certain areas.

I hope that this helps you.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Hiya!
I know this is sick, but it might not be a marker for stealing the mare...it could be to indicate she is a mare. There are some sick people in the world. I would put a camera up if possible, then it will help put them behind bars where they belong. (Let the dogs have a chew on them too!)

[/ QUOTE ]



Dont want to scare you but this is known to be a method of marking to steal. Go outside the property and look to see if there is a carrier bag or bit of string tied on a nearby tree or hedge - if there is - remove it and call police back to inform them.
 
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