They Used To Hang Horse Thieves…

…and many people still wish that they did-along with the abusive folks. Personally, I’m not one of them. I think hanging is a waste of good rope. It doesn’t really solve the problem anyway-it only drives it further underground.

Now whether you agree with me or not, the bald-faced fact remains-people are still, in this day and age, stealing horses, cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys, mules, and just about any other kind of livestock you can name. The truth of the matter is-and they don’t like to admit it-law enforcement is waging a losing battle in this. They simply cannot cover so much ground, so many miles, and track down property that MOVES.  What’s worse for them is-this property can be trucked across state lines within 24 hours, slaughtered, and it is just GONE. 

Very, very little or none of these animals are permanently identified in any way. Oh, back in the early 80’s I think it was, there was an initiative by the US Agriculture Department to  microchip all livestock. The conspiracy theorists got their hair up and starting claiming that the ‘guv’mint was going to track our movements from outer space’ and ‘they’d know what we were doing in our homes with our dogs and cats’.  Another pet theory was that ‘next they’d be implanting chips in humans to track them’.

Considering that the Feds cannot seem to keep track of anything of their own-never mind what the population is doing or they would have prevented the OK City bombing, 9/11, and a whole rat of other calamities, I can’t, for the life of me, see why they’d care that I was taking my horse for a trail ride in the state next door. It just boggles my mind. Either I’m just not that important or the conspiracy folks are and I missed the memo.

Anyway-the huge elephant in that ointment was the fact that microchips are just there. They just sit in place and do absolutely NOTHING until somebody comes along with a scanner that has the right software. Then the scanner ‘tickles’ or ‘excites’ the chip which then responds with the encoded number that is unique to that chip. Then it goes back to doing NOTHING. They are incapable of causing cancer (somebody started passing that one around-no, they don’t), they can’t migrate to some place else (the covering encourages the tissues to actually grow INTO it which anchors it in place), nor can they ‘transmit’ to outer space (that requires a power source which they do not have.)

So what was the point of doing it? Well, at the time, we were having the ‘mad cow disease’ scare and the disease specialists thought-rightly-that being able to know where animals were and being able to track them would be a good thing. That way, if they got sick, you’d be able to know where they came from, where they’d been, and all the animals they might have infected. But the Tin Hats got in the way (my term for conspiracy people).

It is now nearly 40 years later-the rest of the civilized world is microchipping and tracking their livestock but the United States stubbornly and stupidly does not. Oh, we will get dragged kicking and screaming, shouting curses the entire way into it. We have to act like toddlers who don’t want to eat their spinach, wind up wearing most of it, then ordering spinach salads as adults.

One of the facts about the microchipping abroad is-where it is being done as a matter of course-theft plummeted. You cannot sell a horse without the ‘passport’ associated with the chip. No vet will treat a horse without scanning it and using the chip number-so they will know immediately who the registered owner should be. You cannot show the horse without being scanned. Breeders use the chips to ensure the identities of sire and dam. Racetracks use the chips to confirm the horses’ prior to and after the races. And Customs require chips to ship out/into a country. It is nearly impossible to steal a horse and get away with it in some areas.

So forget the rope-let’s focus on making it impossible for these people to FUNCTION and MAKE MONEY at our horses’ and our expense. Identify our horses and stop them before they load up.

 

Chasing Stolen Horses

This was in my home state practically ‘next door’ to where we live. It seems incredible to most people that someone would steal a horse, but they do-and, in many cases, they get away with it. Why? It doesn’t seem logical at first, but it really is very reasonable when you learn the facts.

• Horses are surprisingly easy to transport and resale. There are supposed to be laws regarding this, but they are quite lax and easily worked around.
• Most horse owners do not keep adequate records on their horses. By that I mean they do not keep bills of sale, registration papers, photographs, vet bills, Coggins, health certificates, farrier bills, show records, etc. organized and in one place. They can’t prove that a horse is actually THEIRS if their lives depended on it.
• Owners rarely-rarely-do anything toward permanetly identifying a horse. I guess they think that they can walk out to a holding pen, point their finger, and say, “That’s my horse-give it back.” Nope-sorry, doesn’t work that way. Especially when somebody else is standing there holding a bill of sale that says that same horse belongs to THEM. Guess what John Law is going to do? That’s right-he’s going to side with the person who holds the paperwork. You lose.
• Auction owners and managers do not know nor do they care where a horse comes from. What they care about is the consignment fee they get when the horse is sold. They want the animals run through quickly and get them off the property. That’s wonderful news for horse thieves, kill buyers, and horse ‘flippers’. Terrible news for horse owners. However-most of them will work with us. Being known as a place where this goes down is bad for business for the most part.
• The public is genuinely unaware that this really does go on. Even law enforcement doesn’t have a clue on how to react or how to deal with it. We teach as we go.

Fortunately, in this case, the owners came to us immediately so we could get to work to stop the resale before they really got started with their plans. That is critical to making a recovery happen. They never got the horses more than about 100-150 miles from their home.

We blanketed the entire area with notifications on social media and emails. People were putting up that flier everywhere in Georgia and the rest of the Southeast. Auctions were being called. TV stations were doing stories. It became impossible for them to ‘move the product’.

Those horses disappeared on 9/21, but they were back home by 9/26.

What’s going on with the thieves? Don’t know-that’s a question for law enforcement and the District Attorney’s office as the case is still under investigation. Our job is finished.

Now-did we get paid for all this? Well, there is a filing fee of $25. That got them 3 unpaid volunteers working 10-12 hour days for nearly 5 days. I will let you do the math.

Satisfying? Immensely so. You can watch the videos on the Stolen Horse International Facebook page to see the pure joy and relief captured on the images there.

Atlanta Journal Constitution article

Henry County Herald

NetPosse YouTube

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Search Continues for Prized Show Horse

 

By Jacob McGuire, Transcript Staff Writer
August 12, 2017

The owners of a missing prized show horse have requested the help of an organization that specializes in recovering stolen and missing horses.

On Aug. 1, a 15-year-old American saddlebred chestnut gelding named Dreamer escaped from his stall at Feather Creek Farm in east Norman.

“We’re pretty sure he’s still alive,” farm owner Dynah Korhummel said. “He’s a very friendly horse, so no one should worry about getting close to him. If someone does find him, throw a rope over his neck or a halter and try to get him in a small pasture or a place we can get to him.”

Dreamer’s owner Debi Gann said Korhummel went out to feed Dreamer and the other horses around 6 p.m. Korhummel saw that Dreamer’s stall door was open, and he was nowhere to be found.

[We] are very worried about Dreamer and want to bring him back home to Allison,” Gann said.

Gann reached out to the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office, Lake Thunderbird park rangers, animal welfare, the Norman Fire Department and Stolen Horse International, a nonprofit organization based in North Carolina.

Stolen Horse International began distributing information via its NetPosse Alert — which is similar to an Amber Alert — to hundreds of social media groups and private email contacts in an effort to rally the public to help the family.

“Circulating the flyer for Dreamer as well as the NetPosse.com alert nationwide is imperative, as they could be anywhere by now,” Stolen Horse International founder Debi Metcalfe said. “These flyers are one tool that brings home many horses and must be posted in as many public places as possible. And, remember, not everyone has internet access. Please post Dreamer’s flyer in public places as well.”

Anyone with information in regards to Dreamer’s whereabouts is encouraged to contact Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office or Stolen Horse International.

Although Korhummel said Thursday, a reward would be given to whomever found the horse. Who would be funding the reward still has not been decided. However, Stolen Horse International spokesperson Pam Miller said Gann is not offering a reward at this time.  Related to NR 005300

Source

Be On the Look Out!

I know you’ve seen horses being loaded up in all sorts of situations. I certainly have. In partking lots, in arenas, out in pastures, in barn alleyways (THAT can get hairy sometimes if the horse fights getting in), in front yards and back yards, and sometimes by the side of the road. Heck, I’ve loaded and unloaded my own horses by the side of expressways for heaven’s sake. Wasn’t crazy about the idea, but it was necessary. Fortunately, my horses like being trailered and they’re good about things like that. (Still didn’t make my stress level go down any.)

But-BUT-there are times when you really ought to stop and ask questions. Seriously.

If something seems a bit ‘off’:

• the horse doesn’t seem to ‘know’ the handlers and is apprehensive about loading in that particular trailer
• you’ve never seen that trailer or truck in your neighborhood before.
• you know your neighbor is out of town and you don’t recognize those people
• you may have seen people slowly driving through or heard about it from neighbors
• etc.

Here are some things you can do:

• Snap some photos (tag numbers of truck and trailer, faces of people involved) with your cellphone-and let them see you do it
• Call the owner of the horse-ask if they are moving the horse that day. If so, no harm done. If not-they can call 911.
• Just stop and chat for a bit-ask who they are, where they are going, how long they’ll be there, how far they have to drive, …..every minute you can delay them if they are bad news will allow law enforcement to get that much closer.

Want more tips on how to protect your horses and barn from theft? Theft and Recovery

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NHR–WTF Is Wrong With People?

These are the flags of not one but TWO causes that lost BIGLY.

I’m not talking itty, bitty fist fights, but major wars that cost 100’s of thousands of lives in the first and MILLIONS of lives in the second. We are NOT talking ‘heritage’ either, people. That is a freaking red herring. There never WAS a heritage-except in books like Gone With The Wind-which was FICTIONAL. Oh, there was also Uncle Tom’s Cabin-and we were carefully taught that the villian in that piece came from New England so he ‘really wasn’t a Southerner any way’. The implication being that no Southerner plantation owner would EVER treat their slaves so poorly. The hell you say.

There never was that many plantations in the south. People have the idea that they were all over the place. No they weren’t. Very few could AFFORD to have them.  Don’t believe me-go do some research. Maybe 45 in Georgia. Maybe 15-20 in Alabama. The rest of the farming was done by sharecroppers and families-like my great grandfather 5 generations back. They didn’t own slaves-didn’t want to. Picked their own cotton and hauled it to the gin themselves.

Patriarchal societies have-throughout history-done two things really well-go to war because it stimulates their economy mostly in some respect, and beat the living hell out of women and children-always their own, but they’ll pick on the captives from the other side, too, if they can. Lord knows, the Bible is full of it. Abraham took Hagar, the slave girl of Sarah and had a son by her-and the Jews and the Arabs have been fighting ever since. Moses was hidden in the bullrushes by his mama (a slave) and found and adopted by the king’s daughter. When the Israelites starting leaving Egypt, the Egyptians woke up and realized “hey, all the slaves are leaving us!” and went after them. That’s the reason for the drowning of Pharoah’s army in the Red Sea. Slaves running away from their owners.

Jews had their own slaves. Just keep reading-all of the Old Testament is just chock full of this stuff.

Why am I bringing it up? Because back in the early days of this country, that was used to JUSTIFY the owning of  black people as slaves in this country-mostly in the southern states. If you ever saw the musical 1776, the song ‘Molasses to Rum to Slaves’ is all about how the traders ran the ships from the sugar cane fields of the Carribean to New England to Africa with those cargoes.

Nowadays-the same backwards mindset still exists-primarily because people have never taken the time to learn that people with darker skins are just people with darker skins. There are some cultural differences, but there are those between white folks, too. I don’t eat lox and bagels for breakfast-but lots of people in New York City think that’s pretty tasty. They can’t see what I see in grits.

There is absolutely NOTHING that makes anybody’s skin color inherently superior racially to anybody else’s. Or more inferior, for that matter. It’s the way you BEHAVE towards your fellow human beings that determines that-and, for the record, the way those people behaved this weekend in Charlottesville, VA put them on the level of earthworms. Fish bait. Terrorizing people just for the hell of it is unacceptable at every level. Trying to blame their behavior on other people is childish. Driving a car into a crowd? That, folks, is pre-meditated murder and attempted murder with malice. That is a hate crime. Second degree murder my fat fanny.

Wanting law enforcement to treat you and your family like human beings is a reasonable thing. If I were  black, I would be fighting mad about it. It is unjust. For the record, I have had sheriff deputies try deliberately to intimidate me-and, quite frankly, it got every bit of my Scottish heritage working overtime. I was furious. So, yes, I can easily see the why and how these black folks come at cops yelling, screaming, and trying to fight with them. I didn’t, but that incident was a real eyeopener.
Don’t push people like that. You’re asking for that response-and you’re going to get it.

In my mind, these people in charge of our government need to repudiate all connections to the Klan, white nationalists, white supremacists, and Alt-Right groups loudly, strongly, and as a united front. That includes the Executive, Congress, and Supreme Court. These Nazis and fascists must be told that their campaign of fear, violence, and terrorism will not be tolerated, their racial and sexual bigotry is unwelcome, and that we will fight them with law and guns if need be. But  they cannot have our country-EVER.

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A Word About Using Carabiners

Every horse person I know (including me) has picked up a carabiner or more. They’re quick and easy to use for a lot of things-hanging a hay net, replacing the clip on a lead, putting a bucket up for feeding, fastening a gate, and on and on. That’s the problem-they’re TOO EASY. So we don’t think about them as much as we should. DANGER ALERT.

The danger is in HOW we use them and which ones we choose to use. As in all things, you get what you pay for-and cheaper usually means what? You are asking for trouble. 

Now I am not an expert in carabiners-you’d have to go to the people who do mountain climbing, rappelling, emergency rescue, caving, etc. for that expertise. I’m just interested in what works for what we want to do with it. Now I will say this-what they do requires extreme strength and extreme safety. Their gear MUST work. If something fails, somebody stands a really good chance of dying. So yes-if I’m going to buy carabiners that I think will take the strain of working with horses, here’s where I’m looking first. Home Depot or Lowe’s isn’t on the list-except maybe for keys.

The one to the right is one that I would reserve for key rings, latching gates on the OUTSIDE where horses cannot reach them, hanging hay nets and having the ‘biner up where they won’t bother them, etc. It is too lightweight to withstand much pulling, the spring gate will allow for accidental opening, and if you run a finger over the part where it closes-it is sharp.  Now why do I point this out? Because-as we all know-horses will rub on dang near anything. If they have a itch, they scratch.

Now this photo is of a dog-I couldn’t find the one I have seen of horses wearing carabiners like nose rings or lip rings. (That’s not funny, by the way.) The article with this said that the leash was still attached to the carabiner when the dog was brought to the vet. As you can see, the ‘biner was all the way through and had reclosed the gate. How exactly this happened is something that was not explained, but the photo should be enough to make you never want to use an unprotected gate carabiner close to any animal again.

There ARE carabiners that can be used, however, and I am happy to say they are easily available. You pay a little more for them, but, hey, safety is worth the money.

First up-this is what Home Depot, Farmer’s Supply, and Lowe’s call the Quick Link. It’s really a type of carabiner. It is meant to replace the link in a chain. (If you are going to use it outside, put a teeny smear of grease on the threads or you will have the thing rust shut on you. Then if you have used it, as we did, to fasten a gate shut and it is winter and raining, and the thing won’t open, you will use all the curse words you know.  These things come in quite a few sizes-I’ve used great big ones to picket my stallions.

Next are the ‘double gate’ carabiners. These have TWO pieces that you have to get through to thread the ‘biner. Once threaded, the ‘biner is unlikely to allow for accidental unloading as both gates have to be opened before the line can be removed. I don’t think I would use these in any application where you might want to disengage in a hurry, but for some things, they could be useful-the far end of an overhead picket tie, the far end of a crosstie, maybe a lead line or lunge line, etc.

The ones that I really like are the ‘locking’ carabiners. These are similar to the Quick Links in that they open by spinning a knurled nut down, then reclose the same way. That means that the ‘biner cannot be accidently opened or closed. It does somewhat limit the size of the line as the nut takes up a bit of room, but I’ll take the trade-off. These are a bit more expensive. As with the Quick Link, a quick smear of vaseline or grease (or even your lip balm) will keep the threads turning.

Finally, make sure you do not load your carabiner incorrectly or it will fail and cause you and your horse all kinds of problems. You cannot just do what you want to with these things. They must be used properly or, once again, you are begging for trouble. ALWAYS LOAD SO THAT THE STRAIN GOES THE SAME WAY AS THE LONG PART OF THE ‘BINER. Here’s a picture for those that need it:

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Tying That Pony

Now I’ll be honest-as if you’d know if I weren’t-I have no use for a horse that won’t stand tied or a human that caters to one that won’t. “I’ll just have to hold her because she pulls back.” Well, sister (this is almost invariably a female) get your big girl panties on and teach that pony how to have some manners and stand hitched. It’s not that hard. Well, I take that back-it can be hard on both the horse, the equipment, and the owner, but the training sure as hell isn’t complicated.

BTW-Do NOT leave a halter hanging like that. It isn’t that it is bad for the halter, but you are just ASKING for some klutzy something-like me for example-to come along and stick a foot in that thing, and go flying, ending up with sprained wrists, dislocated shoulders, and god-only-knows what else. HANG YOUR STUFF UP.  For heaven’s sake, folks. All you have to do is hang it from the ring it is already attached to! 

Why do horses set back-pull back-can’t be tied-or whatever you want to call it?

Claustrophia and that sense of being trapped. Those two phobias will set them off and they cannot help themselves. They have to break free. They are open area prey animals and they have to have a certain degree of freedom or they’re not happy. (Which is why you will only find ulcers in stalled horses.) Let’s think like a horse-I’m being asked to put my head into something that restricts my freedom to move around (the halter). My head is what some predators will go for first in order to bring me down to eat me so this is a big deal for me. They’ll grab me by the nose and behind my ears. (Where does a halter put pressure? on the nose and behind the ears). Now you want me to be even more restricted with my head fastened in such a way that I can’t move it the way I’m accustomed to doing! (The horse can no longer turn its body 360 degrees to see all the way around itself.) My fear is building-I’ve got to leave-NOW! and they pull back violently.

Many, many people will tell you to tie horses solidly to a big post or tree with heavy ropes and heavy halters and just let them fight it out. You can do that. You run the risk of having a permanently injured horse or a dead one because they can break their own necks. I’ve heard of using something like inner tubes to have the give, too. That’s a little less dangerous, but not by much. I’m not crazy about either one. In fact, I’d call them abusive.

I’ve used a soft cotton rope tied in a bowline around the girth line and run through the front legs, through the halter, up and over a high tree limb, and over to a tree with a quick release knot for my pullers and I ain’t gonna stand tied. It has the advantage of the tree limb having the natural give in it, the bowline won’t slip but it is secure, and the tree won’t leave. The student can dance, protest, and generally raise the biggest stink in the horse world, but they will go no where at all and they can’t get hurt. I don’t-however-ever leave one like this. But they do learn that standing tied will not be the end of their world.

Two things that must be learned and learned well before you start: how to do a bowline that will not tighten, and how to do a proper quick release.

This is the BEST Quick Release knot-there are others, but this one keeps ALL of your rope on ONE side after you pull the release. The only thing the diagram doesn’t show is the ‘lock’-which is to simply pull the tail through the loop.

Make sure you learn how to do the bowline correctly. You do not want it to slip.

 

 

 

I included two diagrams to help learn how to correctly do the know. Please practice until it is habit.  All it takes is one slip and you’ll be reaching for a knife to cut loose a choking horse. I know because somebody did that at my barn-and swore they had tied a good bowline.

 

 

Another thing is to use the devices know as ‘Tie Blocker’ or ‘The Clip’, or some people even make their own out of old snaffle bits. The principle is the same as wrapping the tie rope several wraps around a good STURDY hitch rail. (Please don’t do this to a fence rail-you’ll be chasing a horse with a fence rail slapping him in the butt.) The idea is that they get enough slack when they pull back to satisfy the urge, but remain tied. With the devices, you can adjust the tension via a screw or just tie a knot in the end of the lead so the horse cannot pull out and just leave. With the hitch rail, you start with four or so wraps, and as the horse improves, you can reduce the number of wraps needed thereby reducing the amount of resistance. It takes patience, but it does work.

Please be respectful of the horse. Being tied is not natural to the species, but it is necessary to interact with humans and for their own safety. Kindness and patience gets to the goal faster that force and fear.

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Safety For Our Horses-Thinking Ahead

For those of you who may have never seen one of these, it is a home made hay feeder made from an old tractor tire. You take the old tire and turn it inside out (do not ask me how-I do not have the slightest idea about how to accomplish that task, but know it requires more muscle than I EVER had). I’ve seen a few that had plywood or fence wire attached to the bottom-I assume to control wastage? Most of the ones I’ve seen were used for cattle-and since I don’t know ‘beans’ about keeping that type of stock, I will leave that alone. I presume this is the ‘poor man’s ‘ hay ring. That would make sense.

However, using them for horses can be a problem. You wouldn’t think so-after all, the things are rubber. How could they hurt themselves?

That particular picture was taken by the owner of a pretty little 4 month filly that she loved dearly. Do not know what happened exactly, but the thought is that the baby was playing, leaned over the rubber which flexed under her weight, and she toppled over inside. The fall broke her neck and she died. She is still inside the feeder.

The owner, of course, was frantic when she didn’t find her with the mare and started looking for her. Didn’t think to look in her feeder-why would she? Four days later, it became apparent that’s where the baby was-and the owner is devastated.

I’m not lambasting the owner-this is to warn other people. If ANY horse can slide a hoof or leg through an opening, if they can put their head through (even if they have to turn it sideways to do it-because they will), if they can get close enough to get their hide on it, they can get hurt, maimed, or die. It’s just that simple-and that complex. What you thought was safe yesterday may not be safe today.

For example: pipe gates need to be regularly inspected. They rust. Because they rust, the welds will break and the parts will come apart. Those parts are sharp and will slice a horse to shreds.

Fence wire-where it is attached to anything-as temperatures change during the year, metal flexes. Over time, it will ‘sprout’ sharp points that weren’t there before. Horses will find them.

Panel gates-a friend of mine had a horse hit one end on and it cut BONE out of his face. Do you have those things fastened open and closed?

Yep-before you ask-I do think about this all the time. How are they going to hurt themselves next time?

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NR 000118 Why Not Deal Me Jazz Recovered Horse

JAZZ0118pdf

NR 000118 Jazz ALERT

Subject: Jazz
From: mrcows50@aol.com
Date: Thu, June 17, 2010 7:36 pm
To: stolenhorse@netposse.com

Hello everyone

Good news Jazz is home as of today. He was sold through a horse sale in Cookeville Tn. The people that bought him happened to be looking on craigs list and saw a note a friend of mine posted. Printed his picture from netposse and gave us a call. Thank goodness they were honest. I was so happy to see Jazz he is a little thin but I can take care of that. I want to thank everyone who helped get the info out about Jazz.

I hope I will be able to help someone in the future. Thanks again.

Will try to send new pics of Jazz tomorrow

Rhonda Anders

PS Dont forget when offering a reward to give half to netposse for all of the expenses they accure. We sure dont want them to shut the doors they help find so many and help educate us on how to protect our horses.