Horses stolen - Can you help?

[LKS]

Can you help? Horses presumed stolen  

Two horses from Norfolk that cannot be ridden may have been stolen by a loanee, and sold on elsewhere in the UK, it is feared.

Owner Emma Hitchcox is worried about the whereabouts of the mares, as one is elderly and retired, and the other has the back condition, kissing spines. "I fear they may have been sold on as riding horses, and am desperately worried for their welfare," Emma explains.

Emma put the two mares on loan as companions in mid-October 2008, having posted advertisements in the equestrian press asking for a good loan home for the two horses.

The loanee, supposedly 'Clare Carter', requested to take the mares to her home in Holbeach, Lincolnshire, as companions for the cobs she bred, and signed a BHS- designed loan agreement with Emma. However, Emma has since heard nothing from the loanee, whose phone is not taking calls, and upon visiting the address supplied, found no such address existed.

The woman collected Emma's horses in a large 4x4 pick-up vehicle and a green Ifor Williams Trailer. She had a young (pre-school age) son with her.

When Emma searched online for Clare's phone number, it appeared in old '---------' and 'Gumtree' adverts for horses for sale, leading Emma to worry this lady was in fact a dealer, and had illegally sold her horses on.

Horses' details:

Lady (Cameo Performance)

15-20 year old, 16hh, bright chestnut mare, with stripe. Has overshot knees, flat feet and mild arthritis, and dislikes walking on stones or hard surfaces.

Freezemark 4D1F. Has a grumpy temperament when not wearing a head-collar.

Gwendolyn

Bright bay, 16.1hh, unregistered French trotter with French passport, 10 years old, with kissing spines, and some arthritis. Poor conformation and large, unrefined head with a blaze. Two distinct white spots on her back from a hornet sting. Lovely nature - not freeze-marked. Can be tricky to catch.

If anyone has any information on the horses, they should contact Emma on 07796 322065 / e.hitchcox@btinternet.com

[TallyHo]

That is just awful :( The owner must be out of her mind with worry :crying:

[quote]When Emma searched online for Clare's phone number, it appeared in old '---------' and 'Gumtree' adverts for horses for sale, leading Emma to worry this lady was in fact a dealer, and had illegally sold her horses on.[/quote]

A dealer wouldn't do that, but a criminal might :(

Hopefully, with all the good information supplied by the owner, maybe the horses can be located and returned and the perpetrator brought to justice. I suppose it goes without saying that NEDS have been alerted in case there are any new passport applications for horses matching those descriptions )

[Oscar08]

Hello, i am the owner. And i am worried sick.

I now have more details. i know the lady who took them was L*** M****mer, from Kings Lynn. She is aleready in trouble for a similar case. However, i can't see my horses on her yard so i presume they have been sold on.

I have so far contacted the police, and the freezeemark company. Not sure who else to contatct?

I am going to list lots of adverts online.....

I haven't contacted NEDs, who are they?

I just want to find them and know they are safe and well somewhere.....

Admin Note: Sorry but we cannot allow naming on here (and believe me - sometimes we really would like to)

[TallyHo]

Oscar08 I can't believe you haven't been in touch with NEDS, it's the National Equine Database. All passport authorities pass on their information about all the horses they have passported, and NEDS organises the information. It should have been your second port of call.

Anyway, you will need to tell them what's happened and that it's a Police matter. They will search their records for every potential horse passported from the date you let those horses go. They will have to be brought into the passport system to be sold, especially at a sale, so they will be passported in someones name then you can back-track until you are able to prove the guilt of the person who took your horses.

I wish you the very best of luck with this, and sincerely hope you come back here soon with some very good news for us :)

I'm off to http://www.nedonline.co.uk/public/Home.aspx right now cos i'm already registered so i'll have a quick look for the freezebranded one )

[TallyHo]

Equine Details - SAFFRON

There are a number of features you can access to obtain further information about this horse by clicking on the links below.

hide help text

 

Date of Birth Gender Female Colour Chestnut (LIVER CHESNUT) Height 163cm Breed Not Known Issued by Horse Passport Agency Ltd (ID Passports do not include Pedigree) Birth Country United Kingdom

These are the online details for the freezebranded horse. Good luck with this Emma :D

[Oscar08]

Thank you for finding this out for me!

I have contacted the passport place this morning. Turns out the lady who took my horses passported them 2 days before Molten Mowbray horse auctions in Occtober. There has been no change of ownership since. So if anyone has bought a horse from there or has a horse with a new passport matching the above please let me know ASAP. i am sure she must have been sold on by now....

Also please keep your eyes open for my other horse. She had a French passport (which may have been changed for a new one again) and a French microchip (don't know the number)

Any info good or bad will help me....

Thanks for looking....

xxxx

[lazydaisy]

Does this not prove that the passport system is failing. It is illegal to get a second passport issued for a horse that already has a passport (another passport....not a duplicate of the original), but there is no way of knowing whether the passport you get given with a particular horse when you buy, is the original one or not. It seems like it is sooooo easy for unscrupulous people, to abuse this system...Don't get me wrong, I am, and always was in favour of this system in principal, but cases like this one do really underline the flaws in it.

[TallyHo]

Oscar08 get on to Melton Mowbray sales and locate the buyer )

[TallyHo]

Can I just mention Oscar08 that you will now be able to get the passport numbers & new names for both horses, so you can now search for them under their new names.

For the record, the older horse is now called Saffron. What name has the bay been given?

[Oscar08]

So many passport applications went through, they can't tell if a new passport was created for my other mare.

They have put a note on the file of 'Saffron's' passport encase someone tries to change ownership - as this would tell me where she is now.

The lady said unfortunately not many people bother to change ownership in the passports :-(

Once it become compulsory to microchip every horse to be passported it will make it much easier to flag illegal seconds. And expecially if NEDs makes it compulsory to supply micro chip and freezemark details

Been on the phone to Melton sales this morning. They are going to check through all the sales since October, but unfortunately they only record information like height and colour and age, and don't take passport details! Apparently they don't record who bought each horse either.

So the hunt continues :crying:

Thanks for your help all xxxx

[TallyHo]

Oscar08 if the passport applications were sent together, which I'd like to bet they were, the passport numbers will be consequtive. Come on girl, you're hot on the trail.

I reckon these horses can be found )

[Oscar08]

I'm hoping they can be found.

Apparently lots of applications were all submitted by her on the same day! And they can't find any that match. But due to data protection they can't send them to me to look over - but the police can request this for me! So i will ask them to do this when i see them tonight....

If they have gone through Melton Sale - then i know the liklyhood is that they are still around leicester area....

will you keep you posted :-) x

[Lottiet23]

Oscar08 - Can you email me the name of this woman as i live near Leicestershire & have a dealer friend who goes Melton sales every other week, he may know of this woman if she had several horses their.  We were there once in October but buying tack & you see so many poor horses at these places i try not to look at them!

I found your details on the Equine section website - Deb has posted it on there.  I hope you don't mind me replying i think it is disgusting & this woman needs to be found & your horses certainly need to be home with you.

If i can help in anyway let me know, i will show the pics of your horses to the dealer to see if he can remember.

Charlotte

[smokeysbandit]

I really hope you find them, first and foremost.  Then I hope this woman gets what she deserves.

[huskyfinn]

same here, i hope you find them and i'm sure you will. you have lots of details and information and the police are on the case as well so you should hopefully get them back very soon. i've got my fingers crossed for you. just don't let the police or anyone else tell you they are looking but don't show you anything for their efforts, in other words keep on at them as well so that they don't 'forget' about your case. good luck and if i see any horses that match the description then i'll let you know.