Something Is Weird About This Story

I don't really know what to make of a story like this one from the Telegraph. The story is that there have been a rash of rustling incidents in Britain and that the stolen horses are being flown to the US because there is supposed to be a high demand for certain horses. The extent of the problem according to the Telegraph: 60 horses this year.

Gangs are targeting piebald and skewbald horses and the growth in thefts has led to predictions of the worst year on record for rustling.

Once considered deeply unfashionable, piebald (black and white) and skewbald (any other colour and white) horses have enjoyed an amazing surge in popularity both in Europe and America.

A traditional coloured cob – a well-built, weight-carrying mount – can now command up to £60,000 in America, offering huge profits on the £3,500 cost of transport.

According to the International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH), a charity with officers in Britain and America, thieves are using loopholes to secure "passports" for stolen animals, transporting them to Europe or Ireland with legally obtained horses, and then flying them to the US.

Paul Teasdale, the league's chief investigator, said: "There are huge amounts of money involved and people are stealing them for America because that is where the money is."

Allison Williment, an ILPH officer investigating the trade, said: "Dealers are drawing together about 100 horses and then sending them across the Atlantic. Many of these may be legally obtained but we know that some have been found to have horses that are not theirs."

So far this year, 60 horses have been reported stolen in the UK, a large proportion of which are "coloureds". The figure includes 18 taken during the past five weeks.

In the Thames Valley area, 23 horses have been stolen since January, twice the number taken in 2004 and 2005 combined. Of those stolen this year, just 14 per cent have been recovered, compared with 43 per cent last year.

£60,000 for just a horse? With no papers - one presumes one would need to produce papers to command a price like that. According to this site, there are plenty of horses for sale all across the country for considerably less money. They don't list "piebald" but do list "paint" and the prices are a lot lower than the story quotes. In fact there are a lot priced lower than the supposed costs of the flight. Maybe I'm missing something or maybe they left something out that would explain this. But it just looks weird. (My wife kept horses for a while and her thoroughbred, with papers, didn't cost anything like that kind of money. That was years ago - she owned the horse before we were married.)