ELBERT COUNTY — Three Belgian draft horses from a ranch near Parker are missing their carefully-groomed tails, and owners suspect thieves are to blame.
“Somebody was brazen enough to come in and cut the tails off our horses,” said Tom Johnson.
Johnson co-owns Happy Trails Horse-Drawn Rides with Jim and Cheryl Hoff, who board the horses at their property on Crystal Peak Road.
The horses’ tails were cut off last Tuesday or Wednesday night, said Johnson.
“I have no idea what would possess somebody to do it or why somebody would do it,” said Johnson, who called the incident “creepy.”
The horses weren’t physically harmed; the tails were cut off below the dock, or the fleshy part of the tail. As much as two and a half feet of hair was cut away. But by whom?
“Lowlifes if you ask me,” said Jim Hoff. “They’re not their horses. They shouldn’t be messing with our horses. They shouldn’t come on our place without permission. It’s a violation.”
The horses are intimidating in size, which suggests the person responsible knows horses and how to handle them, said Hoff.
Prince, one of the horses that lost its tail, weighs 2,300 pounds and stands 19 hands high. After years of working with strangers, Prince is mellow and welcoming to a hand petting his head or back.
“He’s a gentle giant,” said Hoff.
He likely didn’t flinch when approached in the pasture, Hoff surmises.
Elbert County Sheriff’s deputies are investigating, but did not offer any comments on the record.
Horse tail thefts are uncommon, but not unheard of, according to horse industry experts.
Similar reports have been taken in recent years in Montana, Iowa, Wisconsin and California.
Representatives of Colorado’s Bureau of Animal Protection could not recall a similar incident in Colorado.
Horse tails are used in making hat bands, belts, saddles, violin bows and hair extensions for show horses.
“People sometimes think the tail hair is going to be worth a lot of money,” said Barb Delf of Custom Tails, an Iowa company which makes horse hair products.
“Plain old hair is not going to be worth much,” said Delf. Anyone looking to resell stolen horse hair is “not going to have much luck,” she said.
Delf says she frequently fields calls from inquiring investigators and journalists wondering why horse tails are stolen.
“Most of the time, it’s probably for personal use in making those items,” said Delf.
Hoff has warned neighboring ranchers about the thefts and posted a notice online but is at a loss of what else to do.
“It’s just wrong,” said Hoff. “What can you do? I can’t camp out there every night.”
Hoff says the tails will grow back, but it will take years.
Anyone with information about this case or about additional horse hair thefts is asked to call the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office at 303-621-2027.
