Cheney horses’ tails partially cut off

When Sonia Richardson’s young mare Ellie came running to get fed Sunday evening, Richardson did a double take.

“She had no tail,” Richardson said. “Ellie has always had a full, luscious tail, but the hair was all gone.”

Seven horses share a field with Ellie at Richardson’s home south of Cheney and she soon discovered that a gelding, Jack, was missing his tail, too. They are her only two horses with black tails.

“You are just in shock,” Richardson said. “Who would cut off a horse’s tail?”

Upon closer inspection, Richardson noticed that the tail hairs were cut cleanly.

“They must have brought really sharp scissors,” Richardson said. “I don’t know how they got that close to Ellie – she’s kind of half wild.”

Each horse lost between two and three feet of tail, but had no cuts to the tail bone. The tail thief left behind some naturally occurring brown strands in Jack’s tail.

“I guess they only wanted the black hair,” Richardson said. Richardson said some hairs were pulled out of the tailbone, follicles and all, leaving behind small sores.

“Maybe he took off in the middle of things?” Richardson said.

Nothing else was missing from her property, which has security cameras, and neighbors didn’t notice anything unusual. Richardson is still looking over the images from her cameras but has seen nothing unusual.

Richardson has lived on the small farm for four years and said she knows her neighbors. She can’t think of anyone who’d be out to hurt or intimidate her. Other livestock have been ruled out as culprits because the cuts were so clean and the tails disappeared so suddenly.

Richardson called Crime Check twice on Sunday but operators would not take a report. They referred her to Spokane County Animal Protection Service, which referred her back to Crime Check. So Richardson said she gave up reporting.

“I wish they’d take it more seriously,” Richardson said.

The cutting and stealing of horses manes and tails is not unheard of, but director of SCRAPS Nancy Hill said she can’t recall another incident like this in Spokane County.

“For it to be animal cruelty the animal has to suffer in some way,” Hill said. “Animals are considered property in Washington state so the stealing of hair is more of a property crime.”

Horses use their tails mainly for fly control in the summer. Tail hair is brittle and it may take more than a year for a horse’s tail to grow out again.

Horse hair is used to make bridles and halters – some sell for several hundred dollars – and it’s also used to make jewelry, belts and hair accessories.

Richardson is puzzled by the theft and said she’s afraid of what may happen to the other horses if she’s not home.

“I just want word to get out and for people to take an extra look at their horses,” she said. “We are pretty freaked out.”