Manitoba horse owner 'very angry' after tails mysteriously cut and stolen

A Manitoba horse owner is shocked and angry to find out her family's two horses had part of their tails mysteriously chopped off and stolen last week.

Michelle Hamilton of Teulon, Man., has filed a report with the RCMP about the missing tails. As well, she is warning other horse owners in the area to watch their corrals carefully.

Horses tails mysteriously cut and stolen

8 years ago

Duration 0:54

A Manitoba horse owner is shocked and angry to find out her family's two horses had part of their tails mysteriously chopped off and stolen last week.

"I'm angry. I'm very angry. You vandalized a member of my family two members of my family," she told CBC News on Tuesday.

"These aren't just livestock, they're our family. It's just it's anger."

The horses, Indy and Cisco, had tails over a metre long. But on Sunday morning, Hamilton said her family found that both horses had over half their tails missing.

Hamilton said they made the discovery after their neighbour phoned to say his horses' tails have been cropped, too.

"I'm still in complete shock," she said. "Even when we contacted the RCMP and they were here, they had the same question: who cuts horses' tails? Like, why?"

Hamilton said her online research revealed that horse tail hair is used in wigs, hair extensions and craft jewelry.

"Surprisingly, there's a huge demand for horse tails on the black market for hair extensions not just for humans, but hair extensions for show horses," she said, but added that it's not clearhow much a horse's tail could fetch.

Hamilton said the thief or thieves evaded the security cameras on her property when they cut the tails, which she believes happened between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. Friday.

The family was out of the house on Saturday, and it wasn't until their neighbour called on Sunday that they discovered the horses' tails had been cropped, she said.

As for Cisco and Indy, they appear to be OK despite what happened to them, Hamilton said, except they cannot swat biting insects with their tails as easily as before.

"It's not there just for decoration. It's there for a purpose," she said. "It's just really disheartening that somebody would go out and do something like this."

Anyone with information about the horse tail thefts is asked to call the Teulon RCMP detachment.