AUSTIN, Texas – Nearly two dozen horses had their manes cut off this past week at stables near Austin.
Kathy, the woman who runs the stables and wished to be referred to by her first name only, told KXAN that 20 of the 35 horses who are housed there had their manes cut.
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“We had some horses go to a show. And afterward, the owners found cut pieces,” Kathy told KXAN. “And then we started basically searching the herd.”
She said some horses had just a couple of inches chopped off while others had huge chunks of their mane missing.
Kathy said she feels like her privacy has been violated and has no idea why someone would break in to cut and steal horse mane hair.
“Various different crafts? Maybe weird voodoo? I don’t know. I can’t rule out maliciousness,” Kathy said.
She also suspects it could have been a disgruntled employee.
One horse owner told KXAN that she could miss out on hundreds of dollars after a large chunk of her horse’s mane was chopped.
“He got like an inch and a half here chopped off in the middle of his mane. And he’s supposed to have a really long mane. This kind of messes things up for when we go to shows,” owner Melissa Lester said. “I’m probably just gonna have a hard time covering it up for photos and things like that.”
Lester said she thinks it will probably take five years for the mane to grow back out.
Both women were also concerned with safety, noting that some horses are friendly while others are skittish.
The animals could have also been lured with treats and might get sick if they stray from their diets, KXAN reported.
Kathy told KXAN she isn’t filing a police report because she doesn’t see how that would help the situation. She is, however, planning to install cameras.