Calinda - a case of mistaken identity

Not a day goes by when Harold and I travel that we do not hear, "No one could come onto our property and take a horse without us knowing." We are then given a barrage of reasons as to why.

I have great news! Calinda is home! Her story once told completely should have all horse owners questioning their security and horse identification methods. This could have happened to many of the 1.9 million horse owners around the country because most of us assume it couldn't or are not aware of the danger. It happened to us in 1997. Ours was not a case of mistaken identity.

The people who own the farm from which Calinda lived have learned through experience that even on the best of horse farms, how easy it is for a horse to disappear. I commend them on their efforts to find Calinda. It was through their perseverance and a stroke of luck (or divine intervention) that set the domino affect in motion yesterday that brought Calinda home.

The story is involved but the facts below will give you a general idea of occurrences that took place on a normal day on this Tryon horse farm.

• People were on the property the evening Calinda was seen leaving in a very recognizable truck and trailer
• Calinda was removed from her stall in the barn
• Days went by before a report was made in case there was a mistake. Nothing turned up so the report was finally made to police.

An honest mistake

• The owners of the farm work hard to find Calinda. Tuesday their path intersected with a truck and trailer meeting the description of the one that took Calinda. They stopped the truck!
• The story gets confusing here but the bottom line is: the wrong horse was removed from the farm, was for sale and could have been sold.
• The people who picked Calinda up went to the wrong barn and the wrong stall.
• The people who had her didn't know they had the wrong horse.

Lesson's to be learned

• Remember, without ID most Bay mares look alike, especially to someone who sees so many horses each day.
• Awareness is your best defense of preventing a disappearance of your horse.

In the end, the owners of the farm learned how vulnerable they were to an innocent mistake or theft. The outcome could have been more bazaar had Calinda been sold.

Imagine showing your new horse in an arena for all to see, and someone tells you she was stolen. Just think of the problems that would follow. Imagine the worse scenario of all, not ever knowing to what happened to Calinda. This story may have never had an ending.

There are many lessons to be learned here. We are so glad that Calinda's tale has a happy ending. We are thankful the farm owners will allow us to teach others through their story.

Thank you for any and all help you provided in the search for Calinda. All's well that ends well.

Debi Metcalfe
Stolen Horse International, Inc.