A Posse for Pokadot
The saga of one man's search for a stolen horse — and the steps he took that made all the difference.
By Lisa Broadwater

Eric Beené never dreamed that his horse, DREA Pokadot Princes, might be stolen. The striking 8-year-old bay mare with spotted white blanket — who was named Appaloosa National High Point Senior Reining horse for 2002, is a NRHA Top Ten money earner and Appaloosa Horse Club medallion winner — isn't what Beené imagined would be tempting to a horse thief.
"Well, Appaloosas aren't a real popular breed," says Beené, a national director for the Appaloosa Horse Club who owns a bait-cricket farm and raises Appaloosas on his Southern Winds Ranch in Nesbit, Miss. "When I think of a stolen horse, I think of, you know, top Quarter horses or Thoroughbreds or something like that."
But on April 17, Beené learned otherwise. Pokadot disappeared from the Oklahoma training facility where she had been stabled for the previous month and a half. Not only was Pokadot gone, but it seemed she had been hand-picked — the thief (or thieves) went through two hot-wired pastures of horses to take Pokadot out of a round pen and then replaced the hot-wire and left all the other horses. Not a good sign.
When Beené got the call that Pokadot was gone, he immediately called everyone he know for help. In the process, he learned about Stolen Horse International (SHI), a North Carolina-based non-profit organization created to offer a comprehensive theft awareness program and educational opportunities for horse enthusiasts. Its website, www.NetPosse.com, provides detailed information on missing and stolen horses (as well as tack and trailers) from across the country.
"Loads of people told me I should contact them right away, so I did," Beené recalls.
That proved to be a very smart move. Pokadot was recovered one week later — after a woman spotted a flyer that had been produced by SHI.
But we're getting a little ahead of the story.

About Stolen Horse International
Stolen Horse International was founded in 1997 after the theft of a mare named Idaho. Its motto: the Margaret Mead quote, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world...indeed, it is the only thing that ever has!"
At the time of Idaho's theft, her owner, Debi Metcalfe, turned to the Internet for help in finding the horse. Metcalfe focused on the Internet, she says, "Because doing everything by hand and by phone is so slow. And it's very expensive. We dropped a couple thousand dollars the first week just trying to find our horse. After a couple of weeks of that, I thought, 'Well, I don't know much about the Internet, but everybody tells me I can go there and find help.' "
Turns out she couldn't find a single resource to aid in her search.
"So I started gathering email addresses and websites to contact about Idaho," Metcalfe says.
Back then, she didn't even know how to send an email. That hardly stopped her.
"We sent a letter about Idaho to every email address we could find," Metcalfe says. "And we asked people if they would put the information on their websites.
"Unknowingly, this work started building a network of people willing to assist in the search for stolen horses. That network is now called Stolen Horse International. Now, when you go to the Internet and type in 'stolen horse' or 'horse theft,' every website there but one is somehow directly linked or a derivative of what started with Idaho in 1997."
Idaho was recovered in Tennessee in September 1998 after a flyer about her was seen on a convenience store's door. Not surprisingly, flyers are now a SHI staple. Not only does Metcalfe distribute them, but if missing-horse owners provide her with photos, she'll create one for them — for free.
"Those flyers are powerful," Metcalfe says. "Because when I send them out, I send them out by the thousands, and then those people send them out to thousands more. We also send them to list groups, and some of those groups have anywhere from 500 to several thousand."
As soon as a report of a lost or stolen horse is filed on the SHI website, Metcalfe springs into action.
"First," she says, "I check it out to make sure it has everything I need in it — the descriptions of the horse, the contact numbers and, most importantly, the police case number and contact information. If I don't have that information, it slows everything down. Because with a lot of these law enforcement agencies, if you don't put a case number, they'll go, 'What horse?'
"Once I have that information, I contact the victim and make a flyer. Then I send it out in the form of what's known as an Idaho Alert to NetPosse volunteer members [of which there are thousands].
"Everyone that's signed up as a NetPosse volunteer distributes the information to their friends and connections and asks those people to pass it on to everybody they know, so it moves around the country like a chain letter.
"We also do press releases and distribute those to TV stations ands newspapers in the area where the horse was stolen," Metcalfe adds. "And we do magazine stories. For example, in Eric's case, if the Appaloosa Journal or one of the breed magazines had been interested in an article, we would have done an article spotlighting Pokadot. But she got back too soon!"
Beené says that the speed with which the information about Pokadot was distributed made all the difference in her successful return.
"Within several hours, the news about Pokadot was all over the Internet," he says. "And flyers were already being put up all over Oklahoma and Texas the next day.
"I got hundreds and hundreds of emails over a couple of days at my website," he adds. "I normally get 20 hits a day, and I got 1,144 hits one day. I think I had people contacting me from every state except Hawaii. I even had people from Canada and Alaska putting up flyers in their feed stores. It was really a big deal going everywhere."
Beené was in Kentucky filming an episode of The Appaloosa Horse TV show when he got the news that Pokadot had been found (he asks that the details of Pokadot's return not be discussed because the investigation is ongoing). Ironically, he had traveled to Kentucky to film an endurance race that Pokadot had been scheduled to compete in. He drove from Kentucky to Mississippi, picked up his trailer and headed for Oklahoma. He returned to his ranch at 4:30 on a Monday morning, with Pokadot in tow.
Metcalfe says she wasn't surprised by how quickly Pokadot was found:
"No, not this one. We were able to get the information out quickly — Pokadot was stolen, and the information went out immediately. Sometimes I get the reports three weeks later. Most of the horses that have been recovered through Stolen Horse International have been first-day reports."
Beené is grateful to everyone who played a role in helping locate Pokadot.
"This was an effort by many, many people," he says. "There were probably thousands of people out there helping me. It was really great. The NRHA put out news on it; the Appaloosa Horse Club put out information on their website, and many other organizations got the word out. I even had some animal communicators contacting me telling me all kinds of stuff.
"The internet is what found this horse," he adds. "Without it, I wouldn't have known who to get in touch with or anything.
"And I'm still answering emails. There were hundreds of them — I still have about 100 left. I'm trying to tell everybody thank you. And I'm still getting a few in every day from people who don't know that she's been found or from people congratulating me that she's been found."

Lessons Learned
Unfortunately, not everyone is as lucky as Beené. According to Metcalfe, between 45,000 and 55,000 disappear each year (to date, 51 percent of the horses reported to SHI have been recovered).
"Some states have a lot more thefts than others," she adds. "Texas has the largest theft rate. They commissioned the study that came up with the figures.
"It's hard to find out how many horses have been stolen, because horses don't have VIN numbers. And even if they're entered into the data base, and a lot of them aren't, they're entered in as livestock — that could be a goat, a pig...
"It's really been a thieves' world out there as far as horse theft. Because a lot of people think it doesn't happen anymore. How could anybody steal anything as big as a horse? The thing is, it's quite easy. And you can do it in front of hundreds of people, and they don't even think about it. For example, at the National Barrels Finals a few years ago, three horses were stolen. That's what we're trying to change."
So, how often does SHI get a call about a stolen horse?
"At least one a day, of some type," Metcalfe says. "Some people consider a bad sale or theft by check a theft. And they are — but not in our judicial system; they're civil matters. But that's just another way to steal horses, to do it without have law enforcement come after you. It happens all the time."
To help educate the public, Metcalfe has written a book, Horse Theft: Been There — Done That, and periodically travels the country talking about horse-theft prevention.
"We try to prepare people ahead of time in case a horse goes missing," she explains. "We talk to people about having pictures prepared because we learned a lot the hard way. We had good pictures, sort of, but we didn't know where they were. It took three kids three hours to find the pictures on our original flyers."
It's especially important to have plenty of good pictures of the horse without tack.
"I lacked photos without tack," Beené says. "I have a lot of photos of Pokadot, but they're of her doing sliding stops or something in performance."
But the biggest lesson Beené learned, he says, is to make sure your horses have some kind of legal identification.
"I didn't have a brand, tattoo or microchip in this horse," he says. "The only reason she was identifiable is because of her pattern. I would recommend that everybody get a brand or a microchip on their horse because if this had been a brown or black horse, she probably would never have been found."
And if the unthinkable happens — your horse disappears — act swiftly.
"Contact the police first," Metcalfe suggests. "Then contact us because we can be getting the flyer ready as you're getting the pictures to us. Then we'll send out that flyer with our logo on it, which adds credibility to the search.
"Once we do the flyer, we push to get it out everywhere within a 150-mile radius of the disappearance. And I don't care where you are in the United States, they should always go to the slaughterhouses. Any horse can end up there; it doesn't matter how much the horse cost or what shape it's in."
If a horse is stolen and is in the sale network long enough, "Even a horse that looks like Pokadot can look like an entirely different horse — within a few weeks," Metcalfe says. "And people change their looks sometimes.
"Once the flyer is ready, just keep pumping it out there any way you can. And work with law enforcement officers. Make sure they know (and other people too) that you're helping yourself because people are more willing to help people who are helping themselves."
And cast as wide a net as possible.
"I also had some of the Texas Rangers with the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association searching for Pokadot," Beené says. "There are different organizations you can join like the TSCRA, which is based in Texas — they search for stolen livestock. It cost me $90 a year to join, and if something gets stolen, you contact them and they immediately start looking for it. So check out your local associations and join those."
And, no matter what, don't lose hope.
"Remember, a horse lives a long time," Metcalfe says. "When we were looking for our horse, we had people contact us who had found their horse five, seven, 10 years later — and quite by luck, on all of them.
"None of those owners ever quit looking for their horses. If you have one that's missing that you care about, you never quit looking over your shoulder or in pastures. Because it becomes second nature to you."
As for Pokadot, she's back in training. Beené would like her to earn an ApHC silver medallion in endurance riding. His goal: "To show the versatility of this horse. I'm trying to prove that she can do it all."
But her training days away from Southern Winds are over.
"No, she's gonna stay with me," Beené says with a laugh. "I'll do my own training in the future."

Quick Horse Theft Prevention Tips
Identify your horses
Record identification information with state and national registries.
Photograph your horse in two seasons. Keep photographs current.
Make a file with all important horse information inside. 
Padlock gates and keep fencing in good shape.
Do not put halters and lead ropes by stall doors.
Keep halters off of pasture horses.
Keep barns away from road if possible. 
Install security lighting around the barn.
Keep a barking dog or other animal that makes noise, like a peacock.
Change routines often.
Pay attention to service people on property.
Start a neighborhood watch.
Keep trailer out of view if possible.
Lock up tack.
Put identification info on tack.

*Source: Stolen Horse International, Inc.

Horse Recovery Tips
Once your horse is missing, time is of the essence! Here are a few tips to follow:
Take action fast!
Check your enclosure carefully. Are there hazards like pits, sinkholes, cliffs or mud bogs? Check them.
Check with neighbors. Maybe a horse is in their yard or they saw one pass by.
Once you’re sure the horse is gone, call authorities. Report your horse missing. If there’s evidence the horse has been stolen, report him stolen.
If there’s evidence that your horse was stolen (cut fencing, grain on the grass), stay away from the area. Don't tamper with any physical evidence.
Get a copy of the police report.
Keep a record of all calls and correspondence.
Work with law enforcement.
Treat your search like a business. Keep meticulous records.
Prepare a recovery package. Keep it with you at all times. Include any identification info you have, including bill of sale; Coggins papers; health certificate; veterinary records; breed registration/brand registrations; descriptions of scars or other distinguishing marks; pictures; travel diary; phone numbers; theft report, case number and phone number to police agency; and flyers.
Call equine slaughter facilities immediately.
Visit horse auctions.
Tell the world through any news media you can find.
Contact friends and other associates: neighbors, farriers, veterinarians, postal carriers, horse owners; State horse-related groups such as the horse council, Department of Agriculture, Division of Animal Services, state veterinarian, breed associations and cattleman’s associations; equine-related businesses: tack, feed and apparel stores; and fencing/barn manufacturers.
Post information at horse events: rodeos, shows, horse club meetings.
Post information on Internet websites.

*Source: Stolen Horse International, Inc.