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| | Email this article • Print this article | Horse (tail) thieves snip again at Phillippo Boy Scout camp
by Ken Haggerty
He's not quite ready to form a posse, but Dave Pederson is peeved and upset and wants to get the word out to others to be on the look-out.
Sometime between December 27 and January 1, someone cut the tails of three horses at the Phillippo Boy Scout Reservation in Stanton Township. This was the second time someone had done this, as three other horses had been clipped in October of 2009.
Pederson is the ranger at the 450 acre Boy Scout camp property situated on the south side of Lake Byllesby about three miles west of Cannon Falls. He keeps seven horses on the property and now all but one have had their tails snipped.
Cannon Falls veterinarian Tom Winter says it's not a common occurrence but that he has heard of it happening before. Winter says the most likely motive for thieves is to use the clipped tails as hair extensions. Horses that compete in shows are judged in part on the length and fullness of their tails and Winter says some people will braid in a false horsehair extension to improve the look of their show horse.
Pederson estimates the value of the clipped tails at about $2,000.
Pederson says it could take three years for the tails to regrow. He is looking at some type of extension so the horses can shoo insects off their hind ends.
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