Relief after missing foal returns

8:00am Friday 4th July 2008

A RELIEVED farmer, whose 15-week-old foal was abducted, is thrilled to have him back home.

The tiny miniature pony foal, called Blue, was discovered back in his field in a village near Warminster on Saturday afternoon after his 72-hour disappearance resulted in a countywide search.

At just 15 weeks old, there were serious concerns that Blue would have died if he had been away from his mother's milk for more than a week.

Blue's owner Libby Braithwaite had been working with her horses and ponies on Saturday when, after lunch, she went out to find Blue had been put back in the field in broad daylight.

"I am so grateful that whoever did take my foal did put him back. I couldn't believe my eyes," she said.

"Without his mother's milk at this stage he would die from the trauma. The weaning would have been too severe. He would have survived no longer then a week."

Police launched an urgent appeal for the safe return of Blue after he was discovered missing on Thursday at 4pm.

It was his mother Berry's first foal.

Mrs Braithwaite said: "She (Berry) told me as soon as I went in that something was wrong. She was pacing up and down and she was physically distressed. She was chocker-block with milk.

"I don't know why people steal horses. Probably because they thought they could sell him on, and he is cute.

"He has been cared for while he was away because he is not person-shy. He is still okay."

Security has been stepped up at the farm since the abduction to ensure nothing like it happens again.

Berry, whose full-name is Blackberry Jane, is said to be more content following Blue's return, although her owners have noticed she is more wary and has a tendency to kick out, as well as standing over the foal when he sleeps.

Sergeant Jim Stannard, of Warminster and Westbury police, said: "Obviously it is a relief to the owners that the foal has been returned.

"It's pleasing that there is still some common sense among some people to consider the welfare of this animal."

At four-and-a-half hands tall, Blue is proving to be a resilient little foal having escaped death when he was born in a field at night during a storm.

Mrs Braithwaite said: "It was very bad weather and he was blue when we first saw him. But he survived that and he has survived this too."

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