Stolen brewery Shire horse returns home safe and sound
A young Shire horse that was stolen from a brewery in Sheffield has been returned home safe and sound.
The 22-month old gelding called Massey was taken from his stable at Bradfield Brewery in the early hours of Friday, 14 March.
He was found nearly a week later on Thursday 20 March near Bridlington, Yorkshire.
Owner John Gill told H&H: “He is now back safe and sound and is being spoiled something rotten. We all missed him and were very upset — he had become a family pet. We are very lucky to have got him back.”
Massey was bought by a fellow horse owner in good faith; but after hearing about the stolen Shire he contacted the police realising it could be the missing Massey. Mr Gill was informed and went to identify his horse. Police are looking into the theft.
“If we hadn’t have found him so soon I doubt we would have found him at all. Luckily it is a happy ending,” said Mr Gill.
Originally bought as a mascot, Massey has been at the brewery since he was four months old.
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Already standing at 17hh, Massey is bay with a white blaze down the front of his face. He has two black front socks and two white back socks.
Mr Gill said: “We have CCTV cameras all over the brewery, except on one door — which is where he was taken from.
“So the people who took him must have done their homework. And it is likely that it is someone used to handling horses because it was just a regular door to lead him through.
“They could have just taken him from the field during the day, so it must have been planned this way.”
The family-run brewery, based on a working farm in High Bradfield, Sheffield have been brewing beer since April 2005.
Massey enjoys a pint of beer each day, which he drinks from his own engraved beer tankard.
Last year, to celebrate Massey’s first birthday, Bradfield Brewery named a beer after him, Massey’s Mild.
A spokesman for Sheffield Police said: “Officers are currently investigating the burglary and are appealing for anyone with any information about this incident to contact us immediately.”
Tel: Deepcar Police: 0114 2964912.
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A graduate of Exeter University, Amy joined our news team from Redpin Publishing in 2008 as news writer. She was promoted to deputy news editor in May 2013 and became news editor in April 2015. She left Horse & Hound in March 2016 to take up an editorial position in Dubai.