A native pony breeder is appealing to the public to help find his pure-bred Dales mare who is believed to have been stolen from her field in Cumbria.
Bert Morland of the Lunesdale and Moorlandsdale Studs was informed his home-bred mare, seven-year-old Moorlandsdale Perfection, was missing from her field on Saturday evening (20 February).
The field is next to Jubilee Park in Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria.
Perfection — who was in the field with the land owner’s traditional coloured gelding — was fed at around 11am before being discovered to be missing at 4pm the same day.
“The horses were fed in the morning and later in the day the other pony was seen to be going mental in the field,” explained Bert. “The man who owned the field went to have a look to see what was upsetting the pony, and he found that Perfection wasn’t there.”
The mare has been in the field with her companion for more than 12 months.
Fellow breeder John Potter took to social media in an attempt to trace the Dales and his post has been shared thousands of times.
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“These things always come as a shock,” added Bert. “Perfection is a very sensible, quiet mare. She is a very good pony and is one of my favourites. I hope she can be found soon.”
Perfection is all black with no white or visible markings. Her microchip number is 958000010208370.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Cumbria police on 101 and provide the incident number 82 from 21 February.
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Former H&H showing editor and deputy features editor
Born and raised in the Lake District, Alex has grown up on the showing scene. She has qualified and competed ponies at the Royal International, Horse of the Year Show and Olympia and has first-hand knowledge of the current issues in the showing world as well as the horses, ponies and riders who compete in the sport. Alex joined H&H in January 2018 as showing editor, cementing its place as the leading equestrian publication for both showing reports and current showing news in the UK. She moved on in October 2024 to pursue other opportunities, but continues to write for us on a freelance basis.
