No horsing around here

Soultz-Haut-Rhin – Few places are more peaceful than the gentle slopes of France’s Alsace wine region – but should any heinous crimes like grape theft occur, Jason the horse is on hand to catch the perpetrators.

Jason, a handsome blackmaned chestnut, is part of a “green brigade” charged with environmental protection in the Haut-Rhin region bordering Germany and Switzerland.

“Horses are the best way of getting around places where you can’t go by car,” says his rider, 52-year-old Nicolas Krust.

Over the course of a day, Krust and his equally uniformed patrol partner Daniel Dagon amble 40km around the little town of Soultz-Haut-Rhin on the lookout for delinquents among the vines.

“It’s rarely big heists,” admits Dagon, who is about to celebrate 10 years riding his gelding Seigneur. “But thefts of a few bunches of muscat grapes often get reported.”

Wine grapes tend to have thicker skins than those grown for the table and are less crunchy, but the muscat variety is popular for both eating and wine-making.

Picking season for grapes used in Alsace’s sparkling cremant wine may be over for the year, but the harvest is still in full swing for many other varieties in the region, leaving the vines vulnerable.

People caught stealing grapes face a fine of up to €500 euros (R8 400) and an official report is sent to local prosecutors, who decide whether to follow up with an investigation.

Home to around 6 000 people, Soultz-Haut-Rhin, about 50km from the German border, is not exactly a hotbed of crime – Krust sees one or two such cases go to police every year.

“You still need to be there to witness it,” he said.

Roland Martin, the mayor of neighbouring Wuenheim, thinks it’s thanks to the patrols that the community sees so little crime. “For years we haven’t had many problems with theft which is linked to the presence of the green brigades,” he says.

Founded in 1989, HautRhin’s green brigade counts 63 officers, 16 of them on horseback.

Their remit ranges from patrolling the forests to preventing litter.

The patrollers flag up cars parked illegally near the vines – “the bulk of our work during the picking”, according to Krust.

“Every year we hand out between 50 and 100 tickets for bad parking.” –