Lost and found

Thank you for “When Horse Theft Is Not a ‘Crime’” (EQUUS 455). I had a horse stolen who was a triple great-granddaughter of *Witez II, the horse General Patton rescued during World War II and brought back to the United States to sire the Polish Arabian breed here.

With the help of police and brand inspectors, we tracked my stolen mare all the way across Washington State. Finally, we found her in the far corner of the state. I had been warned that in the state of Washington possession is nine-tenths of the law, so the only way to get a horse back is to go to court, even if it is stolen.

The sheriff, who was also the brand inspector, could not take us onto the property where the horse was. He said it would be trespassing. But he knew the

people and said he would talk to them, and if he flashed his lights we could come down. We waited what seemed like forever, until finally he flashed his lights; when we drove up, he told us to go get the horse and put her in the trailer before they changed their minds. We did and brought her home.

I wrote a book about this horse and the many other life-and-death miracles she has been through, called Star’s Miracles and More. Rosemary Gustafson Ferndale, Washington