More than a week has passed since Diana Armbruster discovered her family’s beloved 17-year-old Arabian mare missing from their south Gilroy home.
She checked with her neighbors that day, Jan. 20, filed missing horse reports with authorities and has grown more worried each day since then.
“I’m concerned about her well-being,” Armbruster said, adding the horse recently suffered from two bouts of colic and is on a special diet. “She has to be fed in a particular way and as part of a particular type of feeding program (to prevent ulcers).”
A rural deputy with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office took the report for the missing horse, named Rose. He noted that the fence that contained the equine had been pulled away from the wall in a suspicious manner.
While she suspects foul play, Armbruster said she’s asking anyone with information to contact her or authorities.
“It’s the idea of somebody coming and taking something that doesn’t belong to them. They know nothing about her and they know nothing about her needs,” she said.
Armbruster is more concerned about bringing Rose home than blaming anyone, she added. She hasn’t told her grandchildren, aged 4 and 6, that their adored Rose is gone.
“Rose is an awesome family pet and I’m just worried,” she said. “If anybody has her, just tie her to a tree and make a phone call. No questions asked.”
Horse theft isn’t a rampant countywide crime but it does happen in rural areas with a high concentration of livestock and farms, such as southern Santa Clara County, according to Sheriff’s Sgt. Kurtis Stenderup.
“We’d feel more comfortable (calling it a theft) if we saw the gate wide open and there were tire tracks leading up to it,” Stenderup said. “We will always take the report and document the incident, but they’re harder to follow up on. Could someone have taken it? Absolutely. Could it have run away? Who knows?”
Armbruster said she is convinced Rose was stolen. When she first noticed the horse missing around 10 a.m. Jan. 20, she saw marks in the ground that indicated someone may have opened the gate, she said.
According to Stenderup, the rural deputy handling the case contacted the California Brand Inspection Service to put out a missing horse alert.
“They put out that horse’s brand on a statewide, weekly bulletin,” Stenderup said. “If that horse shows up in say Fresno, it’s brand is broadcast. It’s kind of like registering your car in that you can report it lost or stolen.”
Rose is chestnut in color and has a white start on her forehead, Armbruster said.
Anyone with information about the missing horse can call the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office at (408) 299-2311 or Armbruster at (408) 710-8393.
