Has anyone else seen this. Two horses showed up at a farm, one has a halter and saddle, second just a halter. Person tossed hay and got pictures, but couldn’t catch them before they took off into a national forest.
Sounds like somebody got bucked off or more likely they were tied to a trailer and one spooked and took off and the other one followed. Or somebody on the trails took off the bridles to let them graze and they left the area fast. I bet somebody is stranded and very angry at their horses. They look well fed so it doesn’t look like they have been gone long.
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I notice they are not dragging lead ropes, and don’t have lead rope clips attached. The clip could have broken, of course.
What is that dangling from the front of the saddle in the first pic?
ganked from the FB post …
Do you think the horses will try to return from where they started?
I’m thinking of many times riding out and horse shows. Loose horses tended to return to the trailer or the barn where they had been fed.
Looks like a crop/whip.
Like someone was getting ready to ride & had an OOPS!
I hope they find the owner unhurt & just P.O.d at the escapees.
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Do you mean that black strap with the silver buckle? I don’t use that kind of equipment but I am assuming it is a breast strap that goes under the front legs and fits around the girth. I can’t think of an explanation of how that could break or why it wasn’t attached to the girth. It looks like it has two snaps and attaches to the rings under the girth. I guess if you were tacking up you would snap it on after you got the saddle girthed up. Maybe the horse spooked from something before that was attached and the lead rope broke. Or maybe the rider had unsnapped the halter and had the bridle reins wrapped around the horse’s neck and the horse took off before they could get the bridle on. Could the other horse be a pack horse?
I hope the rider/s are stranded at the truck and trailer and not out in the wilderness.
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That’s a Western quirt, I think.
Similar situation-
My friend’s horse took off into a large forest while she was trying to change halters. I tried to follow for quite a while but lost track of him, we had cyclists and hikers looking as well as a friend who lived nearby and knew all the trails. Luckily a cowboy type trailered in for a ride, found him and had to ROPE the escapee. Then HE was lost and had to be located by friend with local knowledge and guided back to parking lot. In all, it was about 4 hours til everyone was present and accounted for!
I hope this situation ended quickly and happily!
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I was thinking it might be part of an extra third “rein” that some trail riders use to tie their horses at stops. If the bridle is a halter-style or has a halter over the bridle. I can’t think of the name of that sort of “rein”, though. They tend to be very long, narrow leather.
If that is what it is on the saddle, it may be made of connected pieces for multi-tasking.
It looks to me like someone was in the process of tacking up when something went wrong. Oddly though while both horses are haltered, there are no lead ropes or even clips attached to their halters.
The breast collar is attached to the saddle on both sides but not attached to the girth between the legs. I usually do my breast collar right before I put my bridle on, and attach it to both sides of the saddle before attaching it to the girth.
Also looks like a quirt attached to the saddle, which is common for trail riders to carry. The saddle is an endurance type saddle with endurance stirrups. Doesn’t necessarily mean the owner is an endurance rider though, as many trail riders use this type of saddle.
Many trail riders ride with a lead rope attached to a hallter, underneath the bridle, if not using a halter bridle and tie it to the saddle, either to the horn or around the pommel area if the saddle doesn’t have a horn.
Hopefully, the horses got loose, did a little scared run around and then went home. I hate the thought of a rider out there alone in the cold!
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Sad reminder for trail riders to have an I.D. tag on their saddles. And, to let others know where they are going and when they’ll be back.
I wonder if they were ponying the unsaddled horse and something went wrong. Lots of bears up there.
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That’s what I was thinking. If the saddled horse had a bridle over the halter and the second horse was being ponied. Loosing a bridle or lead rope could easily happen, also the lower strap on the breastplate is broken which makes me think something happened.
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While we wait for an update (hopefully good).
I’ve posted this before, so:
Trailered one late Summer afternoon to a local State Park, several 100 acres to ride in varied terrain.
DH & I had a nice ride, then got ready to load horses for the short drive back to the place we boarded.
And I learned a Very Important Fact.
You do not ever trailer in a breakaway halter. Never. Ever.
My TB decided that was not the trailer he came in, pulled back hard on the ramp & snapped the breakaway crownpiece.
We looked at each other for a second, then he took off trotting down the path.
At warpspeed, we loaded DH’s horse, put up the buttbar on our 2H straightload, removed his halter & I went after the escapee.
Could not see him on the pretty long stretch of trail ahead 
Came back to the trailer & DH took a turn searching.
It was getting toward dusk & I worried I’d lose them both.
Couldn’t leave my post, as loaded horse was getting anxious.
TG it was the Age of Cellphones, I called our Trainer, who was there in minutes.
He took off after DH, by now the light was fading & I worried they’d all be lost.
DH & Trainer came back, sans horse.
I took one last walk down the path…
And found horse standing in trees, just to the side of the trail, maybe 209’ from the trailer.
Asshat must have heard us calling him! 
He let me halter him, lead him back & loaded w/o a problem.
By now it was full dark.
Fun evening, but educational 
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Phew, my heartrate went up reading that. I don’t understand the mania for shipping in leather halters. It’s a relic from the really old trailers that lacked manger or escape doors.
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Oh, I still use leather to ship.
In case of emergency I want it to break.
Better the halter, than my horse’s neck.
OTOH, I usually don’t tie in the trailer.
Just the mini, in my stock trailer, because that’s a lot of room for him to get in trouble. But the lead is long enough to let him get up if he fell.
I know, also long enough to get a leg over but so far, so good
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Great point about the name tags @BrownDerby.
I have small round ones on every piece of tack. I figure while some tack may come off if the horse gets loose, at least one piece with identification might stay one. I think I spent between $200-$300 for tags from Boomerang Tags, and my current tags are about 8 years old since I moved to my current address.
Another thing I have done is I have gone to bio-thane and Beta tack in bright colors. I have blaze orange and purple with reflective striping on it.
After having horses get away from riders in my area, then being found dead months later, I figured the brightly colored tack might give them a better chance of being seen, particularly when the brush is dense during the summer months.
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I have tags on my bridles, I do not have any one my saddle. Thank you for the reminder that I should add some there.
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When I trailer out I have 2 halters on. I have a rope halter with lead rope. And I have a leather halter. I tie in the trailer with leather halter to a trailer clip strap and take the lead rope off. I attach the lead rope when I go to unload. Maresy has been known to get her head under the chest bar so she gets tied.
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I always think of engraving or stamping info under the flap or by the billets, but it’s always been for theft…
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I have that. 
It is not enough information anywhere anyone would locate it to get my horse back to me.
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Looks like the horses were located and been reunited with their owners, according to the original post. But definitely some good info in this thread!
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