Horse theft is the crime of stealing horses. A person engaged in
stealing horses is known as a horse thief. Historically, punishments
were often severe for horse theft, with several cultures pronouncing
the sentence of death upon actual or presumed thieves. Several
societies were formed in the United States to prevent horse theft and
apprehend horse thieves. However, horse theft continues to occur
throughout the world, as horses are stolen for their meat, for ransom,
or in disputes between their owners and other persons. Horse theft
today is comparable to automobile theft, a crime punishable by felony
jail time. Both horses and cars are valuable commodities.Horse theft
was a well-known crime in medieval and early modern times and was
severely prosecuted in many areas. While many crimes were punished
through ritualized shaming or banishment, horse theft often brought
severe punishment, including branding, torture, exile and even death.
According to one 18th century treatise, the use of death as a
punishment for horse theft stretches back as far as the first century
AD, when the Germanic Chauci tribe would sentence horse thieves to
death, while murderers would be sentenced to a fine. This practice
derived from the wealth of the populace being in the form of livestock
which ranged over large areas, meaning that the theft of animals could
only be prevented through fear of the harsh punishment that would
result.Horse theft was harshly punished in the French Bordeaux region
in the 15thâ€"18th centuries. Punishments ranged from whipping to a
lifetime sentence of service on a galley ship. This latter punishment
was also given to perpetrators of incest, homicide and poisoning,
showing the severity with which horse theft was viewed by the
judiciary.In 19th-century Russia, the theft of livestock (including
horses) made up approximately 16 percent of thefts of peasant
property; however, there were no reported thefts of horses from estate
property. The offense of stealing a horse was the most severely
punished of any theft on Russian estates, due to the importance of
horses in day-to-day living. Flogging was the usual punishment for
horse thieves, combined with the shaving of heads and beards, and
fines of up to three times the value of the horse if the animal had
been sold. Horse theft Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter