Isabel Hurley

IN the latest sickening tack theft to hit a well-known equestrian family, Tullibards Stud in Co Laois has been robbed of thousands of euro worth of carriage horse harnesses. Hans and Julia Kuehnle’s Coolrain property was targeted by the callous thieves who made off with 15 specialised harnesses from the family’s business, Kilvahan Horsedrawn Caravans.

The theft leaves the family with no harnesses for their horses just weeks before the tourist season opens.

Just last month, Limerick’s Peter Leonard’s Ringwood Stud was cleaned out of an extensive collection of tack by thieves who have repeatedly struck the equestrian community nationwide in the past 12 months.

This latest theft was all the more traumatic as the Kuehnle family had just returned home from Florida where talented young show jumper Jennifer (13) competed on the under-18 junior team that came third in the Nations Cup.

Jennifer was recently crowned The Irish Field Junior Show Jumper of the Year for her European Championships gold medal win in the children on horses division last year.

It’s believed that the theft took place between 1am and 2.30am on Wednesday and 15 sets of harnesses have been stolen.

Detectives at Abbeyleix Garda Station are urgently appealing for any information or witnesses to come forward to them at 057 8730580, where they will be dealt with in strict confidence.

“In the early hours of March 9th, roughly between 1am and 2.30am, a stud farm in the Laois area was broken into and a large quantity of driving harnesses were taken approximately 15 in total. The harnesses were the type used to pull medium to large carriages.

“Every item taken had the initials of the horse they belonged to or were fitted to, i.e. MR or CM,” said a garda spokesperson.

A distraught Hans told The Irish Field: “It’s a pure disaster. We found the place in disarray when we got back around 5am. There was a load of things taken including chain saws, generators, some other saddles.

“We run a horse drawn carriage business and they took all the harnesses with the season just about to open in three weeks’ time. They loaded everything on to a single axel trailer that we use behind a quad and took it all away, dropping some items in a field.

“We do not know how they got in, it’s not easy to get in here, they must have been watching the place. We are desperate for our harnesses back. If anyone knows anything, please help. We really need it back, we cannot run the business without it. The initials of each horse is stamped on the top of each harness,” said Hans who also said they had no theft cover on their insurance policy.

Kilvahan Carriages operates 16 caravans, fitted out to a luxury standard. It’s very popular with tourists and a unique way to explore the nearby beautiful Slieve Bloom mountains.