Horse Illustrated Magazine

Founded by Harold and Debi Metcalfe of Shelby, North Carolina, Stolen Horse International is celebrating its 20th anniversary as a leader in equine identification and all things associated with missing and stolen horses in the equine industry.

Stolen Horse International, Inc.™, also known as NetPosse, has grown tremendously over two decades of helping people find their missing or stolen horses. Founded on September 26, 1997, the organization has evolved from one couple’s search for their own missing horse to a volunteer donation-based organization that has helped thousands of people reunite with their missing or stolen horses.

Tap here for advice on preventing horse theft and other crimes at your farm.

The 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization has a large network of equine organizations, volunteers and horse owners joined together to educate the horse industry about the problem of missing and stolen horses, disaster situations and much more. NetPosse also provides information for horse owners and organizations regarding long-term responsibilities for equine protection, as well as focusing on bringing horses home™.

The NetPosse network can round up support for a victim after a report is filed on www.netposse.com. An alert and call to action goes out to a network of organizations, individuals, businesses, law enforcement, multiple social media formats, the NetPosse News newsletter and recovery specialists bent on returning a missing horse.

“I cannot believe it has been 20 years since our horse Idaho was stolen,” says Debi. “We never planned on doing all the things we are doing today. We’ve introduced new features to our Victim’s Services and Educational Outreach Programs, welcomed many horses home, and updated our national NetPosse Identification Program, an all equine ID registry as well as adding a free national disaster database for all animals lost and found during disasters.

Today the NetPosse website is number one in all of the search engines for stolen and missing horses. There are over 5,000 horses in the current database and the organization has serviced thousands more behind the scenes.

Catherine Girard interviewed Debi Metcalfe along with volunteers and the people they serve to reflect on how the organization has grown over the past two decades. The three-part series tells us where it is now, and the changes NetPosse now needs to make in order to continue helping the people and horses it was created to serve.

Tap here to read the first interview in the series.