Horse thieves strike in Hidden Valley

Two horses were stolen over the weekend from a home in Hidden Valley, a rural area south of Maricopa where many people keep horses.

The animals are owned by Josian Rodriguez and his wife, Amber McKay.

Rodriguez said the horses, Chestnut, a 7-year-old Arabian gelding, and Valley, an 8-year-old sorrel and white mare, were like family members and frequently ridden by the couple’s 7-year-old daughter, Natalia.

“She’s been riding since she was 4 years old,” Rodriguez said. “They are very attached and she is still in tears. She was crying at the bus stop this morning. This is very emotional for us.”

Trish Henigar is a horse owner from north Phoenix who is friends with the family and rides with them every other weekend. Henigar is helping Rodriguez and McKay spread the word by posting on Craigslist, Facebook and numerous horse-owner blogs.

The two horses have been trained to rope, sort cattle and play soccer, but that’s not what makes them special animals, Henigar said.

“Their daughter is 7 years old and rides them herself,” she said. “That right there makes them valuable. People want horses that are good with kids.”

The couple also has a son Tristin, 9, who rides the horses, she said.

Rodriguez reported the thefts Sunday to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office.

“Stealing horses and livestock is a property crime,” said Kostas Kalaitzidis, spokesman for the Pinal County Attorney’s Office.

Kalaitzidis said the severity of the sentence depends on the level of the crime — how much the animals are worth, whether there was forced entry onto the property, whether a weapon was used, and other factors just like in other criminal cases.

Henigar said Valley is worth between $2,500 to $3,000 and Chestnut is worth $1,500.

Kalaitzidis said no one in the attorney’s office whom he spoke with can remember prosecuting a horse theft in Pinal County.

“That doesn’t mean it’s never happened, just that nobody can remember there being a case in the past 10 or 15 years,” he said.

McKay said her family enjoys living out in the country, where they have raised chickens and goats along with owning horses.

Most of the roads in Valley Hidden are unpaved. The road where the family owns 2 acres of property, North Abbey Road, is dirt, and so is Dune Shadow Road at the back of their property where the fence was cut with wire cutters left on their property, Rodriguez said.