We are glorified Miss Marples in the equine world

'Jane' UK Horsewatch

Detective Inspector David Collings, equine liaison officer with Hampshire Police, said: "Any sort of horse is, or can be, stolen. There is a value in everything.

"Usually they are in groups who will act as a team. If you are stealing horses you have got to have the means to shift them, to move them within the country or outside the country."

'Jane', who wished to remain anonymous, works with UK Horsewatch, an organisation set up to prevent and solve equestrian crime throughout the UK.

'Terror tactics'

She said horse thieves were prepared to use violence and intimidation to prevent interference in their activities.

"We have had co-ordinators of Horsewatch schemes terrorised, they have had bricks thrown through their windows, they have had their cars vandalised," she said.

"We are glorified Miss Marples in the equine world. They don't like it because we find out things about them that they don't want people to know about."

Racing legend Shergar was kidnapped by the IRA in 1983

John Howard has set up a stolen horses register which gives details of horses, ponies and donkeys that have been reported as stolen or missing.

He said horses are routinely stolen to order.

"You can go around any country lane, see a horse in a field and if you know the right people you can say 'I want that horse' and you will get it," he said.

"They will watch what you do, they know when you go to feed your horses, they know when you come back.

"If you know how to work a horse you can get a horse out of a field quite easily and you would not necessarily need a horse box. They have used a furniture van."

Stolen horses are often sold unofficially outside small horse auctions, but also through adverts in newsagents and tack shops.

A growing number find their way abroad, especially to the Republic of Ireland.

But some face a different fate.

'Jane' said: "Many people breed for meat. It is good money, they can breed for the dog food market, they can breed for human consumption."