{"id":1681,"date":"2009-12-06T08:37:45","date_gmt":"2009-12-06T12:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/?p=1681"},"modified":"2009-12-06T08:37:45","modified_gmt":"2009-12-06T12:37:45","slug":"big-buffet-thumbs-up-for-the-hampshire-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/?p=1681","title":{"rendered":"Big Buffet Thumbs Up for the Hampshire Police"},"content":{"rendered":"

I hate to write about what essentially is a non-news story, but I was just so delighted when I read the December 4, 2009 Daily Echo article \u201cHorses\u2019 tails chopped off in Kings Somborne\u201d<\/a> I had to share.<\/p>\n

According to Daily Echo there is a bout of \u201cwhat appears to be ritualistic chopping of horses tails\u201d taking place across Hampshire. Now how one determines that a horse\u2019s tail has been ritualistically removed as opposed to just cut off, I would not know. I am not a law enforcement professional.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right folks. Instead of continuing on a path of, what I could only believe the technical term is, dumb assedness, the police spoke with Catherine Hosen, a spokeswoman for the Pagan Federation of Wessex. She is quoted in the Daily Echo article <\/a>as saying, \u201cIt\u2019s certainly not any ritual that I\u2019m aware of. Any day in the year you could say it\u2019s close to some pagan ritual because the calendar is pretty full of them. Pagans have a strong respect for anything to do with nature. They would ask permission before removing a branch from a tree, let alone do anything to a horse.\u201d Thank goodness they got that nonsense cleared up.<\/p>\n

For completeness, let me share that they ruled out the rocking horse theory by speaking to Chris Ward, who restores and creates rocking horses, and has restored rocking horses for the Royal family. Nice to call in the professionals, thumbs up.<\/p>\n

If you would all indulge me for a moment, in honor of the USA Network series \u201cMonk\u201d ending this past Friday, I\u2019d like the opportunity to say, \u201cHere\u2019s what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

What we have is a baffling case of horses\u2019 tails being cut. However, the article also says, \u201cIn a separate twist other horses across Hampshire have been discovered by shocked owners with their mane hair plaited.\u201d Maybe I\u2019m talking crazy, but it\u2019s seems to me some sort of childish pranking would be suspected motive number one; certainly before \u201cstrange Pagan ritual\u201d and \u201crocking horse creators\u201d. That said, I am just glad that for once I read a news story like this and found out that instead of continuing to stumble around in ignorance, the police took the 10 minutes to contact experts for their opinions. And then, they listened.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"