United States

The term horse thief came into great popularity in the U.S. during the 19th century. During that time the Great Plains

Great Plains

The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...

 states, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, and other western states were sparsely populated and negligibly policed. As farmers tilled the land and migrants headed west

Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...

 through the Great Plains their horses became subject to theft. Since these farmers and migrants depended on their horses, horse thieves garnered a particularly pernicious reputation because they left their victims helpless or greatly handicapped by the loss of their horses. The victims needed their horses for transportation and farming. Such depredation led to the use of the term horse thief as an insult

Insult

An insult is an expression, statement which is considered degrading and offensive. Insults may be intentional or accidental...

, one that conveys the impression of the insulted person as one lacking any shred of moral decency

Moral obligation

The term moral obligation has a number of meanings in moral philosophy, in religion, and in layman's terms. Generally speaking, when someone says of an act that it is a "moral obligation," they refer to a belief that the act is one prescribed by their set of values.Moral philosophers differ as to...

.

Present day

Horse thievery is no longer a common offense and may in fact contain humorous

Humour

Humour or humor is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement...

 connotations when used, due to being anachronistic. However, when the price of horsemeat is relatively high, some horses are still stolen and shipped to slaughter

Horse slaughter

Horse slaughter is the practice of slaughtering horses for meat. These animals come mainly from auctions, where they're sold by private sellers and breeders....

, particularly those kept in remote rural areas, especially in the western United States.

See also

• Anti Horse Thief Association
  Anti Horse Thief Association
  The Anti Horse Thief Association was a vigilance committee, organized at Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1859 to provide protection against marauders thriving on border warfare. It resembled other vigilance societies in organization and methods, though did not share some of the shadier tactics of some other...
  
  
• The Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves
  The Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves
  The Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves is "the oldest continually existing horse thief apprehending organization in the United States, and one of Dedham’s most venerable social organizations." The club claims that since its founding there have been more than 10,000 members including...
  
  
• Stolen Horse International
  Stolen Horse International
  Stolen Horse International, Inc. is an organization founded to assist horse owners with recovering horses lost during theft. Their website states their mission is to provide a comprehensive theft awareness program to all facets of the horse industry and offer educational opportunities for horse...