Preperation is the best way to keep your equine Picaso from disappearing.

For as long as Duane Estes of Centerville, Indiana, has owned horses, he has kept a few of them in the pasture of his friends Denny and Karen Jones. He drives by to check on the horses daily. In June 2007, Estes noticed his two Paint Horses were gone from the field. DP Norfleets Amigo, a 3-year-old sorrel overo gelding, and 4-year-old red dun overo stallion Magnums Dandee Bar had disappeared.

“I had figured they had walked into the barn the first two days I went by,” Estes said, “but on the third day I went inside to look for them and they were gone.”