More clues in the case of the horse with no name

<p>The mystery of a decades-old horse skeleton found complete with a saddle and tack in a North Bay state park is drawing attention within equestrian circles because it is so unusual.</p><p>“Of all the horses we have dealt with since 1997, I can't think of any that have had saddles on unless they were lost or threw the rider, all of the others were bareback,” said Debi Metcalfe of Stolen Horse International, Inc., a registry for stolen horses.</p><p>It's also intriguing for Penngrove saddle-maker Jay Palm, who thinks his father, the late Jim Palm, may have worked on the saddle that was found.</p><p>“It's interesting, it's like a treasure hunt,” Palm said.</p><p>The almost complete skeleton of a horse with saddle, bit and other tack was found a month ago on a steep hillside at Samuel P. Taylor State Park, which is popular for hikers and riders.</p><p>Who the horse belonged to and how it got there is a puzzle, however, which state parks senior archaeologist Breck Parkman is trying to unravel.</p><p>Since the first reports of the skeleton this week, Parkman said he has received a large number of phone calls and e-mails from people who want to help.</p><p>“I have all types of response, people who have walked up to me at work, I've gotten e-mails and phone calls, more than normal, and good contacts,” Parkman said. “I am starting to add all the bits and pieces up, and I don't think it will be a complete mystery at the end.”</p><p>The horse skeleton was found in mid November by a hiker looking for mushrooms at the park near Olema.</p><p>It appeared the horse sank onto its stomach while trying to get up a steep hill, dying where it fell.</p><p>There was no sign of a rider, nor reports of any missing riders or horses made to the Marin County Sheriff's Office during the 1970s or early 1980s, when Parkman believes the horse died.</p><p>The only report of a missing horse was from a nearby ranch, where the owner said a male Arabian disappeared and may have been stolen in 1975.</p><p>Parkman said he has found 80 percent of the bones and will take them to the Equine Studies Institute in Livingston, which may be able to distinguish the age, sex and breed.</p><p>Arabians, for instance, have one less vertebrae than quarter horses, Parkman said.</p><p>Palm said the saddle may be a Simco made in the 1950s or 1960s, which were inexpensive saddles that sold for between $200 and $400.</p><p>It appears to have been re-covered and has a floral pattern on the seat that is reminiscent of his father's style, Palm said.</p><p>“There were three or four other saddle-makers in the area, but just looking at it, all leather work has a signature to it and it sure looks like a pattern that my dad used,” Palm said.</p><p>Whatever the outcome, Metcalfe, a Shelby, N.C., rancher whose stolen horse Internet site lists 1,000 cases, said it is the strangest case she has ever seen.</p><p>“My guess is it bucked someone off and took off, that is usually what happens when we see horses running off,” Metcalfe said. “You just don't leave your good horse with a saddle on it ... we have never dealt with a case with just a saddle and skeleton left.”</p>