Dixie and Daisy, a pair of appaloosas from Wagonwheel Ranch in Val Therese, are star equines, at the ranch and in the community, known for their gentle ways and carting families by sleigh and wagon at winter carnivals and Canada Day festivities.

The sisters are making different headlines today after being taken from the Kenneth Avenue ranch and ridden into Sudbury along Highway 69 North.

After police were notified, the animals were retrieved by their owners, grazing on a small patch of grass near Tim Hortons at the corner of Notre Dame Avenue and Lasalle Boulevard.

Dixie and Daisy, both about 12 years old, are in their prime, said owner Kim Bertrand, and didn’t break a sweat after being taken from a field, into the tack shop where they were saddled and then ridden into the city.

Greater Sudbury Police Service arrested and charged two girls, one 12 and one 14, and held them for a bail hearing on several charges.

The girls were charged with break, enter and theft, trespassing by night, two counts of theft, two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and mischief endangering life.

The horses were tired but uninjured after their journey. Still, Bertrand said it is extremely dangerous riding horses at night, let alone along a busy highway. The girls were safety-conscious enough to put on riding helmets, though.

Kim was stunned to be awakened at 6:30 a.m. by police officers, who told her some of her horses had been found near Tim Hortons at the busy intersection.

It took a few minutes for the news to sink in, then Bertand ran out to check to see if the ranch’s remaining 23 horses were there.

Andre quickly hooked up a truck and trailer, and drove to the city to get the horses, which his father, Phillip Bertrand, had secured.

On the way, he saw horse manure on the roadway, indicating the girls had ridden the horses on the highway.

Daisy and Dixie got into the trailer as nonchalantly as if they had completed one of their public appearances, said Kim.

She estimates it would have taken the girls between three and four hours to walk the horses the 16 kilometres from her ranch to the intersection.

"It’s a miracle those girls didn’t get hurt," said Bertrand of the alleged horse thieves.

One of the girls charged is known to the Bertrands, and Kim said she can’t imagine what possessed the pair to take the horses.

When police stopped the girls atop the horses, Kim said they told police they had permission from WagonWheel to have the horses, who are well known because of their public outings.

Wagonwheel is a second-generation ranch that has been in the family for more than 40 years, said Bertrand, previously owned by her father-in-law.

A family-oriented centre, the idea of starting to "lock down things is ludicrous," said Bertrand, about future security at the ranch, and that includes horses. She doesn’t want to live that way, in fear, nor does she want her children, aged 12 and 15, to live in that kind of atmosphere.

Still, she was planning to call her insurance company to make sure the animals are adequately covered because the ranch is the family’s livelihood.

Dixie and Daisy came to live at Wagonwheel about six years ago, by way of Chelmsford, originally coming from Thessalon.

Gentle and kind, "these are celebrity horses," said Bertrand. "I can put children on these horses and not worry for a second."

Even police officers themselves "were still shaking their heads, kind of like: ‘You’re not going to believe this, but …’ " when they came to her door, said Bertrand, admitting she thought the whole thing was a prank at first.

Aside from not understanding what prompted the horse theft, Bertrand is puzzled about why someone didn’t call police sooner.

"How come nobody thought to call the police earlier?"

The Bertrands depend on Daisy, Dixie and the other 23 horses for their livelihood, but "it goes deeper than that," said Bertrand. " These are our extended family. We’ve had them for years."

Oddly enough, this isn’t the first time horses have been taken from WagonWheel by youngsters.

About 20 years ago, two boys took two horses from the ranch, and rode them into Val Caron in an attempted break-and- enter, said Bertrand. Not surprisingly, the young culprits were quickly caught when a Val Caron resident recognized the animals.

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MORE INFO

Two female youths are charged with the following offences:

* break, enter and theft;

* trespassing by night;

* two counts of theft;

* two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal;

* mischief endangering life.