Charlie, seen here performing with his owner Bartolo Messina last year, has been horse-napped (Picture: YouTube)

A minuscule pony, which is reportedly the world’s smallest, has been kidnapped in Italy, with the mafia thought to be holding it for ransom.

The 63cm-tall animal named Charlie was taken from his stall in Città di Castello before it was able to perform at the National Horse Show with owner Bartolo Messina.

Police suspect the pony was taken by Italian criminals, who may have sped away with it in a car.

‘Investigations are continuing. We are not excluding any possibilities including that the perpetrators are part of a criminal organisation,’ said a police spokesperson.


Angelo Capecci, who is president of the National Horse Show, was ashamed at what had happened and offered his sympathies to Charlie’s owner.



‘We were victims of a serious crime that offends and humiliates the equine world,’ he said.

‘We sympathise with Bartolo Messina, a great equestrian artist who loves and lives by his horses, and had trained the victim of this sad episode with extraordinary kindness and ability.’