The owner of a nonprofit group that provides equine-assisted therapy to war veterans and disabled children says two horses used the program were taken from their pasture in LaValle, Wis., last week.

Barbara Knopf, owner and operator of Veteran Equine Trail Services, said that a 3-year-old palomino Morgan horse and a sorrel Morgan yearling filly went missing on March 13. Both horses were in training to be used providing therapy for disabled veterans, those suffering from traumatic post-traumatic stress disorder, and their families. Knopf said the missing horses were among 30 animals used in the program.

“The palomino was the personal therapy horse of a major in the Wisconsin National Guard and the filly was the personal therapy horse for a K-9 (police) officer from the Chicago area,” Knopf said. “It was devastating for them, and for me, too.”

Knopf speculates that whoever took the animals was familiar with the program rural location