Sunday, March 22, 2020

Sentimental Sunday – Snippy the Horse


 
My siblings and I getting a first hand look at Snippy.


Any of us who lived in Colorado in the late 1960s will probably remember Snippy the Horse. I certainly do. I was ten years old in 1967 when the news of Snippy hit the air waves. Snippy was a horse that killed under strange circumstances – still strange to this day according to several articles. My siblings and I were fascinated by all the talk of UFOs surrounding the mysterious mutilation of poor Snippy.

We lived in southeastern Colorado and Snippy was from a farm south of Alamosa, Colorado, so it was close enough we heard a lot about it. Snippy, a three year old horse was found dead with all the flesh stripped from his head and neck. An autopsy revealed unexplainable missing organs. There were unusual signs in the field around him and several people throughout the area reported seeing what seemed to be UFOs during the days surrounding this event.

It seems there were plenty of official investigations but nothing conclusive ever turned up. Snippy’s body was autopsied and studied and eventually his skeleton became a tourist attraction. The pathologist that autopsied him shortly after he was found, said there were no signs of entrance in the body but the abdominal, brain and spinal cavities were empty.[1] This and the fact that high radiation levels were found in the area caused the University of Colorado’s Air Force sponsored UFO study to call in a nuclear physicist, a psychologist and an animal expert to investigate the area,  and talk with area residents about their UFO sightings.[2]

A few years later, a veterinarian who assembled the bones insisted that he found a couple of .22 caliber bullet holes in the hind quarter bones. Snippy spent a few years on the sidewalk in front of the Chamber of Commerce and according to the attached articles, was in a private museum for a while. She also spent years in an abandoned house somewhere before her bones were offered on eBay. The seller wanted $50,000 but an ownership dispute ended the auction.[3]

Poor Snippy – if only she could tell us all what really happened. As young children we were more than ready to believe in UFOs and spacemen.

Do you remember this story? What did you think? Have you heard other such stories? Let me know on the comments below.

Newspaper Links:



[1] Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph, Monday, Oct. 9, 1967, pages 1 and
[2] Ibid. Thursday, Oct 12, 1967, pages 1 and 6A
[3][3] Ibid. Dec 7, 2006, page 20

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