Two ponies were stolen from a children's ranch in southwest Miami-Dade County.
Fourteen horses live at the Circle C Youth Ranch, but two ponies have been missing since June 30.
Witnesses said three men showed up at 9 p.m. that day and told residents that their horses had wandered onto the property.
"Since this is horse country, they didn't think too much of it," said Wayne Herschberger, who runs the horse portion of the ranch.
They took the two ponies, put them into the back of pickup trucks and drove away.
The two ponies that were stolen are among the children's favorites. The older kids look after the ponies, while the younger ones, ages 3 to 6, ride them.
"Hopefully, they would not go to slaughter. That is a possibility, someone will use them for meat," Herschberger said.
Horse meat is illegal, but it is worth a lot on the black market.
"What you're doing is wrong, and you should really bring back the horses," said a boy at the ranch.
One of the stolen ponies is white, brown and black, and the other, named Rusty, is a brown bay with a black tail and black legs.
The ponies are friendly and are used to being around children.