Without any oats or hay to coax it, the fiberglass horse stolen from the Bismarck-Mandan Convention & Visitors Bureau returned home virtually unharmed nearly a week after it was stolen.

Gordon Hauge, CEO of Easter Seals Goodwill Inc. of North Dakota, said whoever stole "Prairie Patches" put the statue behind the Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The horse was swiped from its cement base at the convention center at 1600 Burnt Boat Drive on July 14 or 15.

"I don't think anybody knows who did it," Hauge said.

The identity of the horse thieves may never be known, and "Prairie Patches" isn't talking.

The inanimate equine was returned with only minor scratches, Hauge said.

"We're going to be able to go ahead and fix it," he said.

"Prairie Patches" will be kept inside the convention center until a crew can reattach it to its cement base on Friday, Hauge said.

Beverly Lloyd Haas, of Taylor, decorated the fiberglass horse to honor prairie quilters. Hauge said he was glad Haas's work didn't go to waste.

He said he thinks the horse thieves probably felt pressure from the public to return the statue.

"I'm very thankful for the fact that the public kept their eyes open," he said.

"Prairie Patches" is one of 30 fiberglass horses being auctioned off to support Easter Seals Goodwill and the Child's Hope Learning Center.

Hauge said the 30 horses will be on display across Bismarck and Mandan until Aug. 15. Then they'll be "rounded up"and placed at Kirkwood Mall until the horse sale, he said.

The horses will be auctioned off on Aug. 25 at the Seven Seas Inn in Mandan, Hauge said. Tickets for the event are now for sale at Easter Seals Goodwill and the Child's Hope Learning Center for $25.

A dinner will accompany the auction to make it a "gala event," Hauge said.

"It should be a good time," he said.