In the 1950s the horse was concreted over by Westbury Urban District Council, apparently as a way to save on long-term maintenance costs. Since then, the concrete has greyed over time, and it was thoroughly cleaned in 1993. In 2003, the horse was vandalised when "Stop This War" was written in yellow across the horse in capital letters in protest of the Iraq War. After the words were removed, the horse was noticeably grey with a white horizontal strip where the message had been. In November 2006, the horse was repainted and the 1950s damage was fully repaired, as was the white strip. The newly whitened horse was illuminated for a third time on the night the repairs were finished, this time by Second World War searchlights. In July 2010, the neck of the horse was vandalised when the word "wonkey" was written across it. This part of the neck had to be rewhitened in 2010, leading to the horse having a whiter neck than the rest of the body.