Thank you to everyone involved for helping these horses (owners included).
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Does anyone here know if there’s a distinction between “charged” and “arrested?”
As in, does “charged” just mean a judge issued a warrant; and “arrested” means a sheriff’s deputy actually executed the warrant?
Even if the latter actually happened, I am sure she would have been allowed to go to the courthouse, post bond and return home.
But I’m just curious as to what “charged” actually means.
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You can be charged with a crime without being arrested (detained/in custody), but you cannot be arrested without having a charge filed against you as the reason for the arrest. https://www.justice.gov/usao/justice-101/charging
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You actually can be arrested and not be charged. Example: Police reasonably believe you committed a crime, arrest you, and take you to the station and you go on a 48 hour hold (or whatever your state law is). If prosecutors do not find there is enough evidence for a charge you will be released… but charges can be filed later. Arrested means you go into custody and will either be released or charged and sometimes charged & released of own recognizance or with bail. Never decide to do something stupid and get yourself arrested on a Friday night going into a holiday weekend because then you get arrested and held until the prosecutor office/courts reopen on Tuesday (not from personal experience lol, from work experience).
Charged means prosecutors have filed charges against you and you will have to appear for court. Being arrested is not a prerequisite.
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You’re correct, my mistake. Thank you for adding context and information.
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She has been charged, meaning that criminal charges have been filed and as a case is initiated. Arrest is totally separate. Not even one who is charged is arrested or in custody.
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I don’t think $590/month is enough. My cost for feed and hay alone for an easy keeping senior (16) is $600. I am in Florida but the costs are not far apart.
Not sure but if I had to guess it looked something like this: § 19.2-74. Issuance and service of summons in place of warrant in misdemeanor case; issuance of summons by special conservators of the peace (virginia.gov)
the arresting officer shall take the name and address of such person and issue a summons or otherwise notify him in writing to appear at a time and place to be specified in such summons or notice. Upon the giving by such person of his written promise to appear at such time and place, the officer shall forthwith release him from custody. However, if any such person shall fail or refuse to discontinue the unlawful act, the officer may proceed according to the provisions of § 19.2-82.
Since it’s a holiday, none of the details have been posted online and I have gotten varying answers on it.
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Actually, the costs are very different.
You can grow excellent hay in Virginia, which means hay is cheaper since you don’t have to ship it in and if you maintain your pastures, there’s good forage in the pastures for 5 - 7 months per year.
I absolutely kept my easy keeping seniors for less than that because they only needed a round bale for fall and winter.
If your talking about a true geriatric horse, who needs a 5 gallon bucket of soaked beet pulp, senior and alfalfa cubes 2/day, plus Previcoxx, yes, that horse is more expensive to maintain.
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We grow good hay here in Florida also so we don’t have to ship it. Horse quality Tifton tests at 16-18% protein. Round bales - the most economical way to purchase are $110. It still costs to produce.
Hay in Florida is so much more expensive that at one point it was cheaper for me to ship my horse commercially and fill my trailer up with hay if I was going to show than to buy hay while I was there.
I’ll do the math: Assume you have 18 field board horses, I just checked facebook marketplace and you can buy 4 by 5 round bales for around 60 dollars each. Hay and forage grower magazine website says average round bale of that size weighs 880 lb. Assuming you are feeding hay at 2% of body weight per day, 180 days per year, 1200 lb horses, that’s 4320 lb of hay per horse per year, or around 5 round bales annually per horse or $300. Now of course horses waste hay and all that jazz, but to suggest 300 a month for field board could not possibly meat the very bare minimum nutritional requirements in this area is just not true.
And even if it was, if you can’t make the numbers work to feed the horses you are boarding, you need to raise board or tell the owners to remove the horse from your property or have it euthanized. Letting them starve because “aw shucks the business model doesn’t work anymore” is not the way to go, nor has Byrd said that at any point in time that she wasn’t feeding them because she couldn’t afford to.
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I’m not familiar with Tifton hay. I sell 800# round bales of orchard/timothy/grass mix, very high quality, for $60. Two years ago, they were $45.
I’m also guessing you need to feed hay year round?
So I do believe it is cheaper to keep horses in Central VA.
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I board my mare in rural VA. Field board with daily grain and hay as needed. Nice run-ins and the fields are well-managed, mowed, rotated, and not overgrazed. Blanketing in the winter as needed.
The barn owners apologetically raised the board from $225 to $250 per month last spring. That’s pretty inexpensive even for this area but the barn owners are able to take excellent care of the horses, even at that rate. No skinny horses on their farm. (I have no idea if they charge higher board for the hard keepers, but even if they do, it would still be cheaper than board in more expensive areas.)
It’s definitely possible to keep most horses - even most hard keepers - in good shape at $500-$700 per month in rural VA. Not that economics is ever an excuse, but costs wouldn’t be the reason for a herd full of emaciated horses here, at those board rates.
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I don’t understand acquiring the horse in the first place if you couldn’t commit to a nice retirement for him, no matter what the circumstances.
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What do you mean? Pirate says the horse does get a nice retirement, at least 2 years of it.
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Sometimes things change. Layoffs, job changes, new dependents.
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You’re right…in a perfect world. But in reality, people can’t even commit to keeping a dog it’s whole life. I have three rescues that were all abandoned as seniors.
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This sounds like more weird blame shifting, even victim blaming, as does all the discussion of whether the price was enough to expect decent care. (For the record, it was.)
The owners of these horses were absolutely committed to providing a nice retirement for the horses! And they absolutely were paying a rate than should have ensured good care! It’s not the owner’s fault for not checking on the horses!
The fault for the condition of these horse lies with one person and one person only - the farm owner, who actively solicited retirees from out of state (preferring absentee owners, I guess) promised services she did not deliver, and intentionally misrepresented the condition of the horses.
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Of the horses found in bad shape and removed, how many had owners from out of state?
