You know, you can demand to see the 990 and bylaws of any 501©3 and they are required, by law, to give you access. Now, it might be physical access, but they do have to let you see their most recent 990’s and bylaws.
I suspect you should go in quietly and not point out why you’re there, or you might be denied access.
Email sent to a Florida investigative reporter with the Examiner. Fingers crossed. I’m hoping the Ted Yoho connection gets some attention.
[QUOTE=LauraKY;7216741]
Email sent to a Florida investigative reporter with the Examiner. Fingers crossed. I’m hoping the Ted Yoho connection gets some attention.[/QUOTE]
I sent a letter as well to Congressman Yoho here’s hoping he gets it and looks into things before its to late.
Fingers crossed his veterinary background helps him to see a horse who’s needs are not being met and cannot be met by the design of their program.
What bothers me is that they think extra, or special care is somehow bad for the horse. What if they got an insulin resistant horse that needed a shot? Would they just let it die and call that good?
It’s sort of like the Amish parents who don’t want to give their child with cancer, the treatment she needs, so the hospital has intervened and is asking for the govt to decide what is best…:(. It’s really going to be a tough one, since you have no control over how other people will view the so-called care :(.
I’m sorry, I’d probably steal my horse back. I can’t imagine what you’re going through.
Thanks for the link…I clicked on something that said $125 for report (?).
According to the 990 they each work 84 hrs a week ( 12 hrs a day) so they are living/ breathing this operation. THEY DO NOT RECEIVE ANY COMPENSATION except perhaps some tax benefits - let’s not vilifiy them!! and 2 BOD’s (2011) 5hrs/wk each. Thank God for them for 90-95% of the horses ( I hope). Otherwise where would 130 horses go? Let’s face it - many of those horses had no options and for the EZ keeper…it is heaven. For the Special Needs horses - apparently there are problems.
If I were auditing this, I’d have some very minor questions, but I don’t think there is a problem with their operation as far as IRS. I wonder about the excess funds at the end of the year but glad they have some cash reserves. The pictures sure present an idyllic situation.
I feel that the issue is the horse(s) [in this case Max] that (do)[does] not thrive in their program and Mr Gregory’s lack of compassion/empathy/sympathy for Max and Lynnwood.
BetOnBill - maybe you could bring a friend with cellphone or digital camera or borrow a camera?
I think I bc’d Morgan back when I TRIED to email Sheriff. If she looked into it she would have gotten the ‘it’s being handled’ response which we found out wasn’t good enough.
Let’s make this about MAX and get him the help he deserves!
Crossing fingers for some positive action for Max!
Just pointing out that Max has only been @ Mill Creek since the last week of July.
He has at least one 50 dollar a month sponsorship that has been consistent and she is paying for his supplements that the vet discontinued and they have NEVER bothered to contact her say hey don’t ship those to us he isn’t on them anymore.
They have also always had the offer of financial support for Max from myself and the BO. Not once during the time the horses condition has deteriorated have either of us been contacted to even make us aware the horse was not thriving.
As a matter of fact the last corrispondence I got from Mr. Gregory was an email at the end of August stating.
"[B]Yes, Max had lots of problems when he came, but he has improved greatly. He has found a shady spot where he can get out of the sun and there is a run-in shelter to escape the rain. He is groomed weekly by our volunteers and we check on him several times a day. He is learning to live like a horse – out in the open without being shuttered up for hours at a time. We hope you will notice a big improvement if you come to visit. By the way, we haven’t noticed him cribbing lately although that’s a hard habit to quit.
Just in case you didn’t know, horses that come here stay forever as they are buried here when they eventually die.
Peter Gregory"
[/B]
I am going to assume the lots of problems Max had are the chronic things he was made aware of. Things that are NEVER going to change in an 31 year old horse.
How that man believes the horse has improved greatly I have NO idea. BTW the Deputy made a comment when he visited the horse about how he’d rather crib then eat carrots. I guess Mr.Gregory just didn’t “notice” that.
It’s not just Max though, from the photos,there are a couple of others.
While I certainly hope that Max can be saved, this is NOT just about Max. These people look like hoarders who lack even basic good horse knowledge.
There are many horses on that property suffering.
Frankly, this should be an episode on Animal Planet.
(())s to OP and jingles that Max can be from these morons.
To put it succinctly,
Max at 18
Max arriving 7/?/13 at Mill Creek
Max on 10/05/13 at Mill Creek
The facility is not appropriate for this individual’s well-being. They should relinquish him as soon as possible.
From Lynnwood’s above -
He is learning to live like a horse – out in the open without being shuttered up for hours at a time.
No, no, no!!
Why I’m so obsessed as well with this matter…
My horse after a year of “living like a horse” - with a BO who insisted he didn’t need more hay/he was wormy, etc., etc. Nothing wrong except her refusal to provide more, even when I offered to pay for more - with “unlimited hay” as part of his boarding contract. This was his first day in his new home after I yanked him out of there.
My horse 2 months later…
You have to give horses what they need to sustain themselves. It takes some doing, and depends on the individual. This is not the movies!
Lynnwood had this all resolved years ago, with his protocol in place. This retirement home is wrong-headed and I’m sorry, but they have abused this horse.
This attitude explains a LOT about why so many of their horses are not looking their best. Forget it - they are NOT thriving!
Since it has been pointed out that none of the Cothers that have retirement farms have replied on this thread, I thought I’d add my .02…
There is quite a large learning curve in taking care of senior horses. You do need to be much more on top of dental issues, weight gain/loss, group dynamics and soundness issues and whether or not the horse can still regulate it’s body temperature.
There are some horses that can do perfectly fine out in a grass field with access to hay and shelter.
There are also a lot of horses that can’t. Currently, all the horses I have here benefit from sheets/blankets when the temps drop below 50 degrees. There was a 32 year old boarder here that didn’t need sheets/blankets, but she was the only one I’ve had like that in the past 5-6 years.
Dental care is crucial. It is difficult to tell when a horse is having dental issues unless you watch them carefully when they are eating. Most people assume if you can see the incisors, all is fine. If the horse lacks molars, they cannot process hay correctly and then you need to go to soaked feeds. When a horse is quidding cigar shaped pieces of hay, he really should be on soaked hay cubes/pellets and soaked senior feed. If he sticks his head/neck out at an odd angle when chewing, there are issues or dental deficiences. How anyone can watch 100+ horses at feeding time to notice any of these challenges makes me wonder.
It sounds to me that the owners don’t have all the horses best interests truly at heart. Maybe they think they are “giving back” by doing this. For quite a few of these horses, they are.
But for Max and some of the other horses that are not thriving, they are cruel in not letting someone else willing to take on the task of a special needs retiree take the horse. A slow and prolonged death by starvation is not in any animal’s best interest and the lack of concern by the farm owners and the agencies tied to them is appalling.
If you can’t really help them, give them to someone who can or euthanize them and give them a dignified ending.
I think the owner clearly has some issues with horses that have been raised in a more management intensive environment (his locked in a stall comment) and this is looking a bit like a personal vendetta.
[QUOTE=LauraKY;7216915]
It’s not just Max though, from the photos,there are a couple of others.[/QUOTE]
True…but let’s focus on Max… and then draw attn. to the other thin and obviously Cushingoid horses. If you go in with guns blazing…I fear Max will be lost in the ‘most of the horses have a wonderful life’ and ‘he IS 32 and has lots of issues’.
Can anyone find Nora Denslow’s email adress? She was/is on BOD and lent them $75K…still owed $35 per 2011 990. She is in Miami . I haven’t Googled her…yet.
Mr. Gregory has been told the horse did not “live shuttered up”. He spend his days in the summer indoors to avoid the peak hours of heat BECAUSE of his anhidrosis.
My family very much believes in turn out and even during the summer he spent every night turned out on large grass fields. During the winter his schedule swapped unless the weather was temperate and then he spent even more time outside.
It is a horrible assumption that because Max came from a show and training facility that he needs to learn to live like a horse. He was doing that and thriving before his transfer to them.
I just emailed a well known U. horse program and asked for ‘expert opinion’ . They may not want to become involved…but I will follow up with a phone call to that U and see if I can get a responsive ear.
Have not heard ANYTHING from ANYONE…yet.
Ah, just thought of another outspoken equine advocate Vet…I’ll look up his email!
[QUOTE=uphill;7217019]
True…but let’s focus on Max… and then draw attn. to the other thin and obviously Cushingoid horses. If you go in with guns blazing…I fear Max will be lost in the ‘most of the horses have a wonderful life’ and ‘he IS 32 and has lots of issues’.
Can anyone find Nora Denslow’s email adress? She was/is on BOD and lent them $75K…still owed $35 per 2011 990. She is in Miami . I haven’t Googled her…yet.[/QUOTE]
Just sent to you via the e-mail attached to your COTH account.
[QUOTE=LauraKY;7216741]
Email sent to a Florida investigative reporter with the Examiner. Fingers crossed. I’m hoping the Ted Yoho connection gets some attention.[/QUOTE]
Ted Yoho is [edit] having way too much fun disrupting the entire government to pay much attention to a skinny horse.
[QUOTE=Lynnwood;7217036]
Mr. Gregory has been told the horse did not “live shuttered up”. He spend his days in the summer indoors to avoid the peak hours of heat BECAUSE of his anhidrosis.
My family very much believes in turn out and even during the summer he spent every night turned out on large grass fields. During the winter his schedule swapped unless the weather was temperate and then he spent even more time outside.
It is a horrible assumption that because Max came from a show and training facility that he needs to learn to live like a horse. He was doing that and thriving before his transfer to them.[/QUOTE]
Of course. Just shows how truly ignorant they are about what they’re doing, or about their knowledge of horse care in general. They cannot whitewash horse care with one treatment for all, nor vilify others’ knowledgeable care. Hope you didn’t think I sounded harsh - was ticked off at them.
You didn’t.
I just can’t for the life of me understand how this group is so unwilling to let someone do what is best for Max.
[QUOTE=mkevent;7217016]
Since it has been pointed out that none of the Cothers that have retirement farms have replied on this thread, I thought I’d add my .02…
There is quite a large learning curve in taking care of senior horses. You do need to be much more on top of dental issues, weight gain/loss, group dynamics and soundness issues and whether or not the horse can still regulate it’s body temperature.
There are some horses that can do perfectly fine out in a grass field with access to hay and shelter.
There are also a lot of horses that can’t. Currently, all the horses I have here benefit from sheets/blankets when the temps drop below 50 degrees. There was a 32 year old boarder here that didn’t need sheets/blankets, but she was the only one I’ve had like that in the past 5-6 years.
Dental care is crucial. It is difficult to tell when a horse is having dental issues unless you watch them carefully when they are eating. Most people assume if you can see the incisors, all is fine. If the horse lacks molars, they cannot process hay correctly and then you need to go to soaked feeds. When a horse is quidding cigar shaped pieces of hay, he really should be on soaked hay cubes/pellets and soaked senior feed. If he sticks his head/neck out at an odd angle when chewing, there are issues or dental deficiences. How anyone can watch 100+ horses at feeding time to notice any of these challenges makes me wonder.
It sounds to me that the owners don’t have all the horses best interests truly at heart. Maybe they think they are “giving back” by doing this. For quite a few of these horses, they are.
But for Max and some of the other horses that are not thriving, they are cruel in not letting someone else willing to take on the task of a special needs retiree take the horse. A slow and prolonged death by starvation is not in any animal’s best interest and the lack of concern by the farm owners and the agencies tied to them is appalling.
If you can’t really help them, give them to someone who can or euthanize them and give them a dignified ending.
I think the owner clearly has some issues with horses that have been raised in a more management intensive environment (his locked in a stall comment) and this is looking a bit like a personal vendetta.[/QUOTE]
Exactly. I have a very senior boarder, and yes,I baby him. If he’s dropping too much food, he gets his teeth checked (every time, I’ve been right on, several loose teeth and hooks). He gets very well soaked feed with hay cubes, and they have to be mixed together to prevent choke. He needs a blanket under 45 and a sheet if its raining and under 55. The older he gets, the more blanketing he needs.
You have to really pay attention with the old guys.
