Horse Starved to Death in NJ at Trainers?

Haven’t been on here in about a year, can’t find a thread on this. If it shouldn’t be in this section or on here sorry, just wondered if anyone has seen this?

I hadn’t heard about this, but the FB account reads a bit fishy.
The part about the deadstock guy delivering the horse to her house reads like fiction.
Even if she somehow got this guy to agreer to do this, how the heck did they unload a dead horse from his truck to her trailer?
Her account of confronting the alleged abuser at her barn, where LEO were already present also wonky.
Sorry, but this “victim” has a hint of Kate Shearer in her account of what killed her horse.
I’m not buying it.

1 Like

If you click through to her account, there are photos…

7 Likes

Well, that was an eye-opener. :flushed:

My guess is back his trailer to hers and use a winch.

Read the comments. It sounds like people have been calling the police and ag on her business before. The pictures of the other horse that died are shown (before and after).

It is sad that horse people are so afraid to come forward, and so quick to doubt claims of abuse. It really makes this industry an easy target for fraud.

Curious what happens with this case.

8 Likes

There were more pics of the body on a forklift, and a chain on his legs, probably used to drag the body off the trailer? I was jw if anyone here had heard about it or anything, and I miss you all!

2 Likes

The flowery verbage threw me off.
I don’t doubt abuse, but report factually, not the Furbaby version.

@carman_liz Come back here when you can. :hushed:

5 Likes

If you start at the top of her FB page and go down, there are a lot of NSFW photos in various posts. It shows them using a forklift to move the horse’s body. NSF Kids, either, depending on your kids.

I’m putting some direct links to the photos that I thought showed most clearly. Given the horse carcass shown, it must have had almost no food or water at all for a good bit of time, to get to that condition.

TRIGGER WARNING - Click arrows to see emaciated carcass, some photos of it being hauled around by a forklift. The links aren’t showing photos at this point, but I’m not sure if they resolve later to show them. They might be a bit much for some.

Before (alive) & after (dead) photos

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02q4voPhkZnpDEKiWcMwu8YE6Rk2QAWPjYfgkRy9SmhymqnftAPCsJdX1p5QRqdvCpl&id=100062769815234

Dead horse photos

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid05oibYRru175YM2LagK23S3iDSxxhaVvY7vg2LinGt96LSAt3N6BfcA3FjKE2sqMTl&id=100062769815234

If it happened the way she describes, I can understand her being enraged and ready to go to the wall on this trainer. I would, in her shoes.

Start from the top of her FB below and scroll down to the March photos to see more. With a note that she seems to be selling custom sheds.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100062769815234

7 Likes

Quite a few local people expressed they had negative experiences with this same “trainer,” but fortunately not to the same extent as shared in OP’s link. I knew the trainer. I was shocked/not surprised, which I think was a fairly common feeling about this story. There is no excuse for this kind of abuse and neglect.

6 Likes

I would say it’s nice to see you back after so long, but I am just unable to come up with words to describe the horror of what happened to that poor horse. Hope to see you posting on more cheery topics.

Rebecca

5 Likes

I’m in NJ, but had never heard of this trainer–I don’t ride Western, which may be why.

I have so many questions how this happened and I hope there is a follow-up story. The fact the trainer told the owner the horse was doing well and asked for another $200 for a few extra weeks…a red flag, yes, the owner should have followed up on (as well as not getting decent updates or photos)…but you really wonder how “trainers” like this sleep at night.

4 Likes

I’m thinking that horses condition didn’t happen overnight. The body mass is gone all over its body.

Can that happen quickly? I’m thinking that an animal can starve from not feeding for a week or two, but I’m not sure this overall emaciation happens that fast. Not an expert in starvation, though.

1 Like

The horse was at the trainers for 4 1/2 months. Any pictures sent to the owner were with the horse covered with a blanket or with a saddle and from a distance.

1 Like

One general question, from a standpoint of no knowledge about this trainer … why on earth would a pro trainer let this happen? Why would they starve a horse to this degree? How do they benefit in any way? There is no way to quickly catch the horse up to acceptable condition again, not to mention that any training is going nowhere, and doubtful that it is even happening … this is going to be exposed. Just what is happening now – they will be outed. (I have no doubt that everyone who knows the person whose horse died knows which trainer this is.)

I hope the horse owner takes this to law enforcement and the media.

6 Likes

My guess from reading some of the comments, is that the trainer wasn’t able to pay their bills/buy sufficient feed. They likely hoped that they could find a way to get enough feed into the horse before the “training” time was up…and when they couldn’t, they decided to work with a vet to kill the two horses off under the guise of an illness. How did she convince a vet to help her though? What is also shocking is that people actually complained about the care of her horses, and authorities did nothing.

5 Likes

I saw the YouTube video yesterday. Just terrible. I feel so sorry for the owner of the horse.

The trainer made $4000 off that horse. What was she spending the money on??? If you are hurting financially I can see cutting back on feed on all your horses and letting them drop a little weight or get ribby. I can’t see just not feeding them anything at all. Or just picking out one horse and not feeding that particular one.

A few years back I was working for someone who was boarding her horse next to the showgrounds. Her horses always were well fed and looked fantastic. The owner of the property had 30 some horses and simply wasn’t feeding them much or enough. One day the hired help came over to me and asked me to come look at a sick horse. The horse he showed me was skin and bones and had chocked on its feed a couple days ago (no vet was called). I had to report them to the police. The officer I spoke with was already aware of the situation and mentioned as long as they were attempting to make improvements (like better fencing) there wasn’t much he could do. Eventually some of the horses were confiscated but it dragged on for a much longer time then it should have. The officer said under the law, horses are property and the owner could just shoot them if he felt like it.

The owner of the farm was a bit delusional as he was selling Groupons for lessons but most of the horses were straight off the track and not safe. I told him he needed to sell the horses that weren’t suitable and buy a handful of safe mounts but he wouldn’t listen to me. I really just wanted to get the horses out of there as he had too many and didn’t know how to care for them.

Eventually the horses were removed. It took almost a year for the county to finally act.

1 Like

Do NOT Go To Freedom Performance Horses (Killed a Clients Horse) (youtube.com)

If anyone is interested.

1 Like

She has. The horse has been sent for necropsy.

4 Likes

She can probably sue as well.

Sueing may cost her something, and may not get anything back. But if done successfully it will severely limit the trainer’s financial status for the future. That could keep the trainer out of the horse business, which is cash intensive.

A pending lawsuit impacts credit standing. A settled lawsuit not yet paid also impacts credit standing.

I’d contribute a little something to a fund for a legal action on this. Others might also.

5 Likes

That was back, over a month ago. I wonder how it turned out?