Please go look at them or have someone you trust go put eyes on them. I know it’s been shared all over FB with VA people but I’m sure there are some owners from far away states or not on Facebook who haven’t seen the posts. The horse in this photo is 12 and not the only one on the property in similar condition. Several owners have come forward saying that they are very happy with the care provided and that old horses just look like that. but many were not made aware of the condition of their horses until someone else told them, so I would suggest anyone with a horse there should go out eyes on them to see for themselves whether they are ok with their horse’s condition.
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Jingles for this horse.
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Dear Lord, please help these poor souls. Where is this place? Seeing as their pages are now deleted…
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Oh my gosh!!! This is horrific!
Google tells me that it is in Columbia Virginia.
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Thank you.
Yes, west of the Richmond area. Owner is a VHSA judge and I believe has a good reputation and many clients from states away. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it.
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One of the craziest things that I have now seen on the many shared posts about these horses is the owner who continues to defend her horse’s condition and the care the horses receive. A picture was originally posted of her horse along with the chestnut horse shown up thread. Equally emaciated. The owner asked to have the photo removed because she was aware of her horse’s condition and is fine with it. She also chose to share another photo of the chestnut horse saying “it doesn’t look that bad”. The reasoning is that these horses are old and not in work and it’s hard to keep weight on a horse like that. 
never mind the multiple examples other posters are sharing of their equally old or older horses that look fat and happy.
The more that these posts are shared via Facebook, the more people are coming forward saying their horse was also in terrible condition at the this retirement facility and had to be carefully rehabilitated. I have seen one of the horses referenced as an older case from this farm for many years at horse shows (after he was removed from this farm) and he looks like one of the chunkiest, happiest horses you could imagine. I have no idea what it took to get that particular horse in the poor condition of his before photos.
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That is so crazy! People are so good at making excuses.
Add that if your horse is unable to look any different than the horse shown, because of its age or other medical conditions then maybe it is time to think about humanely ending their suffering and not let them just hang out looking like a skeleton.
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So starvation is acceptable to her?
Nice.
If that’s how they look after you’ve done everything,… Put. Them. Down.
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Please tell me the place is being charged?
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My understanding is that animal control has been out several times over the years and since the horses are on pasture, that’s considered available food, so nothing is done. The horses do supposedly look fine in the spring/summer when the grass comes in and it is an intentional management technique that she has where she believes that they gain enough in the summer to sustain them when the grass dies in the winter. She does not feed round bales, though I believe she claims to feed hay and supplement “as needed” for the ones who aren’t able to sustain themselves off the land. I think she just has a very different idea of what condition requires intervention. Multiple boarders are on board with her practices and have seen this and plan to keep their horses there.
Over the years when someone has had concern the usual story is that it was a particularly hard winter, maybe she should have fed “more” hay (I don’t believe they receive any as standard practice) and whatever specific horse is having an issue requires special care. Currently the photo I saw of a horse in allegedly good condition that she shared to demonstrate that some of them were doing well under her care was MAYBE a 3, hard to tell under the winter coat. So it’s not a situation of individual horses not doing well.
Per FB one is currently hospitalized being treated for an impaction colic due to eating dirt from lack of available food. Owner was living halfway across the country and had not been advised of any issue until the vet called her while out treating the colic.
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That is by far the worst part, the owners who are justifying it.
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So starving half the year is ok with AC.
Nice.
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I hope (not that this is a good thing) that it is one of those AC situations where they really have no clue and their laws are written in a way that even if they have a clue their hands are tied if there is food available, and not the case of AC thinking that starving is OK.
It is so hard to believe that any owner would think this type of care is OK.
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But food available, while you see with your eyes, emaciated animals, can’t point back at the food being available and claim it’s “enough”.
If the horse can’t chew the food, or is run off the food, or a myriad of other reasons… It’s not sufficient.*
A horse as thin as the one in the picture is starving to death.
This place is why I worry about people shipping their horses off, far away, to retire living in a herd.
It works for some horses, sure.
But when it doesn’t work, the animal is suffering.
- I know you know this, I’m just venting…
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So why doesn’t the VHSA come forward and do something to this owner and something for the horses, I wonder?
Is this their website? –
If AC can’t/won’t do anything, can we get the VHSA involved? Or some other agency? This is Virginia, for crying out loud. This state – excuse, Commonwealth – has plenty of wealth and horselovers.
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Is this the same Byrd family, I wonder?
https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/byrd-organization/
The Byrd Organization was a state political machine headed by Harry F. Byrd (1887–1966), a Democratic state senator, governor, and United States senator who, for more than forty years, used his power and influence to dominate the political life of Virginia. Inheriting an already tight party organization that for decades had emphasized small government and a limited franchise, Byrd prioritized fiscal conservatism—a policy he pithily dubbed “pay as you go”—and, on those grounds, opposed many of fellow Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. Byrd and his organization are perhaps best known, however, for their fierce opposition to a 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that mandated the desegregation of public schools. The resulting [color=red]Massive Resistance[/color] movement led to the shutdown of schools in Charlottesville, Front Royal, and Norfolk before the federal and state courts overturned state antidesegregation policies. It also effectively ended the organization’s decades-long hold on power in the state.
https://www.bizapedia.com/va/byrds-horse-retirement-and-layup-foundation.html
Come on Virginians. Can y’all get together and start some sort of equestrian “Massive Resistance”?
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VHSA can’t do anything except remove her as an approved judge for local shows. I live a few miles from this place. It is hell. According to sources, there is no water, just a stream. That has since dried up and one of the two vet clinics on site with issue forced her to put out troughs. Multiple reports of horses at a 1.5 and 2 on the body scale. Driving past, no horse turned out in the pastures is above a 3. People on scene have said her personal horses/show horses are fat and happy in the barn with alfalfa.
A few locals have offered to bring her round bales and she has declined help. She says the horses are fine and this is basically a witch hunt from one of the vet clinics.
My friend has a horse at the rehab facility the one horse went to. The owner was not informed of any issue until the vets went above Ms. Rareshide and called her themselves.
This is a woman who has repeatedly berated the local community for using blankets and bragged about how her horses were fat and happy without them. (Ha!)
Hopefully she is sunk between criminal charges and civil suits. I’ve heard the situation is horrific and local vets have been afraid of this exact situation for years.
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